Fiction genres categorize narrative storytelling based on plot elements. Popular genres include mystery, science fiction, romance, westerns, fantasy, horror, and literary fiction. Storytelling has existed since prehistoric times, with the novel originating in the 1700s. Edgar Allan Poe invented the mystery story, while Jules Verne and HG Wells pioneered science fiction. Pulp magazines helped create fiction genres, including westerns and romantic fiction. Bookstores divided fiction sections by genre, and new hybrid genres emerged in the 20th century. Literary fiction is sometimes considered a genre.
Fiction genres are categories used to classify different types of narrative storytelling. While fiction means any story that didn’t actually happen, in general usage it usually refers to written literature. Fiction genres are subdivisions of literature based on the types of plot elements common to each genre. The term genre fiction is sometimes used derogatorily to differentiate popular fiction from upscale works of literature. Popular fiction genres include mystery, science fiction, and romance. Westerns, fantasy and horror are also enduring genres, as are more classic literary fiction.
Storytelling in one form or another has existed since prehistoric times; in the eras before written language, verbal narratives were passed down from one generation to the next. The earliest written works were often true stories embellished with fictional or invented elements. Examples include Homer’s Odyssey and The Epic of Gilgamesh. The novel originated as a literary form in the 1700s. In the late 19th century, there were so many forms of fiction that some writers specialized in certain topics or genres.
The American writer Edgar Allan Poe invented the mystery story with The Murders in the Rue Morgue in 1841. Other writers, including the Englishman Arthur Conan Doyle, continued and perfected the mystery, a literary puzzle based on the details of a murder or another crime. Poe also mastered horror fiction, a genre pioneered by earlier writers such as Mary Shelley. While elements of these stories have been around for centuries, they weren’t true genres of fiction until the late 19th century. Masters of 20th century horror included HP Lovecraft, Robert Bloch and Stephen King.
Another literary master of the 19th century was Jules Verne, a French novelist who specialized in tales of fantastic adventures. He and British writer HG Wells pioneered the field of science fiction, one of the dominant literary forms of the decades to follow. The so-called cheap pulp magazines of the early 20th century specialized in these tales of possibility; this specialization of the pulps helped create the field of fiction genres. Other pulps have focused on tales of the American frontier, where writers like Zane Gray and Max Brand created the Western genre.
Romantic fiction, tales of love against the odds, also got its start in pulp magazines, eventually becoming one of the most lucrative fiction genres of the late 20th century. At the time, it was standard practice for bookstores to divide fiction sections by genre. Other genres with wide popularity included fantasy fiction, religious fiction, and erotica. In the 20th century, the variety of material available led to new hybrid genres, such as supernatural romance. Literary fiction is sometimes considered a genre in its own right.
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