Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Science Fiction or Horror?

EDIT: Due to Google being a pain, I've had to change the comments setting to "anyone" and make word verification active again. Sorry, it's the only way I can allow anyone to post a comment AND avoid spammers.

I'm halfway done chapter 3, the rest should be done by the end of today. Fingers crossed, knock on wood, throw salt over left shoulder, and all of that.

I have an interesting question and I'd love to see some feedback on this. As we all know, my writing project is Post-Apocalypse, set in the future. I have noticed many times that Post-Apocalypse is not a genre within itself. The Stand by Stephen king is categorized as Horror. The Tripods by John Christopher is Science Fiction. Those two books are obvious, they're definitely placed in the right category.

But here's the question:

When dealing with a post-apocalypse story, what are the things that will define the story as Horror or Science Fiction?

Anyone?

4 comments:

  1. To simplify it, I'd say mystical or dark fantasy elements would seem to be more horror. Gore and shock, too. Science or lighter fantasy, more sci-fi. But that's just my guess. There are plenty of great works that blur the lines so much, though. The very nature of a post-apocalyptic story seems to blend both elements by nature. Would "dystopian fiction" be an apt label?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dystopian fiction, though a wonderful phrase, still isn't a genre, it's a description, bit of a difference.

    So, from what I've gathered, are you saying that paranormal elements will define Horror or Science Fiction? Random example, post-apocalyspe story with a horde of flesh-eating zombies is horror, whereas a post-apocalypse story with aliens invading earth with their technology is science fiction.

    Have I got that right?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Exactly! That's my theory, anyway.

    ReplyDelete

Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
If you're not a spammer,
I'd love to hear from you.