Dark fantasy , also called Fantasy Horror , is a subgenre of fantasy literary, artistic, and cinematic works that incorporates disturbing and frightening themes. The term is ambiguously used to describe stories that combine horror elements with one or other of the standard formulas of fantasy.
31-523: The Dark Portal is a dark fantasy novel for children by British author Robin Jarvis . The first book in The Deptford Mice trilogy and Jarvis's debut novel , it follows the story of Audrey Brown, a mouse girl who is looking for her missing father. Her search takes her into the sewers of Deptford where, with the help of her friends and family, she must face an army of evil rats and their living god,
62-534: A "dark fairy tale" fantasy film. Guillermo del Toro 's fantasy film Pan's Labyrinth (2006) has been described as a "sort of a dark spin on Alice in Wonderland ". The 2013 fantasy action role-playing game Dragon's Crown contains many elements of dark fantasy, such as werewolves, vampires, zombies, homonculi, and human-monster hybrids. Modern games from Japanese game development and publishing company FromSoftware are lauded as exceptional representations of
93-426: A dark, often brooding, tone. As a result, dark fantasy cannot be solidly connected to a defining set of tropes . The term itself may refer collectively to tales that are either horror-based or fantasy-based. Some writers also use "dark fantasy" (or " Gothic fantasy ") as an alternative description to "horror", because they feel the latter term is too lurid or vivid. Charles L. Grant is often cited as having coined
124-401: A model-maker for television programmes and commercials. He had been designing a big, furry alien but decided to take a break and draw something small. That something was a mouse who would become the character Oswald Chitter. Jarvis continued to doodle mice, and when a friend of his saw the sketches, he suggested they be sent to a publisher. The publisher responded positively and asked if there was
155-645: A mysterious being known as Jupiter. The book was first published in the United Kingdom by Macdonald & Company in 1989, and was a runner-up for that year's Nestlé Smarties Book Prize . In 2000, it was published by SeaStar Books in the United States and given the Booklist Editors' Choice designation. In March 2024, Pushkin Children's Books reissued The Dark Portal in paperback and ebook formats. The text
186-531: A positive review in The Sacramento Bee stating that "this fast-paced suspense tale is all heart in its gripping story of good vs. evil and life-threatening confrontations beneath the streets of London." Lloyd Alexander called The Dark Portal "a grand-scale epic" that is "filled with high drama, suspense, and some genuine terror", while Madeleine L'Engle said that "Robin Jarvis joins the ranks of Kenneth Grahame , Richard Adams , and Walter Wangerin in
217-484: A problem when Audrey realises her own mousebrass is missing and guesses it was lost during her trip to the sewers. Knowing that she must get it back because the Green Mouse told her to keep it always, she asks Oswald to look for it with his dowsing rod , also goading Piccadilly into accompanying him to prove he is not a coward. Waiting at the grill for them to return and regretting her callous treatment of Piccadilly, Audrey
248-472: A serial killer would simply be horror. Stableford suggests that the type of horror conveyed by fantasy stories such as William Beckford 's Vathek and Edgar Allan Poe 's The Masque of the Red Death "is more aesthetic than visceral or existential", and that such stories should be considered "dark fantasies" rather than the "supernaturalized thrillers" of conventional horror fiction. Karl Edward Wagner
279-553: A story to accompany the drawings. At the time there wasn't one, but Jarvis then wrote the story of The Deptford Mice . He had originally envisioned it as a picture book, but it became a 70,000 word manuscript. When Jarvis's editor told him that the manuscript could make a trilogy due to its long length, he went away and cut it, and then came up with more ideas for the second and third books. The Dark Portal has been praised as "a tale of horror and valor, good and evil, leavened with humor." A starred review from Publishers Weekly called
310-466: A watery grave. Audrey glimpses her father among the legion of spirits as they depart and despairs before finally accepting his death. The sewer floods and the Black Death is destroyed. Thankful that they are alive, and resolving to celebrate Jupiter's downfall once they return home, the mice begin the journey back to the surface. Jarvis came up with the idea for The Deptford Mice trilogy while working as
341-499: Is drawn into the sewers by dark enchantments on the grill in the house's basement. He meets a young city mouse named Piccadilly who is also lost and the two quickly become friends. After hours of wandering they find themselves in the altar chamber of Jupiter. Whilst eavesdropping on a conversation between the evil being and his rat lieutenant, Morgan, Albert is captured and taken away to be killed by Jupiter. Unable to save himself, he tells Piccadilly to run for his life. The next morning
