Ep:30 Supernatural Storytelling

Do you ever wonder what the difference between Supernatural vs Paranormal is? Or Fantasy vs Sci Fi? Well put on your seatbelts because in this episode Kris and I do a deep dive of these types of Genres in Fiction.

 

|00:38 - 03:25|

 Everyday Folklore “Step on a Crack Break your Mother’s Back”

 

|06:30|

Supernatural Storytelling

 

|MUSICAL CREDIT|

“Easy Trip Trap” The Brothers Records

“Tragic Story”  by Myuu

SOUND CREDIT

"Ambience, Children Playing, Distant, A.wav" by InspectorJ (www.jshaw.co.uk) of Freesound.org

|INFO CREDIT|

https://www.masterclass.com/articles/guide-to-supernatural-vs-paranormal-fiction#6-examples-of-supernatural-fiction

https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-origin-of-the-Step-on-a-crack-break-your-mothers-back-superstition

http://www.smartalecksguide.com/2011/09/are-there-dark-origins-behind-step-on.html

|TRANSCRIPT|

Hello, my little strange things. On this podcast I discussed the world's folklore, myths, legends and superstition. I explore what these stories meant to the cultures that shared them the different uses of lore and our modern day entertainment, and the history of it all. Welcome to folklore Friday. Every day

 

Have you ever heard the phrase step on a crack break your mother's back? This was definitely something I heard and said as a child. Even when the other kids and I would question it, that won't really happen. You won't really break your mountains back. Right? It was still something that was fun to say and a fun game to see if you could walk the entire length of the sidewalk without stepping on a crack. This is something in the category of playground lore, meaning lore or superstition that is said and shared among children. There have been multiple versions of the same and it has changed over the years. There's another version that warn children that bears would eat them. Step on a crack and you'll be a bear snack. Another is step on a line and you'll break your mother's fine step on a home, break your mother's sugar bowl, step on a nail and you'll put your dad in jail.

 

The implication is if a child steps out of line, violence will come to them or one of their parents.

 

One could say that the idea behind this game is enforcing societal views. That bad behavior of children reflects poorly on the parents, implying that those children act the way they do because their parents did not teach them better.

 

Even our judiciary system does not try children under the age of 18 as adults, further enforcing that minors are not fully accountable or responsible for their actions until they turn 18. With that in mind, is it possible that this game and phrase said by children is teaching them early on that their bad behavior affects their parents? And ultimately others around them? Or is it just a silly thing? Kids sometimes say to scare each other? or play a game? Tell me what do you think?

 

Now back to your regularly scheduled program.

 

Hello, strange Lynx. Just a little housekeeping before I get the episode started. I want to say I'm excited to be back and I've got some fun plans for season two. Hopefully, I'll be able to put out an episode every week. And I really want to get more more listeners involved because I know you're out there I can see the numbers and they're popping up and all sorts of different countries. And so messaged me talk to me, I want to know the things that you want to hear about. I got a text today asking me about Medusa and I was like, hells Yeah, I don't know that much about her except she had snakes for hair. So gonna be researching that. So I want a little bit more engagement. On that note. I hate asking for reviews. I hate it. If you haven't noticed, I don't do it that much. But now, after a year of having the podcast, I can count on one hand the number of reviews I've had. Painful that is to hear myself say out loud. It's horrible. But yeah, I desperately need them and to those who have left me some already I super super appreciate it. And if you're anything like me, you just had your bad leaving reviews. I'll tell you what, I listened to about five different podcasts and I love all of them. I've never reviewed a single one in that messed up but they're actually doing really well and have money and stuff like that. I don't people, okay, so I'm gonna do it with you. Alright. So, so you click on your Apple podcasts. And I'm going to go to a podcast that I like called guide to the unknown. Just a little free publicity for them. All right. Okay. So it opens up this guide to the unknown trailer episodes, you scroll down past episodes, and then it's like boom, ratings and reviews. And then underneath the first review, the latest review that pops up, there'll be a little purple icon that will say right to review. I'm gonna click on that. Hmm, do I want and I can give five stars. Absolutely. title it easy. listening. Okay, these two are so fun. Keep up the good work. And send thanks for your feedback. And now I'm done. Okay, that's super easy. And if you want, you don't even have to write something, you can just go and give however many stars you think I deserve? So again, yeah, the whole reason I do this is so that people can hear it. I put time, effort and money. people that say podcasting is free. Those people are liars, not the good ones. It costs money. The whole reason I do this so that people can hear it, and they can be entertained, and I can hear what they want to learn about. So reviews really helped me out because they bring me up in a search engine so more people can find it. So if you want to leave me a review, that would be fantastic. Thank you so much.

