A Weird Fiction Revival?

Maybe it never truly died out, but, at least in my life, I am aching for a return to weird fiction, an itch 'Elden Ring' has graciously scratched: and compels me to speculate that George R.R. Martin, the lore master of the mythical Lands Between, feels much the same way.

 George always had a penchant for winking and nodding at Tolkien in his stories, the betrayal of House of Castamere being one example--but if the bones of George's story-telling aesthetic is Tolkien, and that seems incontrovertible, because 'Game of Thrones' was practically mimeographed from the blatantly Tolkien-inspired 'Dragonbone Chair', then I'd argue--because Tolkien's fiction was inspired by Dunsany--one of, if not, the grand daddy of early 20th century weird fiction--that George's epic fantasy is based in weird fiction; and, if the bones of Martin's fantasy setting of Westeros is Tolkein-inspired, and its musculature is most certainly Howard and Lovecraft, self-confessed weird fiction writers both, that buttresses the argument: or it will, once I explain what the hell "weird fiction" is.

 "Weird fiction" is story telling stemming from the (mostly) late 19th century tradition of pulp fiction, which was often short-form fantasy usually inspired by folk lore, mythology, the Victorian flirtations with the occult, and, often, a colorful synthesis of science, or, rather, magic with a scientic-y veneer* ("science fantasy" a'la 'John Carter of Mars' more than "science fiction" a'la 'Ender's Game').

Writers like Lord Dunsany were formative in this (somewhat) nebulous movement, his stories long and short often steeped in folk horror, cosmic horror, mythical or "high" fantasy and even science fantasy (although the latter to a much lesser extent). 'Thangobrind the Jeweler', a pulp about an avaricious jewel-setter trying (and failing) to swipe a holy relic from the idol of a spider god, striking any table top murder hobo as a prototype for their own dungeon crawling shenanigans (and certainly Gygax references Dunsany in Appendix N as one of his influences); whereas 'The King of Elfland's daughter' is a revered high fantasy novel by the same author, likely inspiring Tolkein who, like Dunsany, dedicated entire epics in his mythos to the forlorn romances between elves (flavored more like fairies) and humankind. Dunsany's influence on Tolkein's Middle Earth, which skews mythical, the gods of its genesis actively galloping across the countryside in the form of Gandalf, is as immutable as his influence on Lovecraft's Dream Cycle, where the waking worlds of mortals cower from the more timeless,  weird and terrifying layers of cosmic reality behind "the wall of sleep"; at the center of which is a primeval mass of articulated chaos, Azathoth, kept asleep by the Elder Gods. Much like how Dunsany's God of creation is kept asleep by an angel beating a drum. Weird fiction encapsulates both mythical fantasy, or "high fantasy", as much as it does cosmic or folk horror; and it's to these roots I crave for modernity to return. And I think George does, as well.

 Based on how passionately he threw himself into 'Elden Ring', and every inch of the game brims with lore he flavored to be dramatic high fantasy, rather than morally-bankrupt low fantasy, I think George wants to abandon the modern fashion, the gritty period dramas with dragons that have devolved into vapid deconstructions of fantasy entirely, and go back to the extravagantly fantastical worlds of Tolkien, and Dunsany whom Tolkien adored. Fantasy punctuated by moral philosophy rather than pedantically apologized for with science.

 That's not to say Brando Sando's scientific-y fantasy has no place, or is riding on a typhoon of pseudo scientific fantasy that harms the genre more than it helps, it just means that the pendulum needs to, and will, take a healthy swing back in the direction of weird fiction. Fantasy that's "weird", that is fantastical and mystical and mythical and makes no bones about it. They operate on their own internal logic, or rules, but the rules aren't based slavishly in science or physics.

Wwwwhy are the spells in Jack Vance's 'Dying Earth' series alive ? Why do they pour from the pages of pre-apocalyptic tomes over the finger tips and into the minds of mages? Mages anxious to have their contents dwell in their heads for the brief time they're used and forgotten? Why can the mages only remember three spells at a time?

I don't know, why does Prince Corum in 'The Swords Triology' have a multi-faceted eye that can see a limbo-hell where the undead suffer? Why does he have a six-fingered Hand that can  summon them to do his bidding? Why do they have to replace themselves with more dead to pass on?

I don't know, why are there warrior-jars  in 'Elden Ring'?  Why are they jars? Why do they have arms and legs and thoughts and feelings? Why are they filled with blood when you smash them open?

 Because it's weird!

 Because it's interesting!

Because it's creative!

Fantasy, before anything else, should be creative!

We need to abandon this absurd notion that fantasy needs to make sense any way but internally, and even that should be based on whether or not "the rules" are colorful and entertaining. This desperate insecurity in fantasy writers needs to end; and it will, because people are starving for the mythical and the bizarre. We want spectacle we can bask in even if we can't initially understand it in all its facets. It's okay for fantasy to just be weird, to leave some of its lore obscure and most of its logic unsaid.

*Hawthornes' 'Twice Told Tales', which feature the short story 'Dr. Heidegger's Experiment' is one example of science fantasy.