Quote:
Originally Posted by underEJ
Question as I haven't read China Mieville yet, but am planning to very soon: How would you differentiate "New Weird" as a genre from "Bizzaro Fiction" as both derive from similar influences? Is it just the fantasy and sci fi component? Or does the horror component of Bizarro make New weird uncomfortable and want to separate themselves from being perceived as trash?
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Interesting question. Not sure I've read anything that could be considered "Bizarro" but there is a pretty strong fantasy/sci fi vibe in New Weird, especially Mieville.
Perdido Street Station (maybe my fav of Mieville's) has a pretty strong urban Lovecraftian horror vibe going on too. I think New Weird has a bit more of a speculative fiction thing going on.
From the New Weird wikipedia page:
In comparing The New Weird to Bizarro fiction, Rose O'Keefe of Eraserhead Press claims that "People buy New Weird because they want cutting edge speculative fiction with a literary slant. It’s kind of like slipstream with a side of weirdness."[4]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Weird