Something Wicked this way comes... - More Science Fiction, less Horror?

Joe

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More Science Fiction, less Horror?
Jan 14^th, 2008, 7:08pm

This has been an ongoing debate in the SW offices for some time now.

Even I have to admit that Horror is an incredibly niche genre.
But SW was never meant to just be a horror zine, there is far too much brilliant fiction out there to limit ourselves to just a single genre.

As a result we introduced our Scary Sci-Fi comp at the end of last year, and the response was overwhelming - clearly there is a market for Science Fiction.

As a genre some would argue that Sci-Fi has infinitely more possibilities than horror - I would not agree entirely, but what I do feel is that Sci-Fi writers seem to stretch their imaginations a little further than horror fiction writers do.

Quite a few of the stories we receive for SW tend towards they same old formulas - there's something creepy out there, what it is, oh it's a monster and I'm dead...

Now one could argue that all good stories are about people, ordinary people in extraordinary situations. This can be applied to any story in any genre. So why is it that so much of the fiction that comes our way tends to focus on the monster, or the killer, or the visceral effects of either instead of the emotional and psychological aspects of what the characters are going through.

Strong characters = strong story

Anyway, diatribe over.
What I'm trying to get at is that SW is widening its net.
We want to go where few other Sci-Fi or Horror zines have gone - take us to the limits of our imaginations and scare us, or make us think, or simply show us something we've not seen before.

What do you think?
More sci-fi less horror?

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concretehopper Bat Newbie Offline Posts: 3 JHB Gender:	Re: More Science Fiction, less Horror? Reply #1 - Jan 14^th, 2008, 7:24pm Personally, I trust your judgement. Haven't finished an SW wanting yet...
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Joe Zombie King - Admin Offline ...so cold...down here Posts: 401 Cape Town Gender:	Re: More Science Fiction, less Horror? Reply #2 - Jan 14^th, 2008, 7:32pm Thanks concretehopper
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David_debeer

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Re: More Science Fiction, less Horror?
Reply #3 - Jan 22^nd, 2008, 3:13pm

eh? I didn't know you took SF? sf with a darker bent I take it? like dystopian fiction?

mind you, there was that one story I read in an early issue about the clones, or Brad Pitt robots or something, so I probably shouldn't be surprised, but yeah, I thought of SW as being mostly only horror.

A bit more variety would be good, at least it allows some more room for writers to play in.
Dark SF and dark fantasy?
I don't know, I'd say go for it, get some moody, brooding stories and not just ones that go bump in the night (says he who mostly sells bump in the night stories..)
it's a bit more freeing, isn't it? writing dark, but not necessarily having to "scare".
I like it, go for it.

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fuzzy_death Bat Newbie Offline The hairer the scarier! Posts: 15 Cape Town Gender:	Re: More Science Fiction, less Horror? Reply #4 - Jan 22^nd, 2008, 5:27pm I like horror and I like sci-fi. I'd be glad to see at least one sci-fi story per issue, preferably a good one like &Arial. That still blows me away. Now more stories with that engagement I'm happy with.
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Joe

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Re: More Science Fiction, less Horror?
Reply #5 - Jan 22^nd, 2008, 5:56pm

Well fuzzy you'll be happy to know that &arial part 2 is coming in Issue 6 - &arial: Overload.

I must admit one of the major reasons why SW started out as primarily Horror was simply because that was my first love.
Over the last 18 months I've been devouring SF and have seriously grown to love it.
It broadens the spectrum quite significantly, i think, and I'll be excited to see what stories come pouring in once we re-open subs in April.

Issue 6 will have quite a few SF stories and articles in it (at least 4, including the comp finalists) - if you haven't seen the cover yet go over to Wicked Downloads and check out the free wallpapers.

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fuzzy_death Bat Newbie Offline The hairer the scarier! Posts: 15 Cape Town Gender:	Re: More Science Fiction, less Horror? Reply #6 - Jan 30^th, 2008, 2:05am Joe wrote on Jan 22^nd, 2008, 5:56pm: Well fuzzy you'll be happy to know that &arial part 2 is coming in Issue 6 - &arial: Overload. It is very happy
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fabrulana Bat Newbie Offline aargh ... I've lost my code ! Posts: 5 Centurion Gender:	Re: More Science Fiction, less Horror? Reply #7 - May 29^th, 2009, 9:54am I enjoy both - my favourite would be one combining both like the movie Alien ...
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toiletduck Bat Newbie Offline Darkness Comes Posts: 2	Re: More Science Fiction, less Horror? Reply #8 - Jul 18^th, 2009, 7:52am Can't agree! What about more horror and less Sci-Fi?
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EyesBeyondMovie Bat Newbie Offline Darkness Comes Posts: 2	Re: More Science Fiction, less Horror? Reply #9 - Jul 9^th, 2010, 6:25pm Horror all the way
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