McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft

Genre question

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Quantus:
Well, in general Id agree with Neuro that anything that has paranormal elements is usually considered Fantasy (Urban or otherwise).  But there are times that is not always the case.  The Dexter novels for example get increasingly paranormal (demonic possession) while still being generally maintained as straight horror.  But then, horror seems to trump other descriptions.  But there are a ton of books that have some low-key paranormal elements, like minor ghost appearances or subtle curses, that can maintain their other genre descriptions, it really depends on how specific you want to be in classifying your story. 

But some genre's are easier to trump than others, which I think is mostly about how alienating the subject can be to those not interested in it.  Readers not interested in the paranormal will be put off if they get too blind-sighted by a story centered around fairies and troll, but maybe not as much if its just above average bad-luck after a supposed Curse.  Stories that get overly descriptive with the gore or sex will usually be stuck in with the Horror and/or Romance sections regardless of other factors.  In general I'd say that it goes:   Mystery < Sci-fi/Fantasy < Horror < Smut.   

LizW65:
Well, the Discworld series is set in a fantasy-based universe, but many of the later books in particular have little or no actual magic in them.

Quantus:
Guy Gavriel Kay has written several stories that are generally called Historical Fiction, despite being set in worlds with two moons, the occasional ghost of forest god, etc.  Its less of a central element, and more of a tool to more easily let go you you preconceptions and get you in the mindset of older societies that believed in more literal supernatural forces.

The Corvidian:
Take a look at F. Paul Wilson's Repairman Jack novels. They strated out as dective novels and now they have alot of paranormal in them.

the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh:

--- Quote from: The Corvidian on November 16, 2012, 03:05:35 AM ---Take a look at F. Paul Wilson's Repairman Jack novels. They strated out as dective novels and now they have alot of paranormal in them.

--- End quote ---

The first one is The Tomb, which is full of inhuman monsters, so I think they've been solidly paranormal since the beginning; Legacies looks like it's not a paranormal plot but later information shows that the McGuffin there was paranormal-ish in origin.

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