Steampunk is a genre which originated during the 1980s and early 1990s and incorporates elements ofscience fiction,fantasy,alternate history,horror, andspeculative fiction.
It involves a setting wheresteam poweris widely used—whether in an alternate history such asVictorian eraBritain or “Wild West”-era United States, or in a post-apocalyptic time —that incorporates elements of either science fiction or fantasy.
Works of steampunk often featureanachronistictechnology, or futuristic innovations as Victorians might haveenvisionedthem, based on a Victorian perspective onfashion,culture,architectural style, andart.
This technology includes such fictional machines as those found in the works ofH. G. WellsandJules Verne, or the contemporary authorsPhilip Pullman,Scott WesterfeldandChina Mieville.