ANGEL MARTINEZ
  • News and The Work
    • WIP's and Upcoming Work
  • From Angel's Cave
  • Books by Angel
    • Fantasy >
      • AURA (with Bellora Quinn)
      • Brandywine Investigations
      • Dark Spaces
      • Endangered Fae
      • Lijun
      • Merseton
      • Shadow Run
      • Standalone Fantasy
      • The Web of Arcana
      • Tilted Fairytales
    • Paranormal >
      • Offbeat Crimes
      • Standalone Paranormal
    • Science Fiction >
      • Brimstone
      • The ESTO Universe
      • Interplanetary Multispecies Pact (IMP)
      • The Pudding Protocol Universe
      • Standalone Science Fiction
      • Variant Configurations
  • Free Stuff
  • Where Is Angel?
  • Sandra C. Stixrude - The Anchorage Novels
  • Contact Angel
  • Newsletter Sign-up
  • News and The Work
    • WIP's and Upcoming Work
  • From Angel's Cave
  • Books by Angel
    • Fantasy >
      • AURA (with Bellora Quinn)
      • Brandywine Investigations
      • Dark Spaces
      • Endangered Fae
      • Lijun
      • Merseton
      • Shadow Run
      • Standalone Fantasy
      • The Web of Arcana
      • Tilted Fairytales
    • Paranormal >
      • Offbeat Crimes
      • Standalone Paranormal
    • Science Fiction >
      • Brimstone
      • The ESTO Universe
      • Interplanetary Multispecies Pact (IMP)
      • The Pudding Protocol Universe
      • Standalone Science Fiction
      • Variant Configurations
  • Free Stuff
  • Where Is Angel?
  • Sandra C. Stixrude - The Anchorage Novels
  • Contact Angel
  • Newsletter Sign-up
ANGEL MARTINEZ

Halloween Scare Trail - Paranormal HUmor :)

10/28/2018

58 Comments

 
Picture
I've always loved scary things and paranormal things and things that go bump in the night, but my biggest moth-to-flame item is paranormal humor. This probably started because of ghost stories around campfires and at sleepovers when we were kids. The spooky ones were fun, but the ones I really enjoyed were those with joke endings. (The Ghost with the Ten Bloody Fingers, anyone?) Silly eight-year-old humor aside, it was the moment of surprise, that unexpected lift, that happens when you're ramped up for a scare and get a laugh instead.

Paranormal humor is something of a specific niche, though. So much of it relies on viewers and readers already understanding the tropes and classic stories that the humor is subverting. If you watch Young Frankenstein without knowing Dr. Frankenstein's original story, the slapstick might be humorous, but the movie isn't nearly as funny. (So many incredible comedic performances in that movie.) If you watch What We Do in the Shadows without an understanding of vampire mythos and pop culture, again, it's not nearly as funny. (I had to explain to the hubby what vampire archetype each character represented – he got a couple of them, but not all, and wasn't "getting" the movie.)

In a more general sense, though, the humor really does arise from that surprising break of tension, that moment when something that normally should be scary, or begins as scary or tense, is broken or subverted by the humor. Sometimes it's situational, such as the set up in Beetlejuice. Classic haunted house story that's subverted by the fact that we, the viewers, know the ghosts. We've met them. We like them. We can't be scared of them now. Or the arrival of the Olympians as cranky old gods in Tanya Huff's Summoner series. Or the absurd juxtaposition of Victorian manners and werewolves in Gail Carriger's Parasol Protectorate books.

Sometimes humor isn't the driver behind a piece, but happens in necessary moments that break up a piece and keep it from taking itself too seriously. A story without humor of any kind can really drag for me – and paranormal stories are no exception. The banter during Buffy episodes, or a dark, brooding vampire with moments of self-aware humor like Henry Fitzroy in the Blood series, or the completely awkward interpersonal relationship moments of Percival Whyborne in Jordan Hawk's Widdershins – all of these serve to give you that different sort of jolt, that moment of unexpected laughter in between the adrenaline rushes of scary stuff.

Not all of my own paranormal writing is humorous (some is, and I love writing the theater of the absurd stories), but I'd find it dull indeed if I couldn't inject some humor into serious stories of anything past a short story length.

