Dark fantasy in the context of The Dark Tower (series)

The Sandman is a dark fantasy comic book series written by Neil Gaiman and published by DC Comics. Its artists include Sam Kieth, Mike Dringenberg, Jill Thompson, Shawn McManus, Marc Hempel, Bryan Talbot, and Michael Zulli, with lettering by Todd Klein and covers by Dave McKean. The original series ran for 75 issues from January 1989 to March 1996. Beginning with issue No. 47, it was placed under DC's Vertigo imprint, and following Vertigo's retirement in 2020, reprints have been published under DC's Black Label imprint.

The main character of The Sandman is Dream, also known as Morpheus and other names, who is one of the seven Endless. The other Endless are Destiny, Death, Desire, Despair, Delirium (formerly Delight), and Destruction (also known as the Prodigal). The series is famous for Gaiman's trademark use of anthropomorphic personification of various metaphysical entities, while also blending mythology and history in its horror setting within the DC Universe. The Sandman is a story about how Morpheus, the Lord of Dreams, is captured and subsequently learns that sometimes change is inevitable. The Sandman was Vertigo's flagship title, and is available as a series of ten trade paperbacks, a recolored five-volume Absolute hardcover edition with slipcase, a three-volume omnibus edition, a black-and-white Annotated edition; it is also available for digital download.

Night Gallery is an American anthology television series that aired on NBC from December 16, 1970, to May 27, 1973, featuring stories of horror and the macabre. Rod Serling, who had gained fame from an earlier series, The Twilight Zone, served both as the on-air host of Night Gallery and as a major contributor of scripts, although he did not have the same control of content and tone as he had on The Twilight Zone. Serling viewed Night Gallery as a logical extension of The Twilight Zone, but while both series shared an interest in thought-provoking dark fantasy, more of Zone's offerings were science fiction while Night Gallery focused on horrors of the supernatural.

Timothy Walter Burton (born August 25, 1958) is an American filmmaker, animator, and artist. Known for pioneering goth subculture in the American film industry, Burton is famous for his gothic horror and dark fantasy films, his distinctive Burtonesque style, which blends gothic aesthetics with whimsical and surreal elements. He has received numerous accolades including an Emmy Award as well as nominations for two Academy Awards, a Golden Globe Award and three BAFTA Awards. He was honored with the Venice International Film Festival's Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in 2007 and was given the Order of Arts and Letters by Culture Minister of France in 2010.

Burton made his directorial film debut with the comedy Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985) and gained prominence for Beetlejuice (1988) and Edward Scissorhands (1990). Burton also directed the superhero films Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992); the animated films Corpse Bride (2005) and Frankenweenie (2012); the science fiction films Mars Attacks! (1996) and Planet of the Apes (2001); the supernatural horror film Sleepy Hollow (1999); the fantasy films Big Fish (2003), Alice in Wonderland (2010), Dark Shadows (2012) and Dumbo (2019); the musicals Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007); and the biographical dramas Ed Wood (1994) and Big Eyes (2014). Starting in 2022, Burton has directed several episodes for the Netflix series Wednesday, for which he received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series. He also directed Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024), the sequel to the 1988 film. Burton has frequently collaborated with composer Danny Elfman, who scored all but three of his films. He has released several books including The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories (1997).

The Bram Stoker Award is a recognition presented annually by the Horror Writers Association (HWA) for "superior achievement" in dark fantasy and horror writing.

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West is a 1995 dark fantasy novel by American writer Gregory Maguire with illustrations by Douglas Smith. It is the first in The Wicked Years series, and was followed by Son of a Witch (September 2005), A Lion Among Men (October 2008), and Out of Oz (November 2011).

Wicked is a cynical, adult-oriented revision of the characters and setting of L. Frank Baum's 1900 children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, along with its sequels and 1939 film adaptation. The novel is presented as a biography of the Wicked Witch of the West, here given the name Elphaba Thropp. The book follows Elphaba from her birth through her social ostracism, school years, radicalization, and final days. Maguire shows the traditionally villainous character in a sympathetic light, using her journey to explore the problem of evil and the nature versus nurture debate, as well as themes of terrorism, propaganda, and existential purpose.

Warcraft is a fantasy video game series and media franchise created by Blizzard Entertainment. The series consists of six core games: Warcraft: Orcs & Humans (1994), Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness (1995), Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos (2002), World of Warcraft (2004), Hearthstone (2014), and Warcraft Rumble (2023). Initially a real-time strategy (RTS) series, Warcraft expanded into other game genres beginning with World of Warcraft, a highly influential massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG). The franchise has also spawned novels, comics, a tabletop role-playing game, a trading card game, and a 2016 feature film.

The franchise is primarily set on the planet Azeroth, as well as related planets and metaphysical dimensions. Azeroth is inhabited by various races and civilizations, including typical fantasy races such as elves, dwarves, gnomes, orcs, and trolls, along with original races and creatures unique to the franchise. Its lore and story center on warfare between the races and factions of Azeroth, typically between the human-led Alliance and the orc-led Horde, chronicling the exploits of heroes and villains on both sides. While high fantasy at its core, the Warcraft universe incorporates a diverse assortment of influences, including science fiction and dark fantasy. Warcraft has been noted as differentiating itself from other fantasy universes by highlighting "monster races" such as orcs, trolls, and undead, often portraying them as protagonists and giving them significant character development and moral complexity.