 

Hello, strange liens. Welcome to season two. I'm your host Megan. And today I'm joined by my husband, Chris. Hello, everyone. I had a good break. But as many breaks often tend to do life happened in the middle. So the time kept getting away from I was like, Oh my gosh, it's almost June. So I'm recording finally. And I am happy to be back recording. Hell yeah. Okay, so today we're going to be talking about supernatural storytelling. I'm not sure if that's going to be the title, either supernatural or paranormal. But why I can't decide it's because we're going to be talking about everything under the umbrella of strange, Supernatural, paranormal, yada, yada, yada and talk about the differences. And honestly supernatural and paranormal I thought they were the same thing. And even though the definitions are different, they're portrayed as the same thing I would say in a lot of entertainment. What about you?

 

Yeah, I mean, they often get mixed in and they're pretty close. So until you start getting into the actual hard definitions of them then you go Oh, okay. Yeah, I guess I can see the difference there.

 

Yeah, cuz when I think when when I think supernatural I think all different kinds of monsters and demons and anything spiritual when I think paranormal I only think ghosts. Yeah, good. Like usually where I go with it to like paranormal investigations and stuff like that. Yeah, so that was pretty much what I understood before I did the research. So let's talk about it. Okay. According to the Oxford Dictionary, a manifestation or event attributed to some force beyond scientific understanding, or the laws of nature.

 

So in the Merriam Webster dictionary, the supernatural definition is, Of or relating to an order of existence beyond the visible, observable universe, especially, Of or relating to God, or a god demigod, spirit, or devil.

 

And this I found on masterclass.com of what is supernatural fiction, and it says, the supernatural genre incorporates elements that cannot be understood by science, and operate outside the rules of the real world. supernatural fiction normally concerns itself. supernatural fiction normally concerns itself with matters of God, the soul, archangels, and resurrection. Sub genres include supernatural horror fiction, ie the work of HP, Lovecraft, Gothic, ie Frankenstein, ghost stories, supernatural thrillers and other mccobb stories in the horror genre. So you can see how it all kind of mixes together, but this is stating that supernatural is a bit more limited than what I thought. But when you just look at the definition of supernatural, but this is saying supernatural fiction can incorporate a lot of different things. Continuing from the website masterclass, calm

 

the paranormal genre of literary fiction includes beings and phenomena that are outside the realm of normal Normal scientific understanding of the natural world. Though the paranormal genre may include supernatural list elements, this fiction genre generally includes creatures that have been popularized by folklore fairy tales and popular culture such as fairies, aliens, shapeshifters and the undead

 

so this so this makes me think it's like flip flops. I think paranormal I think just ghosts. But when I think supernatural I think everything it just stated that it's actually right flip flops. So continuing on. Sub genres that fall into the paranormal fiction category include paranormal romance, urban fantasy, fantasy, romance novels, and paranormal fantasy. The paranormal romance genre has yielded many New York Times bestselling hardcovers and audio books in recent years which storylines around young adult and high school aged main characters who fall in love with the paranormal creature, okay, and some examples would include the Twilight series, Moon called by Patricia Briggs, I've read all of those Oh, there's so freaking good interview with a vampire That one's famous by Anne Rice. And then I'm just reading off once

 

it's anything that has to do with vampire apparently.

