Thursday, February 11, 2010

Urban Fantasy Ideas

Urban Fantasy: What’s Weird, What’s Next?
by SB Sarah • Monday, February 08, 2010 at 11:05 AM
(warning: click back to the original link and language may be offensive to some)
(Funniest ideas at the bottom of this post)

A discussion taking us beyond vampires and werewolves into predictions for upcoming critters
From the comments section:

Were-fish? No, I’m being serious, there are some Hawaiian legends relating to sharks who can assume human form and wander on land.

Golems? Doeppelgangers?...Sirens?

How about Scandinavian mythology? Odin, Thor, Giants and all sorts of cold-weather fun.
How about some urban fantasy that isn’t all dark and intense. Would it kill the authors to write something lighter? Still sexy, but more comedy and laughs than angst and fury?
Really, anything but vampires and werewolves would be peachy keen with me.

Instead of your standard werewolf etc., how about the Indian equivalent: the Naga - Cobra-wers - very beautiful but cruel and cold-blooded

We could also see more Rusalkas, Pookas, and Kitsunes - and Loki or Anansi would make a nice change from Coyote

Has anyone written about goblins?

Celtic folklore-based stories

I would especially like to see a series that involve the djinn.

Manitous

animal-shifter stories

more demons and fallen angels

Popol Vuh in the barrio

astrology-themed

I’d like to see urban nymphs. They could be associated with fountains, or fire hydrants, or streetlights. I think they could get up to a lot of trouble in a city.

Native-American or Egyptian mythology.

folklore of Africa, South America or Oceania.

Native American mythology

I like the idea of Wereravens. Or how about non-usual weres, like Werelynx, were-coyotes, werebears, Wereowls… or how about a wereswan?

creatures from Voodoo

I want to see a series with Death as a matchmaker. Who else, metaphorically speaking, knows us better?

think I’d like to see more urban symbiosis going on—creatures who evolved with or found a niche in the urban environment and thrive there.

Mermaids

I would totally read the werebunny as long as the author doesn’t go the obvious playboy route

I see ferrets becoming a big deal. FERRETS, people. It’s the perfect were-animal. You would never think a cute little ferret would turn into a big-ass dude who would then proceed to choke you!

The next hot thing is PLANTS

How about an alcoholic PI in a Memphis where Elvis didn’t die in 1977, he just crossed over to the Nightside by becoming a vampire? Where werewolves drive trollies and teach English lit. Where pixie street gangs are frequent targets of Sugar Anonymous propaganda. Where gremlins have abandoned LibertyLand for the riverboat casinos and zombies load trucks on President’s Island. Where a demonic stripclub called Hellzapoppin’ is the highlight of a trip down Beale Street, succubi hunt among the lost souls at City Mission and minotaurs must prove themselves in an all-centaur accounting department.

UNDERWEAR GNOMES! OH PLEASE, PLEASE, UNDERWEAR GNOMES. (note: this is in reference to a particularly silly episode of South Park)

How about a romance serial on the Travelocity traveling garden gnome??

1 comment:

debbsmith said...

Hello!
There's lots going on out here beyond the vampires and werewolves! At my small press we've got contemporary merfolk (Alice At Heart) also cat-women (ONCE BITTEN, and its new sequel, TWICE DEAD)demons and part-demons (BITE ME and TRY ME, coming out next month) demons and angels and "other" in SOUL CATCHER, also a diverse array of were-people, vamps, witches and magical tattooists (FROST MOON, coming in March.) www.bellbridgebooks.com. I'm happy to send pdf review copies to all requests. Once Bitten is high on the Amazon list; check out the reviews (author: Kalayna Price) Thanks! Deb Smith, Editor, Bell Bridge Books