Works of speculative fiction and horror tend to be viewed as somehow inherently less than more grounded genres of literature. The ongoing project of the genre tends to be reinventing itself every generation. This process has gone on for centuries, and the latest example of post-modernism applied to genre fiction has been dubbed the New Weird movement.
Broadly speaking, a lot of elements of fantasy and science fiction stories are very old. There are always new waysto play with clones, robots, magic, or any other classic trope, but the ideas themselves were devised long ago. As such, each new generation must further distance itself from the one that came before it, usually by making things a little bit weirder.
RELATED:The Gaslamp Fantasy Subgenre, Explained
In the 19th century, literary critics started to rely heavily upon the use of the word “weird” to sum up unusual works of genre fiction. The librariesof Edgar Allan Poeand Sheridan Le Fanu, along with classics likeDraculaandTales of Wonderearned the term in spades. In the early 20th century, authors began to see weird as a suitable term of art. The iconic pulp magazineWeird Talesunder the editorial oversight of Farnsworth Wright began to throw around “weird fiction” as their unique genre category.Weird Talesis best known for publishing many of H. P. Lovecraft and Fritz Leiber’s early works.Lovecraft in particular popularizedweird fiction and then went on to become one of the most influential writers of the past several centuries. It only took around 70 years for authors to take a second swing at the concept.
The term New Weird was coined by M. John Harrison in 2002, in the forward he wrote for China Miéville’sThe Tain. Though the term fitsTainwell, Miéville’s previous workPerdido Street Stationis the ultimate example of new weird fiction. Released in 2000,Perdido Street Stationtakes place in Bas-Lag, a fantasy world in which magic andsteampunk technology work inconcert. The populace of this early industrial reality is extremely varied, with all kinds of monstrous animal people living normal lives. The plot follows a human scientist who is entreated by a bird person who lost his wings. Together, they accidentally release a plague of massive moths who eat minds, forcing them to make dangerous deals and enter treacherous conflicts. It’s a bizarre tale, but its almost violent mix of horror, fantasy, and sci-fi laid the groundwork for the new weird concept.
Jeff VanderMeer is one of the central figures in the new weird movement. His 2014 novelAnnihilationimagined a mysterious area of swamps and coastline that continually produces unbelievable phenomena. His follow-ups,AuthorityandAcceptance, introduce the Southern Reach, a government organization that tackles the extradimensional threat. TheSouthern Reach Trilogyis excellent example of new weird, combining the deeply absurd with the intensely bureaucratic.The loose film adaptationcaptures many aspects of the novel’s unique genre-bending flow. TheSouthern Reach Trilogystands out among new weird stories, sacrificing some of Miéville’s biological variety in favor of Lovecraftian architecture and existential dread. VanderMeer has been a great spokesman for new weird, editing several anthologies that demonstrate the subgenre’s depth. Interestingly, he edited his anthologyThe New Weirdwith his wife Ann, who previously served as the editor forWeird Tales, appropriately keeping both new and old weird alive.
The concept of a government organization tasked with monitoring things that have no place in this reality is common to new weird. Many stories that have emerged from the famed SCP Wiki fit the new weird label. Remedy’s outstanding 2019 gameControltook inspiration from the SCPFoundation to create an in-depth exploration of the new weird concept.Controltakes place in The Oldest House, a seemingly endless skyscraper that holds the Federal Bureau of Control. The FBC governs incursions from another reality, which often result in dangerous objects and mysterious phenomena. The structure of a video game limits the textual oddity of the work, butControlperfectly captures its atmosphere. Its brutalist architecture,bizarre Objects of Power, off-kilter storytelling style, and constant sharp changes in tone make it feel too unique to be anything other than new weird.
New weird stories can take a lot of different forms. In many ways, it’s a subgenre that deliberately defies genre as a concept. New Weird primarily exists as a rebellion against the negative stereotypes of genre fiction.Sci-fi is unfairly boiled downto robots and lasers, fantasy is trapped in the same tropes Tolkien introduced a century ago, and horror is written off as blood and gore. New weird seeks to introduce new elements and remix old ones, resulting in countless wild combinations of concepts that fans can’t get anywhere else. New weird might be a bit too unusual for some, but it’s a subgenre that pushes its disparate parts together and drags all of them toward new horizons.