 

Yeah, discovery of witches vampires, which is the hollow series I don't know what that is. But I've discovered anything titled The the hollow or has the hollow in it is worth checking out because it's usually paranormal on The Mortal Instruments. Okay, so this included examples of fantasy, mortal, mortal engines. That's what I was thinking of going back. Okay, so this kind of locked in fantasy, together with paranormal but here's the difference. There are some debate in the literary world about whether or not high fantasy fiction dark fantasy and other contemporary fantasy genres fall in the supernatural or paranormal category. Though popular fantasy novels and fantasy series like jrr Tolkien's I didn't know it was our Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and JK Rowling's Harry Potter may include supernatural creatures and elements of the paranormal. fantasy books are generally considered to be their own distinct genre. Okay, and the reason for that is okay, from what I can understand, supernatural and paranormal exist within our world. It's like everything that you know now our world but then add in a vampire, or add in a witch or add in blah, blah, blah. But fantasy exists in a world outside of our world. Right.

 

So Harry Potter still manages to get outside of our world, because they have their own best secret wizarding world is not really a thing, but it but maybe just had some person who does magic in the normal world. Does that then not make it fantasy?

 

Yes. So like charmed. would be paired. It would be paranormal, paranormal because they exist in our world. But it's really easy to think of examples like Lord of the Rings, or Oh, come on, what are some other fantasies stuff? I can't think of anything that that new show that we just started watching that you like Shadow and Bone bone. It's like a world that does not exist in our world made up world. Yeah, yeah, exactly. And so that actually helped me kind of distinguish the two of them. Okay, okay. And I don't normally like what Wikipedia says. But I really like the wording. It says in the difference of definitions. The supernatural genre highlights supernatural creatures or happenings within the real world. Moreover, supernatural fiction also tends to focus on suspense and mystery and less on action, and adventure. Fantasy usually takes place in another world. We're fantastical creatures or magic, our normal Labyrinth, the labyrinth legend. Yes. Melissa sent. So awesome. Legend. Yeah, Tom Cruise. I only came out a little while ago. Oh my gosh, like 20 years 3030 or 40, maybe 1985, almost forever. before I was born, so hopefully strange links that answers your questions. But yeah, you can see how it can all get mixed together. But the biggest difference I would say is between fantasy and everything else.

 

Right. And I would say for the most part, you're zeroing in on paranormal stuff. Correct where we thought maybe it was supernatural that you were focusing in on Moreover, it's paranormal or normal.

 

And I think the thing that messes Up is one the show supernatural everything right and then shows like paranormal investigations paranormal investigator mostly hunt ghosts so turns out they're wrong.

 

The other ones as far as you know, movies and TV using them supernatural and paranormal usually feel pretty interchangeable. Yeah, I would say so. I mean, it to say that it's supernatural and it just goes beyond the rules of science can encompass a lot of things still. Yeah, but calling it paranormal seems to maybe focusing on it a little bit more insane. Like No, it's these folklore things in particular. Yeah. That we're seeing. Yeah, that makes a supernatural maybe also is saying that around those same kinds of things a little bit,

 

because the thing anything outside of science, yeah. Proven.

 

Yeah. You can't scientifically explain this. And it seems beyond the laws of nature.

 

Okay. So like, like the show fringe or fringe science? Yeah, possibly. But then when you zero in on it, like monsters, magic, or norm, those are paranormal. Okay, actually, that helped me still

 

end up in those are science fiction type things would hit a lot of supernatural stuff. But sometimes they like to be like, and then this monster exist?