And now, off to go watch The Nightmare Before Christmas…

Don't forget to enter the Rafflecopter below and be sure to visit all of the wonderful authors on the Halloween Scare Trail! (A different prize at every stop :D )
 
RJ Scott - $20 Amazon Gift Card
www.rjscott.co.uk
 
V.L. Locey - $10 Redbubble Gift Card
http://thoughtsfromayodelinggoatherder.blogspot.com/
 
Jordan Castillo Price - Ebook or Audio of Reader's choice plus JCP Swag Pack
www.jordancastilloprice.com/blog
 
J.L. Merrow - Ebook of both newly re-released werewolf novels Camwolf & Midnight In Berlin.
https://jlmerrow.com/
 
Rick R. Reed
- Ebook of A Demon Inside from DSP Publications
http://rickrreedreality.blogspot.com/
 
K.A. Merikan - Paperback
https://www.facebook.com/KAMerikan/
 
Charlie Richards - $20 Amazon Gift Card
http://www.charlie-richards.com/
 
Amber Kell - $20 Amazon Gift Card
www.amberkell.com
 
Eli Easton - $20 Amazon Gift Card and second prize of ebook copies of Gothika #1-4
www.elieaston.com
 
Charlie Cochet - 3 x $10 Amazon Gift Cards
charliecochet.com/blog
 
Meredith Russell - $10 Amazon Gift Card
http://meredithrussell.co.uk/ 
 
Alex Jane - $10 Amazon Gift Card and Ebook from back catalogue.
www.alexjane.info
 
Stormy Glenn - $20 Amazon Gift Card and backlist ebook.
http://stormyglenn.blogspot.com
 
Annabelle Jacobs - $10 Amazon Gift Card and backlist ebook
annabellejacobs.com

 
 
 


My own latest paranormal releases can be found at Pride Publishing - Semper Fae: Endangered Fae 3 and Trysts and Burning Embers: Lijun 2 (Up for pre-order.)
Picture

Picture

a Rafflecopter giveaway
58 Comments

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    May 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013

    Categories

    All
    2013 Grl Authors I Have Read
    2014 GRL Authors I Have Read
    2019 GRL
    Aegeus
    A Holiday To Remember
    Amber Allure
    Anchorage
    Anthology
    Anti Quest
    Anti-Quest
    Arcana
    Asexual
    Ashe
    Audacity
    Audio
    AURA
    Author Of The Month
    Bellora Quinn
    Bishounen Con
    Blog Hop
    Blog Tour
    Boots
    Brandywine Investigations
    Brimstone
    Christmas
    Conventions
    Corny
    Cover Reveal
    Dreamspinner
    Eating Stars
    ECCC
    Edwige
    Endangered Fae
    Escape From The Holidays
    ESTO
    Finn
    Flash Fiction
    Foster Bridget Cassidy
    Freddy MacKay
    Free Story
    French Translation
    Friday Reading Day
    Geoffrey The Very Strange
    Gravitational Attraction
    Grl 2013
    GRL 2014
    GRL 2018
    GRL 2019
    GRL 2021
    GRL 2022
    Guest Authors
    Gus Li
    Halloween
    Heckle
    Holidays
    Hot Off The Range
    IMP Universe
    Italian Translation
    Jaxx
    J. Scott Coatsworth
    Julian
    Kaden
    Lee Brazil
    Lesbian
    Lijun
    LJ
    Mage On The Hill
    Magic Emporium
    Mal
    Marionettes In The Mist
    Marya
    Maya Angelou
    Mcb Anthology
    MCB Quarterly
    Mischief Corner
    MLR Press
    My Fiction Nook
    Newsletter
    Nidhogg
    Nootau
    Not In The Stars
    Offbeat Crimes
    Off The Beaten Track Reviews
    Paranormal
    PIll Bugs Of Time
    Podcasts
    Poetry
    Pride Promotions
    Pride Publishing
    Queer SciFi
    Quinn's Gambit
    Rainbow Con
    Rainbow Space Magic
    Rarely Pure And Never Simple
    Reading Day
    Rolly
    Ryld's Shadows
    Sadie Rose Bermingham
    Sale
    Shadow Run
    Shax
    Short Story
    Signing
    Silent Snow
    Silvia Violet
    Skim Blood And Savage Verse
    Snow On Spirit Bridge
    Story Time With Angel
    Sub Zero
    Thanksgiving
    The Hunt For Red Fluffy
    The Line
    The Mage On The Hill
    Thursday News Bites
    Tibo
    Toni Griffin
    Totally Bound
    Uncommonly Tidy Poltergeists
    Urban Fantasy
    Valentine's Day
    Vampires
    Vance Bastian
    Variant Configurations
    Vassily The Beautiful
    Verin
    Vlog
    Web Of Arcana
    When Holidays Attack
    Wild Rose
    WIP
    Wolf
    WROTE
    Yaoi/Yuri North

    About Angel

    Angel writes (mostly) Science Fiction and Fantasy centered around queer heroes. Currently living part time in the hectic sprawl of northern Delaware and full time inside her head, she has one husband, one son, two cats, a love of all things beautiful and a terrible addiction to the consumption of both knowledge and chocolate.

Contact
Privacy Policy
About
© COPYRIGHT 2015. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.