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#1732859218096372-402: Is in contrast to the traditional horror model, which focuses more on the victims and survivors. In a more general sense, dark fantasy is occasionally used as a synonym for supernatural horror , to distinguish horror stories that contain elements of the supernatural from those that do not. For example, a story about a werewolf or vampire could be described as dark fantasy, while a story about
403-468: Is kidnapped by rats sent by Jupiter, who is concerned about a prophecy he heard that the girl will defeat him. Meanwhile, Piccadilly and Oswald come across some sleeping rats, one of whom has Audrey's mousebrass. They quietly remove it, but just then the rats begin waking up. Promising to bring help, Piccadilly is able to get away, but Oswald finds himself having to pose as a rat to avoid detection. In doing so, he learns that Jupiter has been planning to unleash
434-476: Is often credited for creating the term "dark fantasy" when used in a more fantasy-based context. Wagner used it to describe his fiction about the Gothic warrior Kane . Since then, "dark fantasy" has sometimes been applied to sword and sorcery and high fantasy fiction that features anti-heroic or morally ambiguous protagonists. Another good example under this definition of dark fantasy is Michael Moorcock 's saga of
465-425: Is sometimes used for "darker" fiction written by authors best known for other styles of fantasy; Raymond Feist 's Faerie Tale and Charles de Lint 's novels written as Samuel M. Key would fit here. Roald Dahl 's novel The Witches (and its film adaptations) is described as dark fantasy. Dahl's poetic reworking of " Cinderella " (which features in his poetry collection Revolting Rhymes ) sees him upend
496-489: Is the Great Spring Celebration, an important holiday for the mice when those who have come of age are given mousebrasses, magical talismans that help guide them through their lives. This year Albert's children Arthur and Audrey will receive theirs, but Audrey is too preoccupied with thoughts of her missing father to be excited about the festivities. When Audrey goes to get her mousebrass, she is shocked to encounter
527-417: The albino mouse Oswald and fieldmouse Twit enter the sewers to search for the missing Audrey, eventually finding her and Piccadilly after they all fight off a gang of rats. The group returns to the house and Audrey's mother Gwen is given Albert's mousebrass. Upon hearing Piccadilly's story, she stoically accepts her husband's death and makes her children promise never to enter the sewers again. This becomes
558-528: The albino swordsman Elric . The fantasy work of H. P. Lovecraft , Clark Ashton Smith and their emulators have been specified as "dark fantasy", since the imaginary worlds they depicted contain many horror elements. Dark fantasy is occasionally used to describe fantasy works by authors whom the public primarily associates with the horror genre. Examples of these are Stephen King 's The Dark Tower series, Peter Straub 's Shadowland and Clive Barker 's Weaveworld . Alternatively, dark fantasy
589-425: The Black Death on the world once more, which will rid it of humans and enable him to conquer it. Audrey is taken to Jupiter's altar chamber, where she has a tense confrontation with the malevolent deity, who emerges from his dark lair for the first time in hundreds of years to reveal himself as a hideous giant cat. A group of mice including Piccadilly, Arthur, Gwen, Twit, and grizzled seafarer Thomas Triton show up in
620-532: The British capital." Deirdre B. Root of Kliatt found The Dark Portal to be "entertaining and genuinely frightening." According to Patty Campbell of The Horn Book Magazine , "as publishers jockey for position in the 'what do I read after H[arry] P[otter] ?' fantasy sweepstakes, only one new series has emerged as a serious contender, Robin Jarvis's saga of the Deptford mice, The Dark Portal ." The book also received
651-520: The Green Mouse , a benevolent deity worshipped by the mice, who personally hands her a pendant known as the Anti-Cat Charm. Her family is doubtful when Audrey tells them about her experience, but do wonder at the mousebrass she received. The Anti-Cat Charm is rarely given out as cats are never seen in the area. That night, Audrey slips into the sewers to visit a rat fortune teller named Madame Akkikuyu, hoping she can tell her where her father is. However,
