Karmakaze Posted June 12, 2008 Report Share Posted June 12, 2008 Re: Urban Fantasy: Warnings Nope. Just seems that whatever I read that was Urban Fantasy' date=' books or role-playing, during the 90's seemed to be centered around New Orleans.[/quote'] That's got a lot to do with New Orleans being one of the few cities in the US associated with magic in the public imagination. L.A. in a nutshell is "vapid entertainment moguls", San Francisco is "hippes", New York is "sarcastic, rushed people", Dallas is "big brash cowboys", Miami is "beaches and drugs", and New Orleans is "mardi gras and voodoo." If you're writing about people who work magic, it makes sense to use New Orleans as a setting because there's already a "real world" "magic" community there (sorry for the excessive scare quotes there). Similarly, since voodoo is held in the public imagination to be all about raising zombies, it makes sense to put vampires there, because they're also a kind of undead. The only other city in the US that I can associate magic with on that level is Salem and (a) it's not big enough to really support a lot of these stories and ( a lot of the books that center on witches (rather than fairies, weres or vampires) are set in or around Salem. Toronto gets to be the preferred location in Canada because it's one of the more diverse cities in Canada, which gives the writers room to introduce supernatural diversity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FenrisUlf Posted June 12, 2008 Report Share Posted June 12, 2008 Re: Urban Fantasy: Warnings Concerning the whole "New Orleans as America's City of Magic" I will add that if you research books written on local 'supernatural' or mythic topics you can find a lot for urban fantasy stories set somewhere other than the Big Easy. Here in PA we have Indian Fae/spirits like Mesingw the Lord of the Hunt, dragons, thunderbirds, werewolves, Pennsylvania Dutch witchcraft and 'good magic' (braucherei), Bigfoot, Scots-Irish lore, the Jersey Devil, enough ghosts to stock a city's worth of haunted mansions, wolf demons, extradimensional giant serpents, and a ton of magical locations. You can keep some swampy city overrun with snakes and Cajuns; Pennsylvania doesn't need it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted June 12, 2008 Report Share Posted June 12, 2008 Re: Urban Fantasy: Warnings Maryland has the goat-man, who's half man, half goat. If you really want ideas for how strange your state can be, take a look at the "Weird [insert state name here]" series of books. Each book contains chapters on ghosts, haunted houses, monsters, and assorted urban legends. Oh, and strange stuff that really exists. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FenrisUlf Posted June 12, 2008 Report Share Posted June 12, 2008 Re: Urban Fantasy: Warnings Maryland has the goat-man, who's half man, half goat. If you really want ideas for how strange your state can be, take a look at the "Weird [insert state name here]" series of books. Each book contains chapters on ghosts, haunted houses, monsters, and assorted urban legends. Oh, and strange stuff that really exists. I have the one for Pennsylvania. It's very useful. I want to get the ones for Michigan and Florida to use with Millenium City and Vibora Bay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted June 12, 2008 Report Share Posted June 12, 2008 Re: Urban Fantasy: Warnings I have the one for Pennsylvania. It's very useful. I want to get the ones for Michigan and Florida to use with Millenium City and Vibora Bay. I have the one for Maryland. I'd like to see the one for DC, since it strikes me as a place ripe for strange goings on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FenrisUlf Posted June 12, 2008 Report Share Posted June 12, 2008 Re: Urban Fantasy: Warnings I have the one for Maryland. I'd like to see the one for DC' date=' since it strikes me as a place ripe for strange goings on.[/quote'] I look at Weird Maryland and mostly remember it for the Snallygaster, some sort of Lovecraftian horror flying around the countryside. Then in DC proper there's the old legend of the red-eyed giant demon cat who only appears to warn the public that there's corruption in the capital. He is supposedly very angry when he does show up. But it's not like I can blame him. When last did he get a chance to rest? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted June 12, 2008 Report Share Posted June 12, 2008 Re: Urban Fantasy: Warnings There's a building in DC called "The Octagon" (IIRC), that's supposed to be the most haunted house in the city. Ghosts are also supposed to haunt the capital building, and guards have reported strange happenings around James Smithson's tomb in the Smithsonian. