The title of this post really should be “Thoughts on Attempting to Write a Grimdark Story,” but that’s not a title that rolls off the tongue, is it?
Anyway, not too long ago I was invited to submit to an anthology. Length of my story, themes and whatnot were pretty much left up to me, provided one thing: the story was a grimdark story.
For those unfamiliar, grimdark is not exactly a subgenre (though I did call it such in my post about what counts as dark fantasy). Rather, it’s a tone or atmosphere that spans across genres. The name comes from the tagline of the roleplaying game Warhammer 40K, “In the grim darkness of the far future there is only war.” Very sci-fi, but as I said, a grimdark story can fall into any genre. What makes a story grimdark? Well, it has a dark, oppressive, bleak tone; characters who are either amoral or just downright awful; and, rather than a focus on hope as in other stories, a focus on cynicism bordering on hopelessness or nihilism. Characters are often antiheroes or villains, or hopeless grunts doing awful stuff, or just the worst ever, and happy endings are few and far-between, if they ever happen.
Now, you may be wondering to yourself: who the hell would want to read that? Quite a few people, actually. The term grimdark has been applied to popular works such as those of George RR Martin, Batman comics from the 1980s onwards, the Spawn comic book series (love that guy, he needs more recognition), and the Walking Dead franchise.
And I’ve heard that if you take out the cheery songs from the musical Chicago, you’d have a very grimdark story. Think about it: two unrepentant murderesses living in Prohibition-era Chicago murder their spouses or lovers and care only about getting off and having careers as entertainers. Their lawyer is a man who only cares if his cases are sensational and getting paid, their warden trades on favors, and the only good person is Roxie’s husband, who gets used and abused by his unfaithful wife throughout the show.
If that’s not grimdark, it sounds damn close.
Actually, Chicago might be something of an influence on my own grimdark story, “Be Careful What You Wish For,” which follows a Vegas actress down on her luck and trying to find her big break. And I hope this grimdark story, which I finished on Sunday, is actually a grimdark story: I certainly succeeded in making the characters, particularly the lead, really awful people. I also tried to make an atmosphere of hopelessness, greed and cruelty under the glitz and glam of Vegas (not very hard). And I did listen to a lot of music I associate with dark moods while writing this story.
But I don’t have a lot of experience with writing that sort of mood, and this is the first time I’ve ever tried to write a grimdark story intentionally (I may have written them in the past without realizing it). So whether it can actually can be considered grimdark is unknown.
That being said, writing the story was a fun challenge. The MC is such a horrible person, and usually my MCs are likable, so writing someone so self-centered and greedy was a lot of fun. And finding ways to make the story that much more grim and dark was fun, too. I could honestly see myself trying to write more stories in this vein, provided I have the right inspiration.
Anyway, I plan to have this story looked over by someone more familiar with grimdark and then edit it before I send it to the anthology’s editor. With any luck, not only will it fit the anthology well, but they’ll want to publish it. And if it gets a really good reception…well, we’ll see what happens we get there. I’ll keep you guys posted.
In the meantime, if you’re looking for something dark and spooky to read, there’s only fifty days till my new collection, Hannah and Other Stories, releases. This collection contains tales of ghosts, budding serial killers, and carnivorous horses, among other things. It’s not grimdark, but the stories are definitely not sunshine and rainbows.
Anyway, Hannah releases on September 23rd, but you can preorder using the button below. If you’re at all interested, please be sure to preorder a copy. And if you do read the book after it comes out, let me know what you think. Positive or negative, I love reader feedback, and it helps me and other readers out in the end.
That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. Until next time, good night and pleasant nightmares.
Rami Ungar The Writer 