A lot of people ponder over the difference between High and Low fantasy. What makes them different from each other? Do they exist as genres simply to contrast each other? In short, yes they do contrast each other, but that doesn't mean they can't have things in common. Developed out of the old fairytales we all know of with talking animals, abnormally strong children, and love so powerful it may break curses low fantasy describes a world I dare say we'd all like to live in. What child doesn't wish to live in the reality of at least one of their fairytales they've listened to so many times?
Generally, Low Fantasy is defined as magic or similar elements occurring in a world where they're not expected to, such as an alternate version of our world where creatures like werewolves or the like exist. This can be known by the world's inhabitants, and people may have decided to accept or refuse the existence of such supernatural elements, but it could also be that very few know about it.
To put Low Fantasy as the main genre in a book may seem easy because a lot of books fall into it. Authors like George R.R Martin, Jim Butcher, and even J.K Rowling count as low fantasy but have very different types of books other than that single genre. From what I've read Butcher's books can also fit into the urban fantasy genre, Martin's books in dark fantasy aimed at a more mature audience while Rowling's books tend to be more light-hearted –with underlying deeper themes- that a younger audience can appreciate. They all classify as low fantasy, however, as they're all in a similar universe to our own, with a rational world only different because of certain fantasy elements. This indeed contrasts the high fantasy genre as the latter typically takes place in a completely different world than ours, possibly where magic is an everyday occurrence and humans may or may not even exist.
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Low fantasy tends to have a more humble approach concerning magical creatures. There aren't magical elves around every corner, but beings such as werewolves, vampires, ghouls, or an occasional witch that may or may not lead a double life and blend into the crowd of humans may exist. Vampires can be the high society snob with glamorous parties that seem to abruptly end as the sun comes up. A werewolf might be the shunned crazy person in a village or a loner who lives in a secluded house at the edge of a town. In some instances, however, like in the books by Gail Carriger, the supernatural beings may live among humans in perfect harmony, with everyone knowing of their existence and even have laws concerning their well-being.
