This guide is designed as a comprehensive, long-form resource on intertextuality—a term that sounds academic, but is something we engage with every time we recognize a reference, a homage, or a twist on a familiar story.
The “Chosen One” trope never really left. It just learned new tricks. When handled with care, it’s less about destiny handed down from the heavens and more about pressure, doubt, and the cost of being singled out. The stories that still resonate aren’t asking who was born special, but what it means to carry that label and survive it intact.
Every impossible story runs on rules. They don’t need to be realistic, but they do need to be consistent. Break the logic, and the magic leaks out. Belief isn’t suspended in fiction. It’s engineered.
Explore 10 terrifying fictional worlds—from the Upside Down to Panem and the Warp—where survival is impossible, monsters lurk everywhere, and reality suddenly looks pretty great.
Let’s study the philosophy of the force. It emerges as a mystical energy but also a profound philosophy weaving through existence.
Fictional heroes have been an integral part of literature since time immemorial, captivating readers with their extraordinary abilities, moral dilemmas, and relentless pursuit of justice.
For nearly 61 years, Doctor Who has captivated audiences with its innovative storytelling, eccentric characters, and the iconic figure of the Doctor.
Fantasy TV shows have an unparalleled ability to transport audiences to realms of magic, mythical creatures, and boundless imagination.
While Buffy the Vampire Slayer is often lauded as a feminist triumph in television a closer examination reveals noteworthy shortcomings in its representation of feminist ideals.
World-building in epic fantasy is an alchemical blend of geography, cultures, history, and magic.
Dystopian fiction has long been a compelling and thought-provoking genre in literature, offering a glimpse into possible dark futures.
The classic era consists of multi-episode serials that are considered to be the best examples of Doctor Who’s creativity, humor, horror, and drama.
Since its inception in 1963, Doctor Who has become a beloved and iconic science fiction series, captivating audiences with its thrilling adventures, complex characters, and imaginative storytelling.
Comics, with their colorful heroes, vivid villains, and thought-provoking narratives, have emerged as a cultural superpower, leaving an indelible mark on society’s collective imagination.
What is it about villains that makes them so compelling? The answer lies in the complex psychology of villains.
In May 2023, Hollywood once again found itself at the center of a storm as the Writers Guild of America embarked on a strike that reverberated throughout the entertainment industry.
As someone who has danced around the poverty line all their life, I can tell you that, for people like us, it can be difficult to believe a better life is possible.
Many failed movies could benefit with extra running time. Let’s take a look at 10 terrible movies better suited as prestige TV series.
Squid Game: Season One was a surprise binge hit from South Korea about a high-stakes game of life and death for underprivileged desperate citizens, and for good reason.
With a series like The Walking Dead, the actors are bound to see some hardships. Let’s take a look at some sacrifices actors had to make.
You might be asking yourself what is speculative fiction? Speculative Fiction is a super-genre of fiction. But let’s dive even deeper.
We take a look back and review the newest completed Marvel TV outing for devoted viewers and potential binge watchers alike.
The newest miniseries adaptation of Stephen King’s The Stand (2020), like its central plot, is a battle between good and bad. And the show’s good parts are only due to the source material.
Fiction genres are much debated and revised, but they’re crucial to providing logical order to the storytelling arts.
Netflix cancelling its GLOW TV series left more than plot threads unresolved. The series had just begun to tackle problematic social issues.
Before you check out the new nine-part series of The Stand (2020) coming to CBS in December, let’s journey back to the mid 90’s and revisit the four-part television miniseries of The Stand (1994).
The Netflix series Away takes place in outer space, and VFX can make or break that illusion. Enter the Away VFX artists from Framestore.
In this episode of the Fictionphile Podcast, the crew analyzes why Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV) is a work of art.
The TV show Community featured lots of laughs, but it did so with a truly touching and American-centric message of acceptance, togetherness, and strength through diversity.
We recently revisited the pint-sized blonde detective and rekindled our love. But not all Veronica Mars episodes are created equal.
Girl power was on the move in 2020, but like most things, it was derailed by the Coronavirus pandemic sweeping the globe and driving many indoors, voluntarily or not.
HBO Max’s May 2020 premiere was already anticipated, but with Warner Max it’s clear WarnerMedia will enter the streaming wars guns blazing.
At Fictionphile, we’re pretty big science fiction nerds, so it’s only natural that we keep a close eye on upcoming sci fi across all of fiction’s mediums.
Too Old to Die Young is one of those oddities that cause some of us to say to ourselves and viewing partners, “Just a… little more.”
If you ever loved a movie, play, TV show, or book–anything with dialogue–take a moment and thank Aeschylus. Not convinced? Let’s talk.
A Carrie limited series just got approved for FX based on the horror novel of the same name by Stephen King.
The trailer for Hulu’s TV series remake of High Fidelity dropped today. The series and the original movie, starring John Cusack, is based on the Nick Hornby novel.
Thanks to various forms of fiction, popular culture is rife with different fictional locations from Hogwarts to the Mushroom Kingdom.
Just like bodies, no two examples of body swap fiction are exactly the same. They can range from the macabre to the quirky or cringe-worthy to brilliant.
If you’re relatively new to Stephen King, you might not know the terms constant reader or the Stephen King Multiverse. That’s why we’re here to break down the fiction universe you simply must know.
The battles of science fiction usually need heavy artillery. However, sci-fi movies do not all follow the rules of a single universe.
With April 14th fast approaching, Games of Thrones theories are getting more accurate and also a lot more weird.
Pop culture references in Rick and Morty run deep. Even the concept of the time traveling duo started as a satire of Doc and Marty from Back to the Future.
Watching Altered Carbon, one inevitably asks, would life lose its savor if we lived forever?
Drugs and the talkies share a storied history. But two still-popular series show a scary resemblance. Let’s compare Breaking Bad vs Weeds.
Many episodes of Black Mirror can have a tendency to feel both prescient and totally plausible. Turns out, some are totally possible.
Researchers shook the Internet by the brain this week when they partially restored a quadriplegic man’s control of his hand, and we saw a glimpse of a potentially game changing brain-machine interface.
Hearing about new discoveries in science sometimes feels exactly like reading or watching science fiction.
The singularity, otherwise known as Dawn of the Planet of Computers, has been predicted for years. All we’ve received thus far are chat bots.
