Musings on ‘Paranormal’

Ah, the paranormal. Such a broad word. For starters, how do you even define it? If you consider the definition of paranormal in real life, you have a fairly loose definition, with things like ESF, UFOs, ghost hunting, and even cryptozoology all falling under the umbrella of the paranormal. But when we’re looking at fiction and at genres, things…don’t really get much more clear, do they?

In Horror, ‘paranormal’ seems to contain things which relate to the afterlife, usually ghosts and demons, haunted objects and people, but you can still have a ghost story without it being paranormal. Yet you look at Paranormal Romance, and the idea of what falls under paranormal broadens. Paranormal Romance often has a lot of intersection with Urban Fantasy, with some works falling into both. Within these subgenres we still find ghosts, but they’re more ‘substantial’ than the haunting spectres we encounter in Horror, and can take on the role of love interest. There are also, of course, other creatures and beings that populate the world in Paranormal Romance. Here we come across vampires, werewolves and other shapeshifters, fae, magic users…

Essentially, Paranormal Romance can often be a combination of horror, fantasy and romance, but it’s where the romantic element takes precedence over anything else. For a while, it seemed vampires dominated this subgenre, but even within vampire-heavy books there were other creatures. For a while, too, it seemed as if Urban Fantasy was male-dominated, whereas similar books written by women were shelved under Paranormal Romance. The definitions, however, have become clearer in recent years, and even just from the cover it’s a little easier to find the separation in the two.

The way ‘paranormal’ is used encompasses so many different things, completely depending on the context in which you’re using it. Are shows like The Vampire Diaries paranormal or supernatural? The books, certainly, can be argued as Paranormal Romances. Or do TV shows fall into different categories? Even the TVD spin-offs seem to fall in different areas – The Originals has a strong Dark/Urban Fantasy feel, but Legacies more straddles that Paranormal Romance line. And outside of the Romance context, what do we mean by Paranormal?

Even in adaptations, the subgenres can shift depending on which element is emphasised. According to MasterClass , Interview with the Vampire and the Sookie Stackhouse series’ are Paranormal, as is the Anita Blake series. But the film adaptation of Interview definitely feels more Horror, and True Blood takes on more of a Dark Fantasy approach. Anita Blake definitely straddles the line between Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance. It’s very much a rabbit hole one can fall down.

Luckily, here at Divination Hollow we take a loose approach when it comes to genre definitions, which when you’re dealing with something like ‘paranormal’ is quite handy. This week, we’ll be looking at various forms of paranormal, encompassing all this tricky word has to offer. So if you like all kinds of paranormal fiction, get ready to dig in. From ghosts to vampires to fae, we welcome all at our little home, and we can’t wait to open the doors to even more.

Essay by Elle Turpitt
www.elleturpitt.com
Twitter: @elleturpitt