by Mayv 'SpearBourne' Amaia

Created on: May 05, 2010

Dark fiction, or darkfic, as it is called in some online communities, is fan fiction which deals with darker subject matter than general fan fiction.

This genre of fanfic often deals with violence, be it of an emotional or a physical nature, despair, or elements which could also be classed as psychological horror or suspense.

Stories that are termed as darkfic may have disturbing themes and topics, such as instances of rape and/or its after effects, betrayals, or the death of a loved one or family member.

Another form darkfic can take is where a normally heroic figure becomes more aggressive than he or she is usually seen or even turns completely evil. An example of this latter instance would be a fic where Luke Skywalker, of Star Wars fame, becomes a Sith Lord.

Many times, in darkfic, the audience or readers already have a pre-existing emotional attachment to the characters. It is this sense of familiarity that may cause one to feel uncomfortable while reading about a favoured character being hurt.

Several genres of fan fiction are related to darkfic.

Angst deals with more depressing themes. Characters in this type of story suffer emotionally. Hurt/Comfort is a subgenre of Angst wherein a character suffers some sort of trauma and is comforted by another character; this comfort may or may not involve sex.

Death fic deals primarily with the death of a character, be it a main character or someone close to him or her. These also are concerned with funerals, the emotional turmoil that follows such loss, and, sometimes, the suicide of a character.

Squick is another related genre which deals with taboo subject matter such as incest, drug use from the user's point of view, or self-abuse. Squick fic often leaves readers with an "icky" feeling or full out disgust, particularly when the disturbing behaviour is presented in a negative light.

Whumpage, also called whump, often overlaps with the genre of darkfic, but is not necessarily synonymous with it. Whumpage features depictions of either physical or emotional violence, but can also focus on how the character deals with, survives, and endures such treatment. It is similar to Hurt/Comfort, but usually does not involve the Comfort aspect.

Darkfic can be contrasted with more light-hearted genres of fan fiction, such as Fix fic, which is used by writers to repair what they view as a broken or flawed story line, and WAFF, or Warm And Fuzzy Feelings, which are stories free from harsh topics.

Darkfic can be a safe way for readers to explore topics which might otherwise be off limits or dangerous. They are simply another form of entertainment which allows us to look into other parts of our psyches.

References:

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DarkFic

http://fanlore.org/wiki/Darkfic

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fan_fiction_ter ms

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