[Zsinj16]

I've heard about many dark fantasy books and horror books, but I can't really tell the difference between them. The only interpertation I have made, and I'm just taking a STAB in the dark here (hehe, pardon the pun on words http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/smile.gif), is that dark fantasy is like horror, only without all the gory, sensless hacking, slashing, and chainsawing of people into oblivion. Could someone please tell me if I'm right or wrong on this hypothesis I have made and tell me the difference between the two?

[FitzChivalry]

First of all, Horror doesn't have to have fantasy elements, like King's Misery, ordinary humans or animals with ordinary means can create a good atmosphere of horror as well.

Second, the difference is in the purpose, horror means to scare you, it trys at least, while dark fantasy is a fantasy story in a dark atmosphere, meaning usually, a lot more evil than good.

[Zsinj16]

Oh, do you mean like in The Demon War Trilogy by R.A. Salvatore? By the way, I hear that those are really good books. They don't haveany explicit sex in them do they, like in book 1 of the Dark Elf Trilogy also written by R.A. Salvatore?

[lior]

Where in the world is there an explicit sex scene in book 1 of the dark elf trilogy?

[Zsinj16]

In the scene of Drizzt's graduation from the Cleric School of Lolth the Spider Queen, all of the high priestesses, women clerics, and matriarchs take off their robes and clothes and start having sex with all the male clerics and soldiers, plus one of them has sex with the giant beast they conjured up from the underworld. Drizzt runs away, and then, one of his older sisters, approaches him and makes sexual advances toward him, such as pulling open her robe. That's where I stopped reading it because it really disgusted me.

[allanon]

Well, the difference is small,but when you read dark fantasy, you can not be really frigtened[maybe disgusted-"The Death of the Necromancer"].In horror,this is the target.

[Shehzad]

Whoah, that's a LOT of sex http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/wink.gif

[Bardos]

Zsinj16> Free yourself a bit, me friend! http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/wink.gif

[Rupert Avery]

Would any of you guys call G.R.R.M dark fantasy?
I don't think I have read any real Dark fantasys before but compared to what I have read he is much darker.
He also has some more (how do I put it )stright to the point sex sences.Its not too often that you read the words starting with F and C in fantasy,but it is because of this that I find him a great read because he does not hold back in his story telling and the characters that use the F and C's really suit them and helps to build them.
Any thoughts?

[Rob B]

From what I have heard, I think GRRM's Fevre Dream could be considered dark fantasy.