I realized that most (if not all) examples are listed in or Urban Fantasy and Magical Realism. Not wanting to relive the topic above, but ... It seems they are the same thing. How about improving the definition a bit? It's not clear.
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This is the collective label for fiction involving the supernatural. The definition is not clear because there is no one single established meaning of the term.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
What's the difference between Supernatural Fiction and Fantasy in general?
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I'm not sure. I just know it's a pre-extisting term that is sometimes used to desribe a series genre wise.
I'd say supernatural fiction is a subgenre of fantasy. I always used the rule that it's supernatural fiction if there are supernatural horror elements like ghosts or vampires but without much of the the horror, and very little magic usage.
For we shall slay evil with logic...
re:cut
Yeah, no examples, and it's not very clear but the term exists, it has its own wikipedia page. It seems to basically be the super for Urban Fantasy and the like: it involves the supernatural and it is basically in our world. This means it includes all those Young Adult books with vampire and werewolf protagonists (yes, including that one).
I've been cribbing a bit off of "The supernatural in short fiction of the Americas" By Dana Del George from Google Books. "The Guide to Supernatural Fiction" would be more helpful I guess but I think it is out of print.
Maybe a more literary troper can help with this article.
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Libba Bray, Cassandra Clare, and Kelley Armstrong are some young adult authors I like. Should I put those and that other one down as examples. Urban Fantasy seems to me like you're changing up the setting to a High Fantasy, Heroic Fantasy, or Low Fantasy but otherwise keeps the same plot. It's also possible for urban fantasy and supernatural fiction to overlap but they don't have to.
Should we add a line saying most young adult urban fantasy is supernatural fiction? How about something like this:
Supernatural fiction is hard to clearly define which makes publishers and movie producers shy about marketing a work as supernatural fiction. Often times it will be labeled as historical fantasy or urban fantasy. Which isn't entirely misleading as the genres can overlap. In fact most young adult urban fantasy out there is also supernatural fiction. Some might even argue supernatural fiction should be completely subsumed under urban fantasy. Gothic horror, paranormal romance, and paranormal mystery aren't supernatural fiction but people like the way magic is presented in these stories and experiment around with them to make a unique setting. This is the essence of supernatural fiction.
Edited by jate88
Well, what about a story in which a ghost escapes from Limbo and searches the cosmos to find his home. It's sci-fi and supernatural. Add in an alien who sees dead people and voilla! Does that qualify?
Previous Trope Repair Shop thread: Needs Help
, started by RavenWilder on Mar 27th 2014 at 7:26:35 PM
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman