High Fantasy: Set in a fictional world with its own laws, countries, and cultures. I.e. Lord of the Rings.
Low Fantasy: A fantasy in which fantastical or magical element intrude on an otherwise normal life.
Contemporary Fantasy: A subcategory of Low-Fantasy in which a story is set in the modern era.
Urban Fantasy: A subcategory of contemporary fantasy set in an urban setting, combining everyday life with fantastical elements. I.e. Percy Jackson, Twilight, American Gods, etc.
Fables: Usually have a moral.
Fairy tales: Often made up, contains magic and made-up or mythical creatures.
Folk/Tall tales: Usually exaggerated tales that are based in reality.
Dark Fantasy: A fantasy story combined with elements of noir, gothic, or macabre. Usually classified as more disturbing and mature and thus these tales are not usually suitable for young children or the squeamish.
Science Fantasy: A mixed genre that combines elements of Science Fiction with Fantasy.
Gaslamp Fantasy: a combination of the steampunk genre and the fantasy genre, for examples, check out Howl's Moving Castle (the movie, not the book) and The Glass Scientists.
Magical Realism: A genre that combines realistic narratives and realism with surreal dream-like or fantastical elements.
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The Book of Fictional Writing 101
Non-FictionA handy lexicon of terms used in and applied to literary fiction and what they actually mean, as well as some ideas on how to improve your writing.
