As has already been noted, fantastic literature developed at precisely the moment when genuine belief in the supernatural was on the wane, and when the sources provided by folklore could safely be used as literary material. It is almost a necessity, for the writer as well as for the reader of fantastic literature, that he or she should not believe in the literal truth of the beings and objects described, although the preferred mode of literary expression is a naive realism. Authors of fantastic literature are, with a few exceptions, not out to convert, but to set down a narrative story endowed with the consistency and conviction of inner reality only during the time of the reading: a game, sometimes a highly serious game, with anxiety and fright, horror and terror. Franz Rottensteiner
About This Quote

In his essay “The Fantastic Imagination,” Lewis Grobstein explains that fantastic literature is a “highly serious game.” In order to play this game, the writer must create a believable world that the reader will accept as reality. He or she might even consider it real, but only while reading. Once the story is over, however, the writer must be able to admit that there was no such world in reality. This game can be enjoyed by readers of all ages, and some of the best examples of fantastic literature were written by children, who are not afraid to abandon any sense of reality in order to write about what they believe.

Source: The Fantasy Book: An Illustrated History From Dracula To Tolkien

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