Keywords

Mormon Fiction Writers, Mormon Authors, Speculative Fiction, Horror Fiction, Science Fiction, Fantasy Fiction, Magic and Supernatural Literature, Orson Scott Card, Dave Wolverton, Stephenie Meyer, Leading Edge (Magazine), Brigham Young University English Department

Abstract

Speculative fiction describes a broad grouping of fiction types containing fantastical content. It includes genres such as horror, science fiction, and fantasy. It can include other genres such as mystery and romance if stories in those categories alter reality with elements of magic and the supernatural. It can include non-genre fiction and any story with strange, weird, or amazing things going on. Speculative fiction takes readers out of the real world into a place beyond reality, a place where anything is possible. Mormon writers, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), appear to be particularly adept at creating these alternate worlds, and for the past several decades numerous Mormon writers have flourished in the field of speculative fiction. This sidebar from Mormons and Popular Culture: The Global Influence of an American Phenomenon (Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger, 2013) provides a brief introduction to the topic.

Original Publication Citation

J. Michael Hunter, "Speculative Fiction," in Mormons and Popular Culture: The Global Influence of an American Phenomenon (Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger, 2013), 2:27-32.