a quick question about genre

[seansshack]

Would you regard a story with elements of ghosts, walking dead and dark magic to be a work of science fiction?

Just confused of late with films review of vampire movies and zombie movies appearing in sci-fi specific magazines.

And have a story with above elements to submit somewhere, but they list sci-fi as the genre of choice.

 

[Sad Max]

That impresses me more as 'fantasy.' Which is pretty frequently lumped together with science fiction and horror.

Maybe you could look at some of the material your prospective customer has produced, to get a sense of their idea of what 'science fiction' means.

 

[Cassius]

It's arbitrary in that case. Scifi/fantasy is a common grouping, mostly because it's hard to distinguish. It can depend on how the work is approached as well; specifically, the 'sci' in 'scifi'.

 

[Nektonic]

Whoa, you just opened a big old can' o worms. Science fiction and fantasy have so many sub-genres and offshoots that at this point, anything that isn't a drama, comedy, non-supernatural horror, action/adventure, mystery, techno thriller, or thriller is pretty much lumped in with sci-fi/fantasy/horror.

It's arbitrary in that case. Scifi/fantasy is a common grouping, mostly because it's hard to distinguish. It can depend on how the work is approached as well; specifically, the 'sci' in 'scifi'.

I disagree. For example: Lord of the Rings is clearly fantasy, while Blade Runner is clearly sci-fi. Of course, the film and publishing worlds don't seem to think that is a necessary distinction to make. Go to any Borders or Barnes & Noble and science fiction and fantasy is lumped into one section.

The good thing about this lumping together of these genres in regards to the film industry is that if you were to write a story like LotR, Conan, or Harry Potter; then your next script is a sci-fi or horror story, no body will look at you like WTF. Where as if you write a serious drama and then write an action flick there are people who will typecast you as a drama writer and not an action writer.

And have a story with above elements to submit somewhere, but they list sci-fi as the genre of choice.

Since you say you have a "story" you would like to submit, I don't know if you mean a script or a short story. If you are talking about submitting a short story to a magazine that publishes fiction, then it depends. For example: a sci-fi magazine like Analog or Asimov both buy science fiction short stories, but one might also accept stories that would fall under horror of fantasy while the other mag might want more rigorous hard sci-fi stories.

As mentioned above, it all depends on the person or company you are submitting to, and what their definition of sci-fi is.

 

[wcmartell]

Ghosts and walking dead are probably horror...

So they are in the wrong magazine.

But they *could* be science fiction - if the whole angle is to look at ghosts from a scientific point of view. The writer who springs to mind is Richard Matheson, whose HELL HOUSE was about the science of haunted houses, and I AM LEGEND had a scientific look at vampires. You can find both of those books in the *horror* section of your bookstore, though.

- Bill