What's the first thing that comes to mind when I say...

[Mr. E]

..."Supernatural Thriller"?

Ghosts? Vampires? Any pre-1990 Stephen King?

Is there room in there for good old fashioned demons and/or angels? Or are they perched on their own sub-genre branch farther up in the tree?

Help!

[ccarver30]

My favorite TV show called Supernatural. Sorry, you asked!

[Sassee]

I saw "super" and immediately thought Superman.

But... demons are fun! :)

Dictionary.reference.com says:

–adjective
1. of, pertaining to, or being above or beyond what is natural; unexplainable by natural law or phenomena; abnormal.
2. of, pertaining to, characteristic of, or attributed to God or a deity.
3. of a superlative degree; preternatural: a missile of supernatural speed.
4. of, pertaining to, or attributed to ghosts, goblins, or other unearthly beings; eerie; occult.

–noun
5. a being, place, object, occurrence, etc., considered as supernatural or of supernatural origin; that which is supernatural, or outside the natural order.
6. behavior supposedly caused by the intervention of supernatural beings.
7. direct influence or action of a deity on earthly affairs.
8. the supernatural,
a. supernatural beings, behavior, and occurrences collectively.
b. supernatural forces and the supernatural plane of existence: a deep fear of the supernatural.

So yes, demons and angels could fall under that category.

[JoNightshade]

Thriller = Michael Jackson.

Sorry, apparently that's just what's in my brain. :)

[justpat]

I thought "ghost story" (but not Scooby-Doo)

[Thomas White]

A cheesy psychic saviour and a posessed little girl with bad hair.

[Jack Nog]

My favorite TV show called Supernatural. Sorry, you asked!

Ack! I love that show!

Pretty much any topic on it is a thriller.

[ccarver30]

Jensen Ackles = love

[Jack Nog]

Jensen Ackles = love

Er..well I don't know about that, but I think those two dudes have the best interaction dialog wise on television.

[underthecity]

I call my own novel a "supernatural thriller." At its heart is a ghost story, so, there it is.

allen

[ccarver30]

Er..well I don't know about that, but I think those two dudes have the best interaction dialog wise on television.

LOL Dean has the best lines ever. Too bad last week was the season finale! :( Hopefully it comes back in the fall...

[Robyn]

after last night An American Haunting.. but honestly.. go for it w/ Demons.. went to a conference this weekend and most of the publisher's that spoke were looking for books that had demons and the such in it.

[Jack Nog]

went to a conference this weekend and most of the publisher's that spoke were looking for books that had demons and the such in it.

Well Hot Damn! My WIP happens to be about possession. SWEET

[Michael Dracon]

LOL Dean has the best lines ever. Too bad last week was the season finale! :( Hopefully it comes back in the fall...

Supernatural was also my first guess.

And yes, it is confirmed, they will be back for season 3!:hooray:

[BarbJ]

Always room for demons and angels. The reading public's attention may have wandered away for a moment, but it will return. People like the basic good vs. evil motif, and you can't get more basic than the fallen/unfallen supernatural beings.

[AndreaGS]

X-Files! That's the first thing that comes to mind for me...

[CheshireCat]

..."Supernatural Thriller"?

Ghosts? Vampires? Any pre-1990 Stephen King?

Is there room in there for good old fashioned demons and/or angels? Or are they perched on their own sub-genre branch farther up in the tree?

Help!


According to my agent, there are two different "branches" currently in the paranormal/supernatural tree. The most common -- to the point of glutting the market, at least in some editors' eyes -- contain the more fantasy elements of the supernatural/paranormal, like vampires and werewolves, witches, wizards and other "magical" beings.

The second branch, and what I hear is more common in thrillers, are the slightly-eerie-and-definitely-not-ordinary elements that include psychic abilities, hauntings, science-gone-wrong, and stuff like that.

Some editors certainly are drawing a distinction between magical-supernatural and it-could-happen-supernatural; the trick is to figure out where that line is with the editor/house/line you're targeting.

[underthecity]

The second branch, and what I hear is more common in thrillers, are the slightly-eerie-and-definitely-not-ordinary elements that include psychic abilities, hauntings, science-gone-wrong, and stuff like that.

Thanks for adding this. My book falls into this category. There is no magic or vampires. But there are psychic abilities, hauntings, and plenty of science-gone-wrong. And boy, science goes very wrong in this one. ;)

allen

[CheshireCat]

Thanks for adding this. My book falls into this category. There is no magic or vampires. But there are psychic abilities, hauntings, and plenty of science-gone-wrong. And boy, science goes very wrong in this one. ;)

allen

Sounds interesting. IMO, there are too many of the fantasy/magical books out there right now; I've been in this business long enough to be fairly sure that cycle is winding down, mostly because, as always, too many publishers jumped on the bandwagon and glutted the market. (Not talking about Fantasy here, but thrillers/suspense novels with paranormal/supernatural elements.) The psychic/haunting/science-gone-wrong branch isn't nearly so overloaded with fruit, so the good stuff has a better chance of getting picked.

So to speak. :)

I mean, a girl can mix her metaphors, right? Bandwagons and ripe fruit?


I think I'm brain-dead. Which means it must be Friday.

[AJ Clare]

First thing that comes to my mind is Henry James' 'The Turn of The Screw', but allegedly nobody is buying those kind of old school scaries anymore. More fool them, I reckon.

[Pagey's_Girl]

I thought of HP Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos, but that's just me....