Dark fantasy lives at the intersection of fantasy and horror. It keeps the magical worldbuilding and supernatural elements of fantasy but steeps them in dread, violence, moral ambiguity, or existential unease. The worlds are often hostile, the magic comes with terrible costs, and the line between hero and monster blurs frequently.
Dark fantasy teaches you how to handle tone. It's one of the best subgenres for learning to create atmosphere, manage reader discomfort, and write morally complex characters. If your fantasy keeps drifting toward darker territory, understanding this category helps you lean into that instinct rather than fight it.
Military fantasy that descends into unflinching darkness as its protagonist gains shamanic powers and faces genocide.
A knight, a priest, and a girl traveling through plague-ravaged medieval France while demons literally walk the earth.
Darkness needs purpose. Violence, suffering, and bleakness should serve the story's themes, not just shock the reader.
Even in dark fantasy, readers need someone to root for. Moral complexity isn't the same as universal nihilism.
Write a scene where a character uses magic, but make it genuinely unsettling. Focus on the physical and psychological cost. What does the magic take from them? What does it feel like? Make the reader wish the character had found another way.