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Weird fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction originating in the late 19th and early 20th century. It can be said to encompass the ghost story and other tales of the macabre. Weird fiction is distinguished from horror and fantasy in that it predates the niche marketing of genre fiction. Because genre or stylistic conventions had not been established, weird tales often blend the supernatural, mythical, and even scientific. British authors who have embraced this style have often published their work in mainstream literary magazines even after American pulp magazines became popular. Popular weird fiction writers included William Hope Hodgson, H. P. Lovecraft,〔Joshi 1990, p. 168〕 Lord Dunsany,〔Joshi 1990, p. 42〕 Arthur Machen,〔Joshi 1990, p. 12〕 M. R. James,〔Joshi 1990, p. 133〕 and Clark Ashton Smith. Although "weird fiction" has been chiefly used as a historical description for works through the 1930s, the term has also been increasingly used since the 1980s, sometimes to describe slipstream fiction that blends horror, fantasy, and science fiction. ==History== H. P. Lovecraft adopted the term from Sheridan Le Fanu and popularized it in his essays. In "Supernatural Horror in Literature," Lovecraft defines the genre:
The pulp magazine ''Weird Tales'' published many such stories in the United States from March 1923 to September 1954. S. T. Joshi describes several subdivisions of the weird tale: supernatural horror (or fantastique), the ghost story, quasi science fiction, fantasy, and ambiguous horror fiction and argues that "the weird tale" is primarily the result of the philosophical and aesthetic predispositions of the authors associated with this type of fiction.〔Joshi 1990, pp. 7-10〕 Although Lovecraft was one of the few early 20th-century writers to describe his work as "weird fiction,"〔Joshi 1990, p. 1〕 the term has enjoyed a contemporary revival in New Weird fiction. For example, China Miéville often refers to his work as weird fiction. Many horror writers have also situated themselves within the weird tradition, including Clive Barker, who describes his fiction as fantastique,〔, pp. 217-18〕 and Ramsey Campbell,〔 whose early work was deeply influenced by Lovecraft.〔Campbell, Ramsey. "Chasing the Unknown", introduction to ''Cold Print'' (1993), pp. 11-13. ISBN 0-8125-1660-5〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Weird fiction」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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