 

Oh, yeah. And we didn't even talk about sci fi. Okay, so sci fi, you explain it. I don't actually have a definition. But the difference is things that could maybe possibly exist within science, right? Think of

 

within the realm of scientific possibility, right, but yet have not been yet discovered or proven? Or, you know, a lot of quantum theory. Any time travel thing is potentially possible, maybe because we've thought about it scientifically, but nothing's been proven behind that. So that's the science fiction thing. Most space traveling type things

 

are way in the future Star Trek, it all has

 

this potential to exist because science says that it's possible, but we've definitely not gotten there yet.

 

Yeah, so that's the big difference. sci fi, obviously science fiction, Supernatural, paranormal, my little magic and

 

yeah, beyond any kind of scientific explanation, because it just defies the laws of nature. Yeah, yeah. But science fiction is saying, Yeah, possible. But we haven't actually worked it out quite yet.

 

Yeah. So now, we're going to discuss a little bit about history of supernatural specifically when it pertains to folklore and super superstition. First off, it serves a purpose. It wasn't just this small minded thing that people thought up to scare their children. Most of folklore and superstition comes from a time where they didn't have scientific understanding, and they didn't have medical knowledge. So the way your body decayed, or the moon, or things that happen in NIH, that people didn't understand, because they didn't have that understanding of what was actually going on.

 

This is what they figured out what's going on. And this was their explanation of it. Exactly. Yeah. They believed it to be true, because this is what they worked out.

 

And it was it. And that was a good thing, because it gave them an answer where there otherwise wasn't one. The example that I use a lot is the idea of changeling children. It's this concept that a fairy would come and take your kid in the middle of the night and replace it with this human like child's but wasn't because it was created out of magic. And the symptoms that they say that these children had, they wouldn't look you in the eyes. They didn't like being hugged, and they had large appetites. And they didn't like socializing with the other children. So like kind of toddler age. So a lot of modern day psychologists and historians say those kids were probably autistic. And these stories go back. So so far, no, I mean, to get into anti vaccine, but here's a good example of this existed long before it had a diagnosis. And the stories offered these families that were just confused. An explanation were there otherwise wasn't one. Well said. So. So that's an example of how folklore can serve a purpose. And it was probably beneficial to those families because they were like, Oh, it's not my fault. This thing came in the middle of the night and took my baby and now I care for this one. Okay. And then something Chris and I were talking about a while ago is people still have folkloric beliefs and superstition To this day, depending on what country or what culture there's some people that are very heavily involved in superstition,

 

especially superstitious things. ask anybody that plays a sport. They're superstitious at all or if they do anything to make sure that they have good luck going in this Something like that it that's all superstition, because there's no evidence that it's actually working or not. Even though people might still say that they have evidence behind it, because they won that game, or something like that, but so all superstitions behind it. I mean, even just those general big ones of walking on their ladder, it's bad luck and all those different ways to get bad luck breaking a mirror. These all these things just settle into people's brains. And they, then they're, they've convinced themselves of it. And so just take that and think about being told a story about how sticking a stake in a dead person and nailing him into the coffin was make sure that they don't become a vampire. It's easy to believe. Yeah. It's not worth it. No one's telling you that that's not the right thing.

 

Okay, so as the world continued on, and we learned, how our bodies worked, how things happen that seemed magical turned out to just be kind of a natural process. folklore became something that faded into the background and then became a part of entertainment. So you can see examples of that in Shakespeare. What are some examples in Shakespeare Besides, okay, I can think of Hamlet, Midsummer Night's Dream. It's a strange perfect POC. Yeah, creature. So in Hamlet, there's the ghost of his father. And then what's the one we're there on the iPad, the tempest Tempest, a bunch of magic in the Tempus. Okay, in 1897. book was written called Camilla, which actually came out before Dracula. And it is about a lesbian vampire. The story is narrated by a young woman preyed upon by a female vampire named Camilla. Then novella, notably, never acknowledges homosexuality and an end to agonistic trait, leaving it subtle, and relatively on mentioned. Now, my opinion is if that was about to human lady love, and ladies, that would not be accepted. And then lady lovingly. Did you like that? So homosexuality was outlawed in different areas during that time. So what made this sneak through to mainstream is because Camilla wasn't a human, she was a vampire. So what I find interesting about this is that they used these kind of folkloric beliefs as a way to talk about something that maybe they otherwise couldn't talk about. So maybe there was some closeted women who were like, Oh, my gosh, I'm not alone. Somebody feels this way. Yeah, and it's a vampire, and it's a vampire. That's what I should be. And thus, the fascination started. So it's interesting to think about how vampires went from this thing of legends that was really scary to this thing that became maybe a little bit more relatable. And there was a level of romanticism and we see the beginnings of that with stories like Mila, and Dracula. And then later, the same thing happen with witches, we saw them starting out as villains, and then they eventually became the protagonists.

