Wikipedia

Weird fiction

Weird fictionis a subgenre ofspeculative fictionoriginating in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Weird fiction either eschews or radically reinterprets traditional antagonists ofsupernaturalhorror fiction,such asghosts,vampires,andwerewolves.[1][2][3]Writers on the subject of weird fiction, such asChina Miéville,sometimes use "thetentacle"to represent this type of writing. The tentacle is a limb-type absent from most of the monsters of Europeangothic fiction,but often attached to the monstrous creatures created by weird fiction writers, such asWilliam Hope Hodgson,M. R. James,Clark Ashton Smith,andH. P. Lovecraft.[1][3]

Weird fiction often attempts to inspireaweas well as fear in response to its fictional creations, causing commentators like Miéville to paraphraseGoethein saying that weird fiction evokes a sense of thenuminous.[1]Although "weird fiction" has been chiefly used as a historical description for works through the 1930s, it experienced a resurgence in the 1980s and 1990s, under the label ofNew Weird,which continues into the 21st century.[4]

Definitions

edit

John Clutedefines weird fiction as a term "used loosely to describefantasy,supernatural fictionandhorrortales embodying transgressive material ".[5]China Miéville defines it as "usually, roughly, conceived of as a rather breathless and generically slippery macabre fiction, a dark fantastic ('horror' plus 'fantasy') often featuring nontraditional alien monsters (thus plus 'science fiction')".[1]Discussing the "Old Weird Fiction" published in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock says, "Old Weird fiction utilises elements of horror, science fiction and fantasy to showcase the impotence and insignificance of human beings within a much larger universe populated by often malign powers and forces that greatly exceed the human capacities to understand or control them."[2]JeffandAnn VanderMeerdescribe weird fiction as amodeof literature, usually appearing within the horror fiction genre, rather than a separate genre of fiction in its own right.[6]

History

edit
M. R. James,c. 1900
H. P. Lovecraft, pictured in 1934

Although the term "weird fiction" did not appear until the 20th century,Edgar Allan Poeis often regarded as the pioneering author of weird fiction. Poe was identified by Lovecraft as the first author of a distinct type ofsupernatural fictiondifferent from traditional Gothic literature, and later commentators on the term have also suggested Poe was the first "weird fiction" writer.[1][2]Sheridan Le Fanuis also seen as an early writer working in the sub-genre.[1]

Literary critics in the nineteenth century would sometimes use the term "weird" to describe supernatural fiction. For instance, theScottish Reviewin an 1859 article praised Poe,E. T. A. HoffmannandWalter Scottby saying the three writers had the "power of weird imagination".[7]The Irish magazineThe Freeman's Journal,in an 1898 review ofDraculabyBram Stoker,described the novel as "wild and weird" and not Gothic.[8]Weinstock has suggested there was a period of "Old Weird Fiction" that lasted from the late 19th to early 20th centuries.[2]S. T. Joshiand Miéville have both argued that there was a period of "Haute Weird" between 1880 and 1940, when authors important to Weird Fiction, such asArthur MachenandClark Ashton Smithwere publishing their work.[1][2]

In the late nineteenth century, a number of British writers associated with theDecadent movementwrote what was later described as weird fiction. These writers included Machen,M. P. Shiel,Count Eric Stenbock,andR. Murray Gilchrist.[9]Other pioneering British weird fiction writers includedAlgernon Blackwood,[10]William Hope Hodgson,Lord Dunsany,[11]Arthur Machen,[12]andM. R. James.[13]

The Americanpulp magazineWeird Talespublished many such stories in the United States from March 1923 to September 1954. The magazine's editorFarnsworth Wrightoften used the term "weird fiction" to describe the type of material that the magazine published.[14]The writers who wrote for the magazineWeird Talesare thus closely identified with the weird fiction subgenre, especiallyH. P. Lovecraft,Clark Ashton Smith,Fritz LeiberandRobert Bloch.[1]Other pulp magazines that published weird fiction includedStrange Tales(edited byHarry Bates),[15]andUnknown Worlds(edited byJohn W. Campbell).[16]

H. P. Lovecraft popularised the term "weird fiction" in his essays.[1]In "Supernatural Horror in Literature",Lovecraft gives his definition of weird fiction:

The true weird tale has something more than secret murder, bloody bones, or a sheeted form clanking chains according to rule. A certain atmosphere of breathless and unexplainable dread of outer, unknown forces must be present; and there must be a hint, expressed with a seriousness and portentousness becoming its subject, of that most terrible conception of the human brain—a malign and particular suspension or defeat of those fixed laws of Nature which are our only safeguard against the assaults of chaos and the daemons of unplumbed space.

