“Punk” is one of those words that’s used in so many ways to describe so many things that it has lost all meaning. People have been kicking over garbage cans for millennia, so to speak, and Punky Brewster was more Brewster than punk. To complicate matters further, we use the word to describe various subgenres of science fiction, and things have gotten completely out of hand. The basic premise of sci-fi punk is a focus on technology, usually one particular kind of technology. There’s an element of rebellion, too, and the main characters are often marginalized members of society (hinting at the original meaning of the word punk). We often use the term “retro-futurism” to describe sci-fi punk because many of these subgenres are based primarily on the technology and tropes of a past era, but with a futuristic twist. This too has gotten completely out of hand, as you’ll see shortly. Below is a list of the various subgenres of science fiction that have acquired the punk suffix. The list is categorized by how established they are. Some have been around for decades, with plenty of examples, while others are just mishmashes and inside jokes that keep popping up. Punkpunk: A Compendium of Literary Punk Genres
It's all marketing. "Cyberpunk" was a fairly organic label, and made sense at the time, but I have no use for everything else with a "punk" suffix."
Yeah, at some point it gets kinda silly, I think. The same with LitRPG! I'm using Punk in the titles for this series - Snow Punk, Gear Punk, XYXY Punk... So, not saying it's a type of punk more an homage or slight mocking of the current usage of the word? Punk Inc.
I got introduced to the term in 90's when I read Books of Blood by Clive Barker. All things considered: Bodyfluidspunk?
I was more of a King guy. I heard they're making The Stand again - 10 ep series. I don't know if they'll ever be able to capture that magic on film? I may have read a Barker or two, but I don't think so. I always went more sci-fi fantasy than horror. They both walked that line, though, kinda.
I read few King's books way back when, but I only seriously started reading him maybe 5 years ago when I realized how great the guys is.
I preferred King to Barker, although Cabal/Nightbreed is a pretty fantastic read. And Koontz, before he went bizonkers. Splatterpunk is kind of an odd inclusion since that usually refers to movies, or so I thought. Stuff like Re-Animator and the Return of the Living Dead movies. It's basically just extreme horror with some tongue in cheek aspects to it. I've seen "Circuspunk" to refer to some bizarro stories, sort of splatterpunk set in a circus. Elfpunk for urban fantasy (War for the Oaks being the best example - elves on motocycles and playing in rock bands). LitRPG is sort of cyberpunk adjacent - VRPunk? GamePunk?