 

So in that, which is went from being villains, to the woman next door, starting with shows like bewitched, which began in 1964, where there was a beloved witch as the main character in it, even though she had to keep her identity hidden as a witch. She's still that the titular character, something similar to that I was thinking of was I Dream of Jeannie. And that started in 1965. So seeming, there's mid 60, things are starting this revolution of these folkloric ideas being these more upbeat, kind of happy things that we can cover and talk about and it's all okay.

 

Yeah, it was like to be burned at the stake. Yeah. Or like, I'll get you my pretty rich to the east. Now. These ladies existed in suburbia, and so is a much more accepted thing. And it was comfortable for people. And then it went even more so which is begin to be romanticized. And then, you know, vampires had been romanticized since Camilla, and Dracula. And we've seen that become so much more mainstream in the past decade with things like Twilight. But then you can even see examples of you know, Twilight, we've got vampires and werewolves, but now even zombies have their own love stories with movies like warm bodies, and I'm sure there's more but that's the only one I can think of. I can't think of any other zombie zombie story. I mean, izombie kind of Oh zombies cute. will be More people, not just these. Raise your brain. Yeah. Yeah. Thinking sentience, creatures loving intelligent people are ones that also needed to eat people. Yeah. But they figured out or the one way that Drew Barrymore Oh, the Santa Clarita Diet. Yeah. Oh my gosh. I love that show. Oh, heck, how did you forget that one? I don't know. Yeah, check that out. Listeners because that's on Netflix. Yeah, another suburbian example. She's like a wife. She's a like real estate. That's like, bewitched, but that's totally what that is. That's exactly what it is. It's a strong like magic or, you know, supernatural woman, like her human husband. That's okay. With her being this theory. She's trying to support it and manage it. It's actually trying to keep it secret. Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's very feminine thing, because all of those shows are wonderfully feminist in the way that their husbands are accepting with their wives being these things and a good example. Okay, so I want to know is now in the modern world, we know things like zombies and vampires and werewolves we know those things don't exist, because we understand how do we know Yeah. Yeah. But for the most part, they're no longer stories that terrify people. Now, they're stories that are entertaining. So in, Chris, in your opinion, why are these stories entertaining for people, because we still hope they do exist, they exist, still want to grow. And that's why

 

it's so romanticize being a vampire that then it's not even like, Oh, my gosh, I hope I don't get attacked by a vampire. It's like, gosh, I hope I get turned. So I can be a vampire and vampire things. I mean, that's what Twilight is all about is like, she's, you know, spoiler alert, if you. But I'm Twilight, that Bella eventually turns into a vampire. And then, and now she's a strong werewolf guy. And so it's cool to be this thing. It's neat to be your, you have this power as an outsider. And that's what a lot of people are also looking for, too, is that this, you're this outsider with these special abilities, and you're different from everyone else. But that's pretty cool thing to be.