S. T. Joshidescribes several subdivisions of the weird tale: supernatural horror (orfantastique), theghost story,quasiscience fiction,fantasy,and ambiguoushorror fictionand argues that "the weird tale" is primarily the result of the philosophical and aesthetic predispositions of the authors associated with this type of fiction.[17][18]

Although Lovecraft was one of the few early 20th-century writers to describe his work as "weird fiction",[10]the term has enjoyed a contemporary revival inNew Weirdfiction. Many horror writers have also situated themselves within the weird tradition, includingClive Barker,who describes his fiction asfantastique,[19]andRamsey Campbell,[20]whose early work was influenced by Lovecraft.[21]

Notable authors

edit

The following notable authors have been described as writers of weird fiction. They are listed Alpha betically by last name, and organised by the time period when they began to publish weird fiction.

Before 1940

edit

1940–1980

edit

1980–present

edit

New Weird

edit
Main article:New weird

AnnandJeff VanderMeerandChina Miévillehave suggested that weird fiction has seen a recent resurgence, a phenomenon they term theNew Weird.Tales which fit this category, as well as extensive discussion of the phenomenon, appear in the anthologyThe New Weird.[41]

See also

edit

Notes

edit
  1. ^abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwChina Miéville, "Weird Fiction", in Bould, Mark et al.,The Routledge Companion to Science Fiction.New York: Routledge, 2009, p. 510–516.ISBN0-415-45378-X
  2. ^abcdeJeffrey Andrew Weinstock, "The New Weird", in Ken Gelder,New Directions in Popular Fiction: genre, reproduction, distribution.Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016, pp. 177–200.ISBN9781137523457
  3. ^abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzaaabacadaeafagahaiajakalamanaoapaqVanderMeer, Ann and Jeff (6 May 2012)."The Weird: An Introduction".Weird Fiction Review.Archivedfrom the original on 14 July 2014.Retrieved7 June2014.
  4. ^Nunnally, Mya (19 October 2017)."A Beginner's Guide to the New Weird Genre".BOOK RIOT.Retrieved11 November2020.
  5. ^abcdefJohn Clute,"Weird FictionArchived2018-09-30 at theWayback Machine",inThe Encyclopedia of Fantasy,1997. Retrieved 29 September 2018.
  6. ^James Machin,Weird Fiction in Britain, 1880-1939,Palgrave Macmillan, 2018, p. 4, 12-14.ISBN9783319905266
  7. ^Machin, p. 22
  8. ^Machin, p. 14
  9. ^Machin, p. 78
  10. ^abJoshi, S. T.(1990).The Weird Tale.University of Texas Press.ISBN0-292-79050-3.
  11. ^Joshi 1990, p. 42
  12. ^Joshi 1990, p. 12
  13. ^Joshi 1990, p. 133
  14. ^Machin, p. 222-5
  15. ^"Bates had an affinity for weird fiction, butStrange Talesdidn't go in for Lovecraft's brooding, wordy atmospherics. "Ed Hulse,The Blood 'n' Thunder Guide to Pulp Fiction.Murania Press, Morris Plains, New Jersey, 2018, pp. 130–131.ISBN978-1726443463
  16. ^"Without a doubt, the major event in weird fiction in 1939 was the premiere ofUnknown(later retitledUnknown Worlds) ".Robert E. Weinberg, Stefan R. Dziemianowicz, Martin Harry Greenberg,Rivals of Weird Tales: 30 great fantasy & horror stories from the weird fiction pulpsBonanza Books, 1990, p. xvii.ISBN9780517693315
  17. ^Joshi, S. T. (January 2003)."Introduction".The Weird Tale.Wildside Press LLC.ISBN9780809531226.
  18. ^Joshi 1990, pp. 7–10
  19. ^Winter, Douglas E.(2002).Clive Barker: The Dark Fantastic: The Authorized Biography.HarperCollins.ISBN0-06-621392-4.,pp. 217-18
  20. ^abcdefghijklJoshi 1990, p. 231
  21. ^Campbell, Ramsey. "Chasing the Unknown", introduction toCold Print(1993), pp. 11–13.ISBN0-8125-1660-5
  22. ^Joshi 1990, p. 143
  23. ^Joshi 1990, p. 87
