What is Urban Fantasy?

Answers to that and other related questions

What is Urban Fantasy?

Hello and welcome!

I have always loved to read. I used to consume books with a fury that would put raging fires to shame!

As I got older and started to venture into writing my own stories more, I discovered that I had some serious knowledge deficits! One of these deficits was that I had no clue what urban fantasy was.

I did some digging and found the answers that I needed!

So, what is urban fantasy?

Urban fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy that takes place in a real-world setting.

Usually, this will be in the real world, within the last hundred years or so, and will involve supernatural creatures or events. That could mean magic, vampires, fairies, or any other element that falls under the fantasy umbrella.

An alternate definition would be a fantasy story that takes place inside of a city.

A lot of the most popular urban fantasy stories exist in a world like our own and the fantastical societies remain a secret from the public.

Nearly any story medium could be urban fantasy, such as short stories, novellas, novels, comics, and television.

Many of the shows, movies, and books that you love may fall under this category, whether you’ve realized it or not!

It has become increasingly popular, although it's not only a modern concept.

Brief History

Though the term “Urban fantasy” has changed slightly in definition since its inception, it has been in use since the early 1900s.

Its original usage seemed to imply that it meant something very similar to the proverbial "American dream".

Several books and short stories that came out in the 1920s-1940s could be considered urban fantasy by today’s standards.

Then, in the 70s and 80s, there was a bit of a boom when it came to bringing these types of stories to film.

There are a lot of supernatural horror classics from that era, including well-known movies and shows involving ghosts, vampires, werewolves, and even killers that can't be killed.

There's a separate category to consider, however, that may have some overlap with urban fantasy.

Even though it may have the exact same setting and themes, if a story focuses on a romantic relationship more than on the backdrop, it may be called paranormal romance instead.

What are some examples of urban fantasy?

Urban fantasy can be found across all manner of entertainment, and here are some examples.

As a disclaimer, some of the stories I've listed overlap between two or more types of media.

For example, some of the ones I’ve listed as movies were originally based on books, etc.

I’ve still divided them this way in an attempt to simplify, just to help you get a sample of the genre.

Here are some examples of urban fantasy:

Books:

• Nothing in the Rules by L. Sprague De Camp

• Darker Than You Think by Jack Williamson

• American Gods by Neil Gaiman

• The Anita Blake series by Laurell K. Hamilton

• The Alex Craft series by Kalayna Price

• Fallen by Lauren Kate

Movies:

• Ghostbusters

• A Nightmare on Elm Street

• The Twilight Saga

• The Marvel Cinematic Universe

• Artemis Fowl

• The Spiderwick Chronicles

Shows:

• Teen Wolf

• Grimm

• Supernatural

• The Vampire Diaries

• Charmed

• Pushing Daisies

Is Harry Potter an urban fantasy?

In a word, yes. However, there is some claim to the opposite.

Since urban fantasy takes place in a modern world but with elements of fantasy, Harry Potter does qualify.

The argument for the opposing side, though, is that the Wizarding world is so deep and broad that it almost doesn’t take place in the real world at all.

The settings that the majority of the stories happen in are sort of high fantasy, with lots of worldbuilding.

It’s kind of subjective, from what I understand, so take it as you will.

Is Fantastic Beasts an urban fantasy?

The short answer, again, is yes.

There could potentially be the same argument made as with Harry Potter, but I feel that it is a weaker one in this case.

The Muggle world is less distant from this story, which actually involves a Muggle main character.

Therefore, in my humble opinion, I believe that the Fantastic Beasts movies would be considered urban fantasy.

Is Buffy urban fantasy?

Yes.

Since the setting is a world like our own and the time period was modern for when it came out, that takes care of the “Urban” part of the definition.

Since Vampires are a creature that falls into the realm of fantasy, that gives you your rounded out definition.

In fact, Buffy was one of the leaders in popularity amidst urban fantasy shows.

Is Percy Jackson an urban fantasy?

I would consider this to be another yes.

Although, as with Harry Potter, the argument could be made that the stories take place in a setting that’s more fantastic than real.

I disagree in this case also, as before, because that fantasy setting is still within the real world.

It’s merely hidden from the general population, which is a major theme within the urban fantasy genre!

What is dark urban fantasy?

Dark urban fantasy is also urban fantasy, but the theme is darker than other urban fantasy stories.

For example, you could have a story that follows a group of Gen Z teenagers as they discover the existence of fairies.

This would be urban fantasy, because it takes place in the real world, but with a fantastic world hidden from the general population.

However, if they then come to learn that the fairies are actually soul-sucking monsters that are revealing themselves in order to slay the teens, that falls into some darker territory.

Most of the vampire, werewolf, and (obviously) horror urban fantasy stories would be considered dark urban fantasy.

As you may have guessed, all dark urban fantasy is also urban fantasy, but not the other way around.

Is urban fantasy still popular?

Yes, it’s a very popular subgenre!

With the Twilight Revolution in full swing, there can be no doubt about this!

Many newer stories are also coming out in this genre, although they may not be the most talked about.

I wouldn’t say it’s necessarily the most popular, but I think it’ll be beloved in many circles for a long while to come.

Since superheroes generally fall under this realm (or speculative fiction), all of the Marvel Cinematic Universe greatly increases the fanbase.

What is the difference between fantasy and urban fantasy?

All urban fantasy is fantasy, but not all fantasy is urban fantasy.

In short, urban fantasy is a subcategory of the fantasy genre.

Fantasy can be subcategorized in countless ways, but I will only list some of the most well-known categories.

• Fables

• Fairy Tales

• Superhero Stories

• Young Adult Fantasy

• Low Fantasy

• High Fantasy

• Medieval Fantasy

• Dark Fantasy

Many stories can actually be subcategorized into more than one of these options.

The subgenre that is probably most associated with being fantasy is High fantasy. Another term for this would be Epic fantasy.

This includes classics like Lord of the Rings and anything else that takes place in a deeply thought out and magical world outside of our own.

There is, of course, a lot more to it than that, but I’ve at least given the short answer to the question.

How do you write urban fantasy?

The answer to this question may be overly simple or overly complicated, depending on what you’re looking for.

To put it briefly, you would write an urban fantasy story as you would any other.

If you have an idea that falls into the realm of urban fantasy, then you only have to follow your story writing procedure with that idea, and boom!

You've written urban fantasy!

However, if you’re looking for specific advice about how to make an urban fantasy story good, or even how to write a story at all, those are questions for another day!

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I’m continuing to learn every day, and I fully intend to share my knowledge freely with you all as I go.

Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you have a fantastic day!