Urban fantasy is not just a literary genre; it is also a Television and Movie genre, even if it isn’t necessarily referred to as such by many people in TV Land or Hollywood. Urban fantasy shows have been around for quite a while, starting with the likes of the Twilight Zone and Outer Limits, both of which were more sci-fi than anything else but still had some urban fantasy elements to them. The urban fantasy genre didn’t really take off though until about ten years ago, when a slew of new shows came along that featured supernatural characters and goings on in a largely urban setting. There’s a good chance you’ve seen some of them.

Television –

• Once Upon a Time – A woman with a troubled past is drawn to a town in Maine where fairy tales are to be believed.
• Gargoyles – A clan of heroic night creatures pledge to protect modern New York City as they did in Scotland long ago.
• Grimm – A homicide detective discovers he is a descendant of hunters who fight supernatural forces.
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer – A young girl, destined to slay vampires, demons and other infernal creatures, deals with her life fighting evil, with the help of her friends.
• The Vampire Diaries – A teenage girl is torn between two vampire brothers.
• Sleepy Hollow – Ichabod Crane is resurrected and pulled two and a half centuries through time to unravel a mystery that dates all the way back to the founding fathers.
• True Blood – This show features every Urban Fantasy trope you can think of, from vampires to werewolves to fairies and everything in between.
• Supernatural – Two brothers follow their father’s footsteps as “hunters” fighting evil supernatural beings of many kinds, including monsters, demons, and gods that roam the earth.
• Hemlock Grove – A teenage girl is brutally murdered, sparking a hunt for her killer. But in a town where everyone hides a secret, will they find the monster among them?
• Penny Dreadful – Explorer Sir Malcolm Murray, American gunslinger Ethan Chandler, and medium Vanessa Ives unite to combat supernatural threats in Victorian London.
• Angel – The vampire, Angel, cursed with a soul, moves to Los Angeles and aids people with supernatural-related problems while questing for his own redemption.
• Lost Girl – Lost Girl focuses on the gorgeous and charismatic Bo, a supernatural being called a succubus who feeds on the energy of humans, sometimes with fatal results. Refusing to embrace her supernatural clan system and its rigid hierarchy, Bo is a renegade who takes up the fight for the underdog while searching for the truth about her own mysterious origins.
• Dead Like Me – A college dropout, Georgia “George” Lass is killed by a toilet seat that falls from the MIR space station on her first day at a temp agency. Upon death, she is recruited for a team of grim reapers – undead who mix among the living and take people’s souls just before they die. Along with fellow team members Mason, Roxy, Betty, and leader Rube, George discovers life after life.
• Being Human – A werewolf, a vampire, and a ghost try to live together and get along.

Movies –

• The Harry Potter Movies – Rescued from the outrageous neglect of his aunt and uncle, a young boy with a great destiny proves his worth while attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
• Ghostbusters – Three unemployed parapsychology professors set up shop as a unique ghost removal service.
• Hellboy – A demon, raised from infancy after being conjured by and rescued from the Nazis, grows up to become a defender against the forces of darkness.
• Hellboy II – The mythical world starts a rebellion against humanity in order to rule the Earth, so Hellboy and his team must save the world from the rebellious creatures.
• Big Trouble in Little China – An All-American trucker gets dragged into a centuries-old mystical battle in Chinatown.
• Underworld – Selene is a beautiful vampire warrior entrenched in a war between the vampire and werewolf races. Although she is aligned with the vampires, she falls in love with Michael, a human who is sought by werewolves for unknown reasons.
• Underworld Evolution – Picking up directly from the previous film, vampire warrior Selene and the half werewolf Michael, hunt for clues to reveal the history of their races and the war between them.
• The Covenant – Four young men who belong to a supernatural legacy are forced to battle a fifth power long thought to have died out. Another great force they must contend with is the jealousy and suspicion that threatens to tear them apart.
• Groundhog Day – A weatherman finds himself living the same day over and over again.
• Blood & Chocolate – A young teenage werewolf is torn between honoring her family’s secret and her love for a man.
• Blade – A half-vampire, half-mortal man becomes a protector of the mortal race, while slaying evil vampires.
• Interview with the Vampire – A vampire tells his epic life story: love, betrayal, loneliness, and hunger.
• Highlander – An immortal Scottish swordsman must confront the last of his immortal opponent, a murderously brutal barbarian who lusts for the fabled “Prize”.
• Constantine – A man struggling with his faith is haunted by the sins of his past, but is suddenly thrust into the role of defending humanity from the gathering forces of darkness.

 What are some of your favorites?

I’m in the process of writing my third urban fantasy book, called “Egg of the Amphitere.”  It’s from my Dragomeir Series which includes “The Emerald Dragon” and “Flight of the Aguiva.”  If you like dragon books, or creatures like vampires, hellhounds and sabers, come check them out at my website

 www.solitaireparke.com

Solitaire