  24. ^""Marjorie Bowen "was the pseudonym of Gabrielle M.V. Campbell Long, and she wrote extensively, using from six to ten pen names throughout her career, primarily in mainstream fiction. Yet her weird fiction ranks favorably with such distaff portrayers of the supernatural as Mary Wilkins-Freeman, Edith Wharton and Lady Cynthia Asquith." Sheldon Jaffery,The Arkham House Companion,San Bernardino, Calif.: Borgo Press, 1990, p. 117.ISBN9781557420046
  25. ^Machin 2018, pp. 163–219
  26. ^Jerry L. Ball, "Guy Endore's The Werewolf of Paris: The Definitive Werewolf Novel?"Studies in Weird Fiction,no. 17, summer 1995, pp. 2–12
  27. ^Machin 2018, pp. 99–101
  28. ^Timothy Jarvis,101 Weird Writers #45 — Stefan GrabińskiArchived2018-05-28 at theWayback Machine,Weird Fiction Review,December 20, 2016. Retrieved September 1 2018.
  29. ^"Twice-Told Tales...andMosses From an Old Manse(1846; 23s) include most of Hawthorne's weird fiction. "Michael Ashley,Who's Who in Horror and Fantasy Fiction. Taplinger Publishing Company, 1978, p. 90.ISBN9780800882754
  30. ^abc"13 Supreme Masters of Weird Fiction" by R.S Hadji.Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone Magazine, May–June 1983, p. 84
  31. ^"C. F. Keary," Twixt Dog and Wolf "... [is] a collection of two novellas, one short story, and ten" phantasies, "all of which are literary weird fiction of a high order".Douglas A. Anderson,Late Reviews. Nodens Books, Marcellus, MI, 2018, p. 89.ISBN9781987512564
  32. ^"Vernon Lee (1856-1935) was the pseudonym of lesbian Violet Paget, who was well known for her literary output, a substantial portion of which was considered either" weird fiction "or ghost stories." Eric Garber, & Lyn PaleoUranian worlds: a guide to alternative sexuality in science fiction, fantasy, and horrorG.K. Hall, 1990, p. 125.ISBN9780816118328
  33. ^Gordon, Joan (2003)."Reveling in Genre: An Interview with China Miéville".Science Fiction Studies.30(91).Archivedfrom the original on 15 July 2019.Retrieved19 February2010.
  34. ^Gauvin, Edward (November 2011)."Kavar the Rat".Archivedfrom the original on 14 July 2014.Retrieved7 June2014.
  35. ^"Tod Robbins (Clarence Aaron Robbins, 1888-1949) specialized in weird fiction throughout his lengthy writing career." Christie, Gene.The People of the Pit, and other early horrors from the Munsey Pulps. Normal, IL: Black Dog Books, 2010.ISBN9781928619963(p. 201).
  36. ^"Although Eric Frank Russell wrote a relatively small number of novels, he published several major collections...More recently, Midnight House collected much of his best horror and weird fiction inDarker Tidesin 2006 ". O'Neill, John.Vintage Treasures: Sentinels of Space by Eric Frank Russell / The Ultimate Invader edited by Donald WollheimBlack Gate,13 April 2020. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  37. ^Machin 2018, pp. 101–114
  38. ^"The sudden and unexpected death on June 11 (1936) of Robert Ervin Howard, author of fantastic tales of incomparable vividness, forms weird fiction's worst loss since the passing of Henry S. Whitehead four years ago". H. P. Lovecraft, "Robert Ervin Howard: A Memorial" (1936). Reprinted in Leon Nielsen,Robert E. Howard: A Collector’s Descriptive Bibliography of American and British Hardcover, Paperback, Magazine, Special and Amateur Editions, with a Biography.McFarland, 2010, p. 39.ISBN9781476604244
  39. ^Nolen, Larry."Weirdfictionreview 's 101 Weird Writers: #3 – Julio Cortázar".Weird Fiction Review.Archived fromthe originalon 13 April 2013.Retrieved1 September2014.
  40. ^"...the cartoonist Gahan Wilson, whose thirty-odd- year sideline as an occasional writer of weird fiction has now heaped up enough oddments to fill a book."Brian Stableford,News of the Black Feast and Other Random Reviews.Rockville, Maryland: The Borgo Press, p. 131.ISBN9781434403360.
  41. ^abcVanderMeer, Ann; Jeff VanderMeer (2008).The New Weird.Tachyon. pp. xvi.ISBN978-1-892391-55-1.Archivedfrom the original on 27 June 2014.Retrieved1 November2016.

References

edit
edit
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Weird_fiction&oldid=1241250743"