Paranormal fiction is a type of fantasy that includes ghosts, vampires, werewolves, and other magical creatures. It can span multiple genres and categories, such as young adult, urban fantasy, and supernatural horror. Some paranormal stories are published in magazines or dedicated to the genre. It’s important to note that not all horror or fantasy stories qualify as paranormal fiction.
Paranormal fiction, also called supernatural fiction or speculative fiction, is a specific type of fantasy fiction. Paranormal stories encompass elements of the paranormal, such as ghosts, vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters, and any type of magical or otherworldly creature. This type of fiction often goes beyond facts and logical explanations to speculate about things that cannot be seen or proven, such as extrasensory perception (ESP) and alien life. There are different categories of paranormal fiction, such as young adult (YA) fantasy, urban fantasy, supernatural horror, and paranormal romance.
This particular type of fiction can actually span several genres, which are different classifications of stories. For example, some books in the mystery genre may have paranormal elements, such as a psychic detective or a villain who uses magic or special powers to do his evil work. Likewise, supernatural romance often contains elements of mystery or horror alongside classic romance storylines. The lines between genres often blur, so novels written in other genres, such as science fiction or historical fiction, could also be classified as paranormal fiction.
Some of the most popular categories of paranormal fiction today have their own specialty classifications. Urban fantasy, for example, typically involves an urban or city setting. Often, the main character will use magic or other paranormal powers in the story. Many urban fantasies feature underground worlds filled with characters such as vampires, ghosts, werewolves, and other creatures that the main characters learn about over the course of the stories.
Young adult paranormal fiction is written for teenagers and young adults, so fiction usually contains at least slightly less sex and violence than books written for adult audiences. Some YA stories, however, have a great deal of violence and even some sexual situations. Mid-grade paranormal fiction is written for preteens, so the violence is typically minimized or only implied rather than explicitly depicted.
Paranormal novels aren’t the only type of paranormal fiction available. There are several online and print magazines that occasionally publish a paranormal story, while some are dedicated to paranormal fiction. Speculative fiction has become so specialized that many magazines or even sections of a bookstore feature certain categories of paranormal stories.
It’s important to note that while this genre may incorporate elements of mystery or horror fiction, it doesn’t always do so. Horror fiction involving someone killing people in creative ways may not have any sort of paranormal element. An urban fantasy that deals with reality but falls into the fantasy category because of its made-up setting might not even qualify as a paranormal story if there are no magical or otherworldly elements.
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