Category: Fantastic

Tzvetan Todorov is a French and Bulgarian literary theorist and cultural critic who is best known for his contribution to literary theory in the form of his definition of the Fantastic in literature. As an important note, when Todorov discusses the fantastic, he is not discussing fantasy literature. Though fantasy critics, theorists, novelists and fans…

For many readers, literary fiction provides desperately needed escapism so they can endure the difficulties of everyday life. Even when conjured characters inhabit a recognizable world and speak to the human condition, fictional stories can pull readers out of their own heads. This effect is even more pronounced in the fantasy genre. Untethered from scientific…

Its the uncertainty of the fantastic genre that draws me in. Its the journey rather than the result itself; take me beyond the threshold. Borrowing from the European Gothic tradition, the American Renaissance morphs the gothic into a uniquely American form. In this blog, I will shine a light on the fantastic genre, in hopes…

The Black Phone by Joe Hill is a short horror story that was released in 2005 in the United Kingdom and was later released in the United States in October of 2007. Through the use of southern gothic, fantastic horror, and surreal horror, Joe Hills short story The Black Phone, warns young and fearless teens…