Ever since Twilight became a thing, shifters and been all the rage in the paranormal genre. Sure, we’ve seen attempts by zombies, Frankenstein, and even a return of the vampires to dethrone shifters, but they still seem to rule the roost.
But every dynasty must eventually fall. So what’s the next great paranormal craze?
At one point, vampires held sway over the popular imagination, with icons like Lestat, Dracula, Count Chocula, and Elvira in the national limelight.
And some shows have tried to blend the cast of characters – even Twilight had both vampires and werewolves. Being Human had a werewolf, a vampire, and a ghost. And of course, True Blood had pretty much everything.
So if you had to guess, what would you say would be the next paranormal creature to take center stage in the cultural imagination? Ghosts? Maybe misunderstood demons? How about paranormal leeches?
As I write my own stories set in my own handmade worlds, fads in pop culture are more or less irrelevant; I’ve written zombies, shifters and gaslight-era, but because I was bidden to do so.
I’m a big fan of Supernatural, and they have a little bit of everything–urban legends, monsters from other lands, angry spirits, vampires, werewolves, etc. often with a particular twist on the mythology. A favorite urban fantasy series, the Leandros Brothers novels by Rob Thurman, also mixes a variety of supernatural creatures with a unique twist. Her werewolves, for example, are a big crime syndicate in the city, and some of them long to return permanently to pure wolf form. And her version of elves–the viciously homicidal auphe–are terrifying. So, I kind of like the idea of a mixture that jumps off from standard tropes and mythology and finds new ways to bring creatures into our everyday world.
Shifters and vampires will always be popular because there will always be a new way to spin them. Just take a look at The Strain on cable. Teen Wolf itself is bringing more and more folklore to life each season which means new generations to learn what a kitsune or wendigo is. I love that.
At times it does seem that the books coming out are inundating us with werewolves and vampires and cat shifters of all types. But still authors manage to surprise me with their inventiveness and new takes on old popular themes.
Like sharks, I never see them going out of favor but a tide of leeches or rabid bunnies? not so much! lol Love that cover!