 

Because you can still fit in society. Right? You have this this extra thing about you. And I think from the documentaries I've watched on these type of stories, people say that, especially for adolescence, they feel like they don't fit in. And so to see stories like this, where people are existing in a society that looks like ours, but yet there's something unique and inherently different about them. They're like, I can relate to that. I know what that feels like. And so sometimes it's a lot easier for people to relate to. What I think is something that's really interesting about these types of stories is because it's interesting to see characters deal with human emotions. But there's also something that gives them a supernatural power. So everything is supercharged. So if you get jealous, and you have to kill people to live, if you get jealous of somebody, you're like, Oh, I got to not kill that person, I got fight my instinct to not kill them. and different things like that. Or if you have magical abilities, and you get upset, and you like murder five people around you,

 

yeah, that's like, watch blade. Read the blade comics, because that's why he's awesome. With all those things that you said, you have to watch some blade, because he's dealing with that kind of like, I'm this monster, but I'm a monster killer, I have to battle, this inner monster of mine with these powers that I that I have behind it. And that struggle that he has with himself about who he is. That's big on that. And I mean, that all just then turns into also not just vampires and werewolves in but superhero movies are the same kind of thing. They fall into that same exact kind of storytelling of how do I have? How do I manage these these newfound abilities, these crazy things that are outside of the normal world and still exist and be who I am in the normal world? Where does that balance happen?

 

Yeah, because the decisions that someone that's just a regular Joe Schmo human have to make are probably a little bit different than someone that has these crazy abilities,

 

right. Whether they be superpowers or things that potentially make you a monster, like a vampire. Yeah. That's why it's fun to watch it, see where they go with it.

 

And I like that I think that like vampires and werewolves are interesting, because it's this idea that they are like human, but they're not. So they have to fight their very nature, which is what you were talking about right with with blade. And a really good example that that I like, is the character Damon from the Vampire Diaries, because he's such a good example, because he is just merciless. In the beginning. He's just like killing people left and right. Zero apologies. He doesn't feel obligated to live the human code. Because he's not human. And one of his, one of his lines is, I kill people. It's in my nature. It's who I am. And so it's also interesting to see people not fall into that moral code. Because if you really think about it, they're like, Well, I'm not a human. And so to see, it's also interesting to see bad vampires and bad werewolves.

 

I could almost see Dexter. Yeah, from the show Dexter saying those? Same, that exact line. Yeah, like, this is who I am. It's in my nature, it's who I am. I think he might have said,

 

aim it towards bad people.

 

I mean, that's what makes that it's that it's that gets to be in that same world of what we're doing with the supernatural and paranormal, but it's just a normal guy. Like he's fighting his inner monster. And that's just a great way to tell a story. Yeah, person's inner battle with themselves and are nice, fun, and sometimes easy way to do it. It's be like, well, there,

 

there's this thing that they're struggling with.

 

Yeah, they're vampire. They're werewolves, they're whatever this thing is that they have to deal with. And let's see where that goes.

 

And I think I like that storyline, because you're taking someone that's for the most partly human, and then you're giving them all these different powers. But having those powers of those abilities, doesn't make your problems go away. And that, in my opinion, is why that's interesting, because you still have to deal with all this rain, jealous, wanting to be loved wanting to fit in blabbity, blah, blah, blah, like all of those things are still there. And I think that's really, really good. I don't know, metaphor, or have you another example of why I like these stories. In comparison to say true crime, True Crime can kind of battle with the go over that struggle that you were talking about. With Dexter, it's, you get to see these stories of people that went there, that cracked that completely lost their humanity, and they gave into the darker sides. I don't like stories like that. I get why people like them. But they scare me. terrifying to me, because they're things that really happen. And so when I watch true crime, I'm paranoid for the next week, I look at my neighbors like, that could be a killer, that that guy, that guy checking me out of the grocery store, who knows, and I don't like it. I like these stories, because for the most part, they're not real. Things like that. As far as we know, as far as we know, disclaimer, as far as we know, but I find it soothing. in a weird way. I think I fell in love with the exiles as a kid because I could think, oh, man, I got shit going on in my life. But at least I don't have these problems. At least I don't have some alien or I have to go into some conspiracy of the world even though some people claim that that has happened and then when I feel feel for you, but I'm talking about the non alien stuff. But yeah, I can't I like Chris said, we don't know. I can't disprove spirits, werewolves vampires, but I can sleep through the night if I watched something right as elements.

