Paranormal Fiction Favourites (with Question Prompts)
Ollie Ander
Is probably just a couple cats in a trench-coat—the hair shedding and sunlight napping are highly suspect.
Plenty of the major genres overlap—most great stories contain more than one—but something that’s not as often discussed is how some subgenres can be harnessed in multiple genres, to vastly different results.
Paranormal" is one of them. Horror has distinct paranormal tropes, there’s a thriving paranormal romance subgenre, and paranormal elements can appear in any contemporary/genre fiction. Fantasy, Science Fiction, you name it! Paranormal can fit in there too.
If you love paranormal fiction as much as I do, I’ve compiled a list of writing prompts to explore how you can add some supernatural goodness to any genre!
Societal Commentary Monsters
Classic monsters (Dracula, Wolfman, etc) are all terrifying in their appearance and capability, but upon reading deeper, questions arise: are they really monsters? In the case of Frankentstien, who is the monster—the mad scientist or the creation? Even Godzilla has a persisting theme on the effects and morals of nuclear warfare.
Is there a problem you see in society that could create "a monster?" What would it be, what could it do, and how could it teach audiences about the real dangers?
Stories can have the monsters just be monsters, or the humans be the monsters, without much commentary inbetween, but the close-reading of many horror ends up sparkling commentary discussion. This trope works well in dystopian science fiction too, but it can appear anywhere.
After all, as the writer, you’re the creator—what do the monsters you create say about you and the time you’re living in?
Unwilling Monsterhood
As the above story-type is usually third-person with hidden commentary, if you’re more inclined to first-person or character-driven narratives, you can make the monster your main PoV. Who wouldn’t sympathize with the struggles of an unwilling monster?
Your character has newly become a werewolf or vampire or something else, how are they going to deal with that? How do they feel, what new struggles do they face, what are they going to do about it? Some will seek a cure, but surely, others will be a little too drawn to the dark side…
This character exploration could be anything from thrilling to scary to romantic depending on the way you approach it.
Afterlife Effects
Characters who can interact with the deceased are present in all types of stories, from mystery thrillers to contemporary explorations of grief. Characters who have been mediums their whole lives will be deeply affected in their development from that, perhaps numbed to it over time, but anyone seeing a ghost for the first time probably isn’t going to handle it very well!
What any one character considers a pro or con to interacting with the afterlife will be unique to them, and who they’re communing with. Who is talking to them from the afterlife, and why?
Haunting Presence
Hauntings can come in a variety of different forms. Some hauntings are triggered by an inciting incident, while other places are just plain haunted when you move in. Ghosts as a paranormal story element can serve any purpose you need; from some quick spooks, to offering clues to a mystery of the past.
Not every haunting needs to be scary. Spectral presences can be benevolent and aid characters, as much as they can hinder them. Miscommunication (or scattered/broken communication) is a common plot device when dealing with ghosts, so play around with it: what is the presence trying to tell your character—why can’t it?
Possession is a subclass of hauntings that always gets a mystery going. Sometimes it’s as simple as the character needing to retrace and figure out what they did while they weren’t aware, but there’s often an underlying purpose to why the presence took over…
Planar Passage
Eldritch horror is a beloved niche of many possibilities: adapt the old "traditions," or completely make something new. The chaos and madness can leak in from other realms, or your characters can go to it! Some would argue there’s no replacing Cthulhu in their hearts… but you can certainly try.
Theology
Basing your story in mythologies or a religion, treated as fact, is worldbuilding that encourages readers to harness their knowledge of the origin, and enjoy the unique differences you cook up. Documented figures of worship can have many different interpretations—think "retellings."
Using theology as an infrastructure for the rules of your story can be restricting in some ways, but oh so fun to put your own spin on; an excellent foundation for any paranormal story. And if you’re tired of Greek Gods and Angels/Demons, there’s always inspiration to be drawn from Folklore (respectfully, of course). What do you think Zeus would really be like if you met him?
Encounters of Some Other Kind
Not all paranormal stories have to be rooted in the supernatural, some are extraterrestrial. What differentiates the two is more about where the root cause of the encounter came from. Characters can experience extremely similar concepts through very different origins—there are plenty of stories out there where the eerily unexplainable phenomenon turns out to be science-oriented, it’s just so far beyond explanation that it feels magical.
There’s aliens from outer space, new (but ancient) species uncovered through scientific discovery, and things created by science that can all fall under the paranormal umbrella depending on how they’re presented.
Twisted Nature
A favourite paranormal fiction subgenre of mine is when a particular aspect of our world has been changed, either by magic or science into something wholly new and unrecognizable. Bonus points if "how it happened" sounds believable. This could be an isolated incident or shape the whole worldbuilding. For example, the concept of "what if you could never make a sound?" in the movie A Quiet Place is enforced by the inexplicable presence of deadly alien creatures, whereas Dead Silence narrows the effect down to proximity of one possessed dummy.
What new rule do you want to impose on your characters and how did it come about?
Paranormal Romance
Many of the most influential romances ever written feature some paranormal aspects, from (literal) star-crossed lovers, to romantic interests who are a bit more monstrous than expected. Ask yourself what relationship dynamics would be different if your protagonist fell in love with a vampire, ghost, Big Foot, anything out of the ordinary. You can be as wild a matchmaker as you want—Play Cupid for cryptids!
If you find yourself drawn in by the darker appeal of most paranormal fiction’s applications but didn’t find what you’re looking for here, there’s $ 8 (more) Scary Book Subgenres to Explore$ on our NovelPad blog!
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