Are zombie stories science fiction or fantasy? The way I'm looking at it, it could go either way, but I'm guessing these types of stories fall into a specific genre like one of these two, right? Would love to hear your thoughts on this. Please help me find my zombie genre.
Zombie stories are more likely to be fantasy or horror, or maybe adventure? That's my opinion anyway. To me, in order to be considered science fiction, science or technology would have to be a major element, like say in the vampire movie 'Lifeforce'. So there is Sci-Fi Horror, but no one can give you a good suggestion without knowing more about your story.
Personally, I feel it depends on the source of the transformation. Bacteria, virus, or fungus that puppets the host’s body? Sounds like science fiction. Cordyceps already does that to insects and other arthropods, so one species mutating to infect humans is actually plausible. The Last of Us went this route with great success. Magic? Fantasy. This would encompass stuff like your classic voodoo zombies or the wights in A Song of Ice and Fire.
With some understanding of how bodies work (circulation, muscle control, etc.), then it becomes understood that the only thing that could re-animate a corpse is magic, so I guess zombie stories are fantasy. There might be elements of science fiction, though. In the Walking Dead, it was a virus that re-animated the brain.
Agree with the comments above that it could be science fiction, fantasy, or horror. I've seen more in the fantasy/horror side of things than what I'd consider SF, but a lot of recent zombie fiction leans more heavily into the SF angle.
I think it can be a combination of horror with sci-fi or fantasy, or maybe just call it science fantasy. Alien is generally considered sci-fi horror. And Aliens I guess would be sci-fi/horror/action. You can definitely stack genres.
What if the cause is unknown in the story? And not knowing how everything started is part of the story? Can this be magical realism or is that too much of a stretch?
I don't see why not, especially if you're portraying what is largely the real world and the fantastic aspects are more subtle. If it's a full-on zombie apocalypse that may be hard to pull off and maintain the sense of magical realism, but I never say never.
Do you think the genre matters to0 much (at least for me to know or decide) if I'm clearly submitting a zombie story or stories? I write a decent amount of zombie stuff. I've published one zombie story, but that story sold to a literary journal not known for publishing genre work. I guess that has me wondering if the zombie category could fall under magical realism. I have tried some of the top genre publications with my zombie stories and been rejected with some positive feedback. I was just thinking if I had a better handle on the genre, it might help. I have labeled my zombie stories as both science fiction and fantasy at times, but I feel like I could go either way with it. The one zombie story I did sell, I withheld from any mention of genre. In that case it wouldn't have helped me. But I do wonder if I should call these stories something when submitting to genre publications. Sometimes they even want you to check a box. And my answer to that is just my best guess.
It seems the question is “what is the best way to label a zombie short story to increase the chance of selling it?” If that is indeed the question, it seems so narrow I’m not sure many on here have a chance of a good answer. I would speculate that it doesn’t really matter.
I like to think the boundaries loosen at that point. Who cares if it's more sci-fi or fantasy as long as it's a cool or compelling story? "Deadrats wrote another knockout, but he categorized it wrong, so let's print off a rejection slip." A lot of the stories on shelves have stretched and/or nonsensible fits into their respective genres as it is. At some point the distinction just doesn't matter (at least I hope!).
Thanks. That's sort of what I'm doing even in the midst of a full-on zombie apocalypse. But I sort of think magical realism fits better than the other categories. I worry a little that that might not be so popular with the genre publications and those are probably my best bet for selling zombie stories.
Thanks. You're right, I hope. Zombie stories do seem pretty hard to classify sometimes. At least my stories are like that. I do want to break into the genre markets with one of these. That leads me to another question... Is magical realism genre enough for genre publications?
I think if you start combining too many genres, it can just get confusing and I'm not looking to do that or make up new terms.
Wouldn't that make things easier, but I don't think it is. Some publications lists zombie stories as hard sells so I don't want to just come out and call it a zombie story in my cover letter. I hope to win them over with the words of my story. But I do feel like with genre publications you want to be clear that you are sending them a genre story. I think.
It all depends on how you incorporate the zombie element. A zombie story can even be a romance if the romance is the driver of the plot.
I would agree. So are (or should be) Post Apocalyptic, Time Travel, Dystopia. A zombie story is a zombie story. I can't see how it's secondary locus of sci fi, horror, or fantasy should matter. Maybe the industry wants to hold on to keep their stats and departments in a somewhat rigid order, but the readership probably doesn't care.
Whats ressurecting the dead people? Science or magic? Science= science fiction Magic= fantasy Both? (Like an alchemist)= science fantasy
Wait. What genre would a dystopian novel be in? I did sort of assume that was on its own or somehow in some general fiction or literary category. My novel is dystopian. There are no zombies in that one. I feel like it shouldn't be so hard to pinpoint a genre for your stories. So, why am I struggling with this? Anyway, thanks for your help, guys.
Beats me. I think it should almost be its own. They had that thing a few years back where all the publishers said "no dystopian," which makes it feel like an overriding macro category to me. The same way they'll say "no vampires" when the market gets saturated.
