Paranormal writers explore the unexplainable. There are things that are either beyond the human ability to clearly understand through scientific examination, or entirely a product of the fertile human imagination, depending on your beliefs. This fertile ground provides endless opportunity for the writer to make up his or her own explanations, shine a light on new mysteries, or just re-invest us with the old ones. The intent might be to scare us, show us what is possible, to question our preconceptions, or just to tell a good story.
The study of the paranormal is nebulous and always changing, but as the leading edge of science advances like a wildfire, the core things that make us human do not change. We still jump at shadows, still fear death, and we still feel and experience things that we can't explain. While the methodology and terminology we use to try and share and understand it may change, the feeling of something outside of the normal stays the same. The most important core element to paranormal is the word "normal." Paranormal is grounded in our common understanding, and will always have elements that tie the story to the real world.
Classic Paranormal stories have within them: Ghosts,extrasensory perception, Psychic Abilities, reincarnation, aliens, and demons.
The lines between science fiction, horror, fantasy, and paranormal are often blurry. Paranormal almost always includes one of the other genres, and paranormal elements may be just a discardable element in a fairly traditional plot. For instance; does it matter to the story if the villain makes people's head explode with telepathy or shoots them with a gun? But the great paranormal stories make the paranormal the main element.
The classic paranormal story we all immediately can identify is A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. In this story, we see a normal man of his day haunted by ghosts to show him the error of his ways. This is to a certain extent, a discardableelement, as Scrooge might just as well have been educated by a living person. But adding the ghosts into the story adds a very compellingly story tool. Is Scrooge dreaming? Is he being haunted? The question is never answered, and the question itselftitillates the reader.
Paranormal / Science Fiction
All paranormal is science fiction to a certain extent, but not all science fiction is paranormal. Paranormal refers to anything outside of current scientific understanding.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is an excellent example of early science fiction, but it also has many paranormal elements. The monster has elements of a revenant soul, a modern reinvention (for its day) of zombies or draugrs, with a scientific explanation to replace the mythological. This is a common element of the genre, and it can be seen in more recent stories, such as the Underworld movie series, where an ancient curse is replaced with a medieval virus.
This is also where stories about ESP end up, but they may be defined as fantasy as well, depending on the mechanism used. Professor X has ESP from a genetic mutation, but in the movie Constantine, ESP has a supernatural basis making it a paranormal / fantasy.
Alien Science Fiction is another area of paranormal, not often identified as such. Aliens who abduct, probe and release, are an active area of paranormal investigation. In Independence Day, this link is used without restraint.
Paranormal / Fantasy
Paranormal fantasy writers use paranormal elements to create a universe of their own imagining. It may have characters with ESP or ghosts in a world of magic, science, or anywhere in between. Most fantasy has paranormal elements. In The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien, Aragorn raises his undead army, and there are wraiths and any number of other examples. The area between pure fantasy and paranormal is vast, and it continues to be one of the most fertile areas of fiction.
Paranormal / Horror
Most paranormal fiction contains at least some horror. The study of the paranormal is based on the things that make our hair stand on end and things that we love to talk around the campfireabout. Being scared and titillated are often the whole point of the story. Everyone loves a good ghost story, and just about everyone reacts to them with at least an element of fear. Horror, however, is not a required element of paranormal.
Dracula by Bram Stoker is a paranormal horror, as it works to elicit fear with a story of an ancient evil from myth. The Twilight Series by Stephenie Meyer takes the same elements, but make the monsters glittery and glossy, taking away the fear that they should evoke. Instead, it is a Paranormal / Fantasy / Romance.
Why I love writing Paranormal
I was the kid that read every ghost story I could get my hands on. In my twenties, I became fascinated with reading all about Psychic Phenomenon. Who doesn't love writing about Monsters and all the things that go bump in the night? The hardest part of writing Paranormal fiction is building a story and characters strong enough to obtain the suspension of disbelief of the reader. But, when done well, you are only limited by your imaginationand the quality of your research.
Example of Paranormal Fantasy on Wattpad:
Awakening by catrinaburgess
In Awakening, the first installment in the Dark Rituals series, a former healer turns to the Death Arts to seek revenge.