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#1732859218096682-558: The United States. Glassman would eventually obtain the rights for his company, SeaStar Books, to publish the trilogy and make it more readily available to American readers. In the mid-1990s, there were plans for Jim Henson Pictures to make a film adaptation of The Deptford Mice , which would be based on the story of The Dark Portal and feature animatronic puppets. The project was ultimately abandoned for reasons unknown. In 2010 London-based theatre company Tiny Dog Productions created
713-423: The altar chamber to battle Jupiter as well. Oswald appears from a nearby tunnel and returns Audrey's Anti-Cat Charm to her, which she then throws at Jupiter. The evil cat is dazzled by brilliant green flames that explode from the mousebrass, losing his balance and falling into the water rapidly flooding his chamber. The spirits of the many mice and rats he has tortured and devoured then rise up and drag Jupiter down to
744-542: The book a "spooky and enthralling animal fantasy just right for Redwall fans" and added that Jarvis "provides counterpoint to the heart-racing adventure with scenes of haunting beauty, including Audrey's mystical encounter with the Green Mouse and the country mouse Twit's nocturnal flight over London. The author conveys a sense of place powerful enough to elevate the South London boroughs of Greenwich and Blackheath to requisite stops on any bookish child's literary tour of
775-665: The creation of wonderfully anthropomorphic animals. Audrey and Arthur Brown tell us a lot about ourselves." Peter Glassman, owner of the New York City children's bookstore Books of Wonder , obtained a copy of The Dark Portal while on a trip to London. He greatly enjoyed it and would now and then come across others who had as well. The author of The Outsiders , S. E. Hinton , once told Glassman that The Deptford Mice novels became her son's favorites after finding them in Britain, but she could not understand why they were not yet available in
806-604: The first official stage production of The Dark Portal under licence from Robin Jarvis . After successful preview showings at The Space Theatre, London.; the production was again performed in April 2011 at the New Wimbledon Theatre . Dark fantasy A strict definition for dark fantasy is difficult to pin down. Gertrude Barrows Bennett has been called "the woman who invented dark fantasy". Both Charles L. Grant and Karl Edward Wagner are credited with having coined
837-438: The happy tale. Berserk , a manga and anime franchise by Kentaro Miura that debuted in 1989, is frequently noted as an example of the genre due to its depictions of extreme violence, moral ambiguity, apocalyptic storylines and anti-hero protagonists. Attack on Titan is a dark fantasy for its intense violence and the dystopian world it takes place in. Ridley Scott 's film Legend (1985) has been described as
868-436: The mouse soon determines that Akkikuyu is a fraud and angrily leaves. On her way back through the sewers Audrey meets Piccadilly. When he learns she is the daughter of Albert, Piccadilly presents the latter's mousebrass which had been entrusted to him. Gently, he tries to tell Audrey that Albert is likely dead, but she refuses to believe him and calls him a coward for abandoning her father when he needed aid. Arthur and his friends
899-653: The term "dark fantasy". Grant defined his brand of dark fantasy as "a type of horror story in which humanity is threatened by forces beyond human understanding". He often used dark fantasy as an alternative to horror , as horror was increasingly associated with more visceral works. Dark fantasy is sometimes also used to describe stories told from a monster 's point of view, or that present a more sympathetic view of supernatural beings usually associated with horror. Anne Rice 's The Vampire Chronicles , Chelsea Quinn Yarbro 's Saint-Germain , and Neil Gaiman 's The Sandman are early examples of this style of dark fantasy. This
930-728: The term "dark fantasy"—although both authors were describing different styles of fiction. Brian Stableford argues "dark fantasy" can be usefully defined as subgenre of stories that attempt to "incorporate elements of horror fiction" into the standard formulae of fantasy stories. Stableford also suggests that supernatural horror set primarily in the real world is a form of " contemporary fantasy ", whereas supernatural horror set partly or wholly in " secondary worlds " should be described as "dark fantasy". Additionally, other authors, critics, and publishers have adopted dark fantasy to describe various other works. However, these stories rarely share universal similarities beyond supernatural occurrences and
961-492: Was given "a thorough dusting" and new illustrations were done by Jarvis. A community of mice lives an idyllic existence in an old empty house in the London borough of Deptford . The only problem they have is a fear of the vicious rats in the sewers below who worship a mysterious living god called Jupiter. No one has ever seen Jupiter, not even his subjects, and rumours abound as to who or what he truly is. One mouse named Albert Brown