What is Speculative Fiction?

If you've ever looked to submit a piece of writing to a magazine, or even tried to publish a book, you may have come across the term 'speculative fiction,' and the term itself may have been a source of some speculation for you. What is speculative fiction, and why is it everywhere?

Speculative fiction is a clump of genres that include fantasy, science fiction, and horror, among others. Fantasy is one of the most popular and fastest-growing genres today, especially young adult fantasy, so lots of publishers are looking for speculative fiction. Let's take a look at some of the genres and sub-genres that fall within the broad umbrella of speculative fiction.

Fantasy

There are many kinds of fantasy, high and low, epic and medieval. Oxford Languages defines the fantasy genre as "a genre of imaginative fiction involving magic and adventure, especially in a setting other than the real world." This definition can be misleading, as some iterations of fantasy, such as kingdom adventures, contain no magic. For now, let's say that a story could be considered fantasy if it takes place in a world unlike or separate from our own and involves elements that don't and can't occur in our reality. A couple unique subgenres you might come across:

Science fantasy, a blending of science fiction and fantasy. Imagine fairies with ray guns, for example.

Magical realism, a story that is set in our world but where some magical elements are accepted and not explained or singled out as unusual. One example of this is Salman Rushdie's short story "The Prophet's Hair."

Science Fiction

Science fiction is similar to fantasy because it often takes place in a world not our own (or so far advanced it's nothing like our own). However, sci-fi's focus is often on technology (especially in "hard sci-fi") and futuristic scenarios. Space travel and alien races often play a role, but aren't essential: Time travel, artificial intelligence, or virtual worlds (among many kinds of technological advances) can also play a central role. A couple unfamiliar subgenres you might run into:

Space opera, a dramatic adventure tale set in outer space, which often involves war and romance.

Time slip, which occurs when a character unknowingly or accidentally travels through time.

Horror

Horror isn't just for movies; it's also a genre of literature primarily concerned with inspiring feelings of terror in the readers. "Horror" may not be a term you usually associate with "literature," but some well-known classics fall into the horror genre, including Bram Stoker's Dracula and Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Horror falls within the realm of speculative fiction because it usually deals with the supernatural or occurrences with no natural explanation. Some unusual subgenres you might find:

Eldritch horror, which focuses on human encounters with the incomprehensible, often associated with HP Lovecraft's "abominations" and weirdness in general.

Gothic horror, typically set in the late 18th or early 19th century and associated with complex villains, spooky architecture (gargoyles, anyone?), and isolation, focusing on battles with evil or the supernatural.

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These aren't the only genres categorized as 'speculative fiction'--sometimes dystopian stories, fairytale retellings, and other surreal stories make the cut. But the genres listed above (and the subgenres I highlighted) are generally accepted as falling under that umbrella. Next time you run across 'speculative fiction' in your publisher search, you'll know what the editors are expecting.