Bangsian fantasy is a fantasy genre which concerns the use of the

afterlife The afterlife (also referred to as life after death) is a purported existence in which the essential part of an individual's identity or their stream of consciousness continues to live after the death of their physical body. The surviving es ...

as the main setting within which its characters, who may be famous preexisting historical or fictional figures, act and interact. It is named for John Kendrick Bangs (1862–1922), who often wrote it.

Definition

According to

E. F. Bleiler Everett Franklin Bleiler (April 30, 1920 – June 13, 2010) was an American editor, bibliographer, and scholar of science fiction, detective fiction, and fantasy literature. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, he co-edited the first "year's best" s ...

, in his 1983 ''Guide to Supernatural Fiction'', "Bangs' most noteworthy achievement was a contribution to literary typology: the so-called Bangsian story, in which important literary and historical personalities serve humorously as characters in a slender plot line. Bangs did not invent this subgenre, but his work gave it publicity and literary status." Bleiler's definition does not take into account that some of Bangs' stories, including the definitive Associated Shades series whose characters reside in Hades, are set in the afterlife. Jess Nevins' 2003 definition (in ''Heroes & Monsters: The Unofficial Companion to

the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen ''The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen'' (''LoEG'') is a comic book series (inspired by the 1960 British film ''The League of Gentlemen'') co-created by writer Alan Moore and artist Kevin O'Neill which began in 1999. The series spans four vol ...

'') says it is "a fantasy of the afterlife in which the ghosts of various famous men and women come together and have various, usually genial, adventures", which closely agrees with Rama Kundu's 2008 definition.

Selected works of Bangsian fantasy

By Bangs

The four Associated Shades books may be considered collections rather than novels. The first three, at least, were first published as serials in ''

Harper's Weekly ''Harper's Weekly, A Journal of Civilization'' was an American political magazine based in New York City. Published by Harper & Brothers from 1857 until 1916, it featured foreign and domestic news, fiction, essays on many subjects, and humor, ...

'' shortly preceding their publication as books by

Harper & Brothers Harper is an American publishing house, the flagship imprint of global publisher HarperCollins based in New York City. History J. & J. Harper (1817–1833) James Harper and his brother John, printers by training, started their book publishin ...

. (Bangs was humor editor for George Harvey's "Harper" magazines from 1889 to 1900.) All were illustrated by Peter Newell. * '' A House-Boat on the Styx'' (1895) * '' The Pursuit of the House-Boat'' (1897) * '' The Enchanted Type-Writer'' (1899) * '' Mr. Munchausen'' (1901)

By others

* '' Riverworld'' series (from 1971) by Philip José Farmer * ''

Heroes in Hell ''Heroes in Hell'' is a series of shared world fantasy books, within the genre Bangsian fantasy, created and edited by Janet Morris and written by her, Chris Morris, C. J. Cherryh and others. The first 12 books in the series were publish ...

'' series (from 1986) by Janet Morris * '' What Dreams May Come'' by

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

writer Richard Matheson * '' Of the City of the Saved...'' by

Philip Purser-Hallard Philip Purser-Hallard (born 1971 as Philip Hallard) is a fantasy, science fiction and crime author described by the British Fantasy Society as "the best kept secret in British genre writing".

, and subsequent stories by other authors in

The City of the Saved The City of the Saved is a fictional setting originating within the Faction Paradox universe, created by Philip Purser-Hallard for ''The Book of the War'' and employed by him and others (including Simon Bucher-Jones, Kelly Hale, Stephen Marley, ...

sub-series (part of the

Faction Paradox ''Faction Paradox'' is a series of novels, audio stories, short story anthologies, and comics set in and around a "War in Heaven", a history-spanning conflict between godlike "Great Houses" and their mysterious enemy. The series is named after a ...

series).https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18044282-more-tales-of-the-city

References

External links