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markdoc Posted June 12, 2008 Report Share Posted June 12, 2008 Re: Urban Fantasy: Warnings But it's not like I can blame him. When last did he get a chance to rest? That's why he's red-eyed! cheers, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midas Posted June 16, 2008 Report Share Posted June 16, 2008 Re: Urban Fantasy: Warnings If we're talking about Scottish Fae and the teind' date=' then the Faerie Realm may well [i']be[/i] Hell, or at least in the same neighborhood. BTW, am I the only person who gets tired of all the uber-Aryan morally perfect omnisexual elves with the kewl magik powerz who seem to swarm in every Urban Fantasy setting? I'd like to see some good (or at least non-monstrously evil) Unseelie for once. How about a somewhat surly Redcap who just wants to hide in an abandoned house, and doesn't spend all his time slaughtering and eating people? Seriously? May I suggest LKH's Merry Gentry series? In that one, the Seelie are Neo Nazi perfectionists, and the Unseelie are the (relative) progressives. Anybody who isn't perfect enough to be in the Seelie Court is thrown out, into the Unseelie. "Sadist, pedophile and necrophiliac? Sorry, we'd like to keep you in the Seelie Court, but some things just aren't done. HEY YOU! With the Jay Leno tuft of hair! You are GONE! We don't allow such terrible blasphemies to perfection around here! Now where was I, oh yes, we don't appreciate someone making us look bad, so I guess you'll have to leave too. Just follow the bad hair elf." Heck, how about non pseudo-Celtic Fae? Try and do some research on Cherokee spirits like the Nanehi (for good) and the Water People, the Moon-Eyed People (evil blue-eyed blondes! Try something different!), and Spearfinger the Witch (for evil). There is a series of books by...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Deitz ...set in rural Georgia, where a Sidhe kingdom is nearby, Just Through the Vail. The Moon Eyed People aren't really evil, but just a bit amoral, by human standards. Another author I would recommend is Esther Friesner. She has a comedy series dealing with Fey on the East Coast. * New York by Knight * Elf Defense * Sphynxes Wild Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pattern Ghost Posted June 16, 2008 Report Share Posted June 16, 2008 Re: Urban Fantasy: Warnings Let's not forget Fritz Leiber. Though they could probably be classed as horror, Conjure Wife and Our Lady of Darkness are pretty decent examples of urban fantasy, particularly the latter. Could add The Sinful Ones, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted June 16, 2008 Report Share Posted June 16, 2008 Re: Urban Fantasy: Warnings Does anyone recall a series of stories about a John Silver[something] who dealt with strange happenings in the Appalachian Mountains? I also recall he had a guitar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FenrisUlf Posted June 16, 2008 Report Share Posted June 16, 2008 Re: Urban Fantasy: Warnings Does anyone recall a series of stories about a John Silver[something] who dealt with strange happenings in the Appalachian Mountains? I also recall he had a guitar. They would be the Silver John/John the Balladeer stories as told by Manly Wade Wellman. They are some of the best 'homegrown' American fantasy ever done IMO, and if you're looking for good Pulp horror Wellman also did a good series in his John Thunstone stories. I'll go looking for links later for Silver John for those interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted June 16, 2008 Report Share Posted June 16, 2008 Re: Urban Fantasy: Warnings They would be the Silver John/John the Balladeer stories as told by Manly Wade Wellman. They are some of the best 'homegrown' American fantasy ever done IMO, and if you're looking for good Pulp horror Wellman also did a good series in his John Thunstone stories. I'll go looking for links later for Silver John for those interested. Thanks. I'd like to find those if I can. Oh, and I now have Hellboy: The Companion. Serious urban fantasy source material. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archermoo Posted June 16, 2008 Report Share Posted June 16, 2008 Re: Urban Fantasy: Warnings You're kidding, right? Sure you might think New Orleans, but thanks to Tanya Huff, Charles Delint and Hollywood North, the real urban fantasy central is Toronto. The rest of them are scattered around places like Minneapolis, Chicago, L.A. and London. (There there's Tokyo, but that's a whole other deal). And here I thought it was Newford... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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