The Stranger Times is a supernatural mystery series by Caimh McDonnell (writing as C. K. McDonnell). The series is set in Manchester and follows the team behind the Stranger Times newspaper, a publication dedicated to weird and inexplicable phenomena. Think: a considerably-less-successful Fortean Times.
When Hannah Willis first joins the paper, she assumes that the stories are all nonsense. This is mostly true, and most of the stories are nonsense, but before long she uncovers a hidden world of magical beings that proves that truth can be stranger than fiction.
The series provides examples of:
- Ancient Conspiracy: The Founders are a shadowy cabal of immortals with limitless influence and resources. A single member has a small personal army, enough money buy the silence of victims of paranormal events, and enough influence to make police enquiries vanish in a matter of minutes.
- Animate Inanimate Object: The paper is printed in-house on an old-fashioned press which is ambiguously alive... and hungry. It looms over the humans in its vicinity and seems to be able to operate without anyone else in the room or any obvious power source.
- Anti-Magic: People who carry a key to the Church of Old Souls (now the Stranger Times office) are able to resist magic. For example, they cannot be levitated or brainwashed.
- Camera Spoofing: Hannah is able to sneak around the Pinter Institute because Cathy is messing with the security cameras, including looping footag eof empty hallways.
- Convenient Photograph: Simon's Camera Fiend nature pays off when he photographs the monster in the first book.
- Cool Car: The company car is Banecroft's vintage Jaguar.
- Crime After Crime: The Were causes a messy scene and leaves behind an unwanted body, which causes Simon Brush to investigate. So, the Were has to kill the investigator, but the way the murder’s done causes the police and Stranger Times to figure out that both deaths are connected and involved foul play. So, the Were’s handler tries to kill the police investigation and sics his pet on the newspaper staff. He is thwarted, but uses information he gained in the attack as a reason to blow up a house and kidnap Stella.
- Evil Debt Collector: The Fenton brothers are the most dangerous creditors in Manchester. They will rough up their debtors, damage their property, and even threaten the debtor's loved ones.
- The Fair Folk: Inherently magical beings are called the Folk, though only a portion of them resemble Fae.
- Getting Smilies Painted on Your Soul: The Pinter Institute is rehab centre and mental health resort that churns out happy and fulfilled patients. While the Institute attributes their success to a rigorous program of colonic irrigations and hot yoga, the secret brainwashing is a much more effective treatment.
- Hell Is That Noise: Every focus character who has the displeasure of hearing Dr. Carter's giggle comments on how awful it sounds.
- Hypnotize the Captive: Winona Pinter is hypnotised into being the lover of William Ranford, the Pinter Institute's real leader, as well as the public face of his conspiracy.
- I Just Shot Marvin in the Face: Banecroft accidentally shoots himself in the foot with a blunderbuss (which he calls Chekhov).
- Immortals Fear Death: The moment a Founder first drains life from one of the Folk, they receive a vision of Hell and the knowledge that their soul is forfeit. Needless to say, they are very motivated to stay alive.
- Lurid Tales of Doom: The bread and butter of The Stranger Times. Ox is the resident "UFO guy" while Reggie specializes in ghosts. The real-world website has this type of story too
. - The Magic Comes Back: While magic has never gone away, the Folk can sense the resurgence of dormant or weakened primeval forces like nature gods. This influx of power is responsible for some of the unusual (even for Folk) phenomena encountered by the Times staff.
- Marshmallow Hell: When Stella is promoted to apprentice reporter, Grace sweeps her up in a huge, stifling hug. Stella makes a big production of gasping for air once she's released.
- Masquerade: The Folk are magical creatures who live disguised among Muggles. The Founders are an Ancient Conspiracy who employ bribes and threats in equal measure to keep the "cattle" in line.
- The Mirror Shows Your True Self: Mirrors are used to host remnants, a split portion of a person's soul. Remnants may show something of the soul's internal state. For example, the remnant of a woman with body-image issues looks fatter than the real woman, reflecting (no pun intended) the fact that she mentally exaggerates her weight.
- Never Suicide: Simon is thrown off a building in what’s made to look like a suicide. CCTV footage shows him climbing the building alone since his killers are able to access the roof through alternate means, but the people who knew the deceased realize that something’s fishy.
- No Such Thing as H.R.: The Stranger Times office is a dangerous place to be. Never mind the constant arguing and verbal abuse; there are also headbutts, thrown objects (staplers, hardback tomes, vases), and randomly-firing guns to worry about. Even the calmest member of the group, Grace, has been known to wield a sledgehammer if pushed too far.
- Our Vampires Are Different: Traditional Folk knowledge says that vampires do not exist, but were invented as an allegory for the Founders. Of course, that doesn't stop these "allegories" from popping up in Manchester and ripping out a few throats.
- Our Werewolves Are Different: The main monster in the first book is a Were, a human who has become a supernatural hunting dog and used by the Founders to capture Folk.
- Paranormal Investigation: The reporters are usually bogged down with spurious paranormal stories, but whenever something plot-worthy happens, it usually involves this. Why are members of the Folk vanishing? Why are members of a fictional race becoming real? The Stranger Times investigates.
- Psycho Psychologist: The Pinter Institute employs Dr. French, a therapist who uses hypnosis to condition her patients for soul-splitting.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Stella breaks down and releases a terrifying burst of power when she is led to believe that the villains killed Grace, the first person to ever treat her nicely. Later, after Hannah was stabbed trying to save her, she releases a shockwave of power strong enough to tear up the ground and vaporize the main villain.
- Same Race Means Related: Stella accuses Hannah of assuming she and Grace are related just because they're both Black. In fact, Hannah had just witnessed a conversation between the two that sounded very much like a sassy teen arguing with her overbearing mother. The writing is also on Hannah's side: Stella's race had not been described up until that point.
- Seeing Through Another's Eyes: Sturgess has a creature called a parapsyche attached to his brain. The parapsyche can see what its host sees and was implanted for surveillance purposes. It can take over as a Puppeteer Parasite when required.
- The Stakeout: The journalists stake out different targets with different levels of success. Stanley and Ox successfully follow a suspicious construction CEO, while Hannah and Reggie are spotted almost immediately by their target.
- Stop Hitting Yourself: If a magic practitioner gets their hands on another being's blood, they can control that being. For example, Moretti uses Vinny the troll's blood to manipulate him into punching himself in the face.
- Tracking Device: Grace worries about Stella’s safety, so she asks Ox to put a tracker on her phone. It comes in handy when Stella is kidnapped and the group needs to find her.
- Trash of the Titans: Banecroft's office is absolutely disgusting. It's cluttered with papers, old take-away boxes, and effluvia from Banecroft's personal habits. It's unclear how much of this is a natural uncleanliness and how much is a Mess of Woe. The basement of the Church is also pretty fetid and has a seemingly endless stockpile of spam.
- Treacherous Spirit Chase: Banecroft is visited by the spirit of his deceased wife, pleading for him to help her. He finally tracks her to a pool in Swinton, only to realise it was a siren using Charlotte's remnant to lure him in and manipulate him into betraying Stella.
- Turn in Your Badge: Sturgess’ dogged investigations ruffle feathers and get him suspended from the force at least once. Granted, the stress of the investigation and his migraines caused him to behave erratically and lay hands on a suspect.
- Your Head A-Splode: The top of Anton's head bursts after he comes close to revealing his employer's plans.