Seventeen-year-old Colina was born a healer. But after a horrific event forces her to leave her clan, she becomes desperate to learn the dark magic of the death dealers, mages who draw their power from the spirits of the dead. Colina was taught to fear and hate death dealers, but becoming one of them is the only way for her to get the revenge she seeks-and the only way for her to survive.
Colina asks a young death dealer named Luke to help her, but he's reluctant to train her in the Death Arts. Little does she know convincing him to teach her will be the easiest part of her journey. To become a death dealer, Colina will need to undergo three dark rituals, each more terrifying than the last. At the same time, she'll have to deal with her growing feelings for her mentor. Too bad the first ritual involves him strangling her to death.
As Colina undergoes the trials, she discovers an untapped darkness within herself. If she survives the horrific rituals and gains dark power, what will she become?
Catrina Burgess' Dark Rituals series originally appeared on Wattpad with over three million reads. Awakening is the first book of four and was named Wattpad's Best Suspense Story of 2014.
Excerpt:
We were two floors up. The rain seemed to be coming down even harder, if that was possible. I made my way down the metal stairs, bat over my shoulder. If I wasn't careful, I would lose my balance on the slick surface and do a header over the rails. I slowly inched forward until the stairs ended and then made my way down the already-extended metal ladder.
Unfortunately, it didn't go all the way to the alley floor. There was a six-foot drop to the bottom. I let my body fall and tried to remember to bend my knees as I landed. It wasn't a graceful descent. As I hit, I pitched forward and lost my balance, ending up sprawled face-first in the mud. I scrambled up, grabbed my dropped weapon, and headed with more resolve than courage toward the alley entrance.
Luke stood at the edge of the group of guys."I told you to leave her alone," Luke said, the threat in his voice unmistakable.
The guy closest to him was big, much older, and dressed in dark jeans and a jacket with an orange-and-black bandana tied around his right arm. The guy turned and laughed.
"Or what, man?"
"I'm only going to say it one more time. Walk away now before you get hurt," Luke demanded.
"Who's going to do the hurting? You?" shouted someone else from the group.
I had no idea what I planned to do once I made it to Luke's side, but I kept putting one foot in front of the other and hoped to Goddess a police car would cruise by any second. I was surprised that they were still talking—the scene looked so one-sided with Luke facing half a dozen tough-looking young men. But Luke's lack of fear seemed to confuse them.
I didn't make it far. I'd only taken a few steps forward when another guy, even bigger than the last, stepped right in front of Luke.
This was it. The fighting was going to start. My breath caught in the back of my throat, but before the guy could lay a hand on him, Luke spun around, lifted his forearm, and smashed the guy on the side of the head. He went down, hard.
The group turned in unison, all attention now focused on Luke. The woman could have scrambled away and made a run for it now that they were ignoring her, but she lay frozen on the ground. It was then that I realized all the guys sported orange-and-black bandanas. Luke was facing down the Triads. The situation had gone from bad to worse. Maybe if it was a general mugging or a bunch of hooligan teenagers out for a little mischief, Luke might have had a chance of scaring them off, but this was an organized gang that spent most of their time looking for mayhem. From what I read in the papers, they weren't above murder.
One of them shouted out, "You just signed your death warrant!"
Luke stood his ground. "Death. Now that's something I know a thing or two about."
Luke raised his hands and started to speak in an unfamiliar language—the language of magic and spells. Light flickered from his fingers, and his eyes shone as if lit from within. His voice suddenly took on a lower, deeper tone until it didn't sound like him at all.
Then a slew of words flew from his mouth and the light moved from his hands to surround the gang.I watched in horror as one face formed within the lights, then another. Luke's calling on spirits. A chill ran down the length of my body. I wasn't the only one to realize what was happening.
Someone cried out, "He's a death dealer!"
Death dealers commune with the dead that have not crossed over, especially the mage dead. That gives them frightening power. It is an easy power to abuse—victimizing the dead for their own ends—and the fear that they can bind immortal souls terrifies any who see them in action.
The gang began to scatter, and I didn't blame them—lights swirled around them in a circle, carrying whirling, formless faces. It was a freaky thing to behold. Heads and partial bodies were starting to form inside the lights. The expression on each ghostly face Luke summoned was full of pain and terror. Then the noise started: an ear-splitting screeching. He was calling up the unsettled dead—banshees.
Inspirations:
Setting
Characters
Music