Contemporary fantasy is fantasy set in the real modern world. It is also sometimes referred to as real world fantasy, urban fantasy, or low fantasy.

Brian Attebery likes to call contemporary fantasy "indigenous fantasy" because it is "like an indigenous species adapted to and reflective of its native environment" (129).

Attebery says that contemporary fantasy is

characterized by the avoidance of the enclosed fantasy worlds [e.g. Wonderland, Middle Earth, Earthsea] predominant in earlier fantasies. . . . Instead these fantasies describe settings that seem to be real, familiar, present-day places, except that they contain the magical characters and impossible events of fantasy. (126)

Attebery further states that such a story takes place in the ordinary world, but contains "magical beings, supernatural forces, and unbalancing principles that makes fairy tale endings not only possible but obligatory" (129).

Many recent fiction series are fantasy set in contemporary times. Some of the most popular include:

• Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series
• Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Black series
• J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series.

A lot of television fantasy is contemporary fantasy. Some popular recent series include;

• Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spinoff Angel
• Joan of Arcadia

For titles, see

• Browse by Fantasy Subgenre: Contemporary Fantasy