 

Because you, you know, you're hoping that your neighbor isn't a vampire. But you're like, could he be a killer? Yeah, exactly. That's exactly.

 

Okay. And this is a quote from an article that I got that all I'll post the link in the description, we like novelty, something that departs from our everyday experience, some of the attraction of being scared comes from the deviation of having a new experience that we know is safe. Okay, want to split that up into two parts. So first one, it says something that departs from our everyday experience. This is something that Chris and I have talked about, is that Chris loves things that I would say fantasy that's created this whole world and this whole universe

 

of science fiction will do that too, with you know, jumps into the future of space. Stories, when they're like this is this whole new world, this universe that's been created, you know, Star Wars kind of dances that line of being fantasy and science fiction, because, you know, it's in a galaxy far, far away, and it's creating this whole different new world. But could that exist? You know, scientifically? Yeah. Probably most part. So it's those types of things play in that nice, beautiful place of the new. I like the new instead of what's already here and around me in my everyday life. I don't need other people's versions of their everyday life, I want to see this new, amazing world that has all these new discoveries for me.

 

Yeah, a good example. Sorry, before we were married, and I was at his apartment, and like, my internet sucked. So he let me come over and use the internet, which is code for watch stuff. He got back from work. And I was watching Parenthood, which is, you know, kind of like a dramedy about being parents and this whole family and how they all work. And there's this scene where this couple who's getting divorced has this, like emotional conversation. And Chris was like, I don't need to watch this. This is depressing. This is real. I don't need to watch it. I don't find this entertaining. And it was just a good example. But some people feel like that's important. And they feel really rejuvenated. My sister's one of those I asked like, what audio books do you listen to? And she's like, I like autobiographies and anything to do with World War Two.

 

Yeah, I think there's a place for it. I think that it's fine for people who enjoy it. I just not for me.

 

Yeah. Insane when it when my sister was talking about that. I was like, Uh huh. I only listen to things with vampires and werewolves and witches, like that's the majority, it's autobiographies of comedians. And then like fantasy books, that's how I listened to. Because it's that idea of like, I know what happens in the daily I want something extra. So now we're gonna talk about storylines that are popular in these types of genres,

 

paranormal supernatural fantasy genres. So one of the first ones that came to mind for us particularly is what we call Freaky Friday. And that's where they just have a Friday and it's freaky. Know what happens there. If you ever seen that movie Freaky Friday is that it's like a swap between two people, you get to live out their life, because some, by some magical or even scientific means their minds get swapped, and you're in their body, and now you have to exist and do the things that they were going to do in their life. And then, you know, discoveries are made, and you get revelations, and you're like, Oh, my stuff was hard. I didn't understand you, and all that deep stuff happens, but it's Freaky Friday for everyone.

 

And that, you know, obviously, we've seen the movie Freaky Friday, and then there's like other versions of that storyline, but we see it a lot in television writing, especially for shows that are magical. And my favorite type of Freaky Friday is when it's more than just two people. It's a whole night everyone can switch with someone else. Like in Jumanji, the second one. Oh, yeah, that's a really that's, that's, that's my favorite kind of Freaky Friday where they all are getting switched up, and they all are jumping in. And then you get to see those actors act like different characters. Oh, my God, it's perfect. I love it.

 

And this kind of thing has happened in shows like Star Trek. I know. I've seen a supernatural that's happened in that show for charm term. Both of them even happens a little bit, sometimes in shows that aren't focused around paranormal supernatural things. It's kind of like a almost a dream Dream that they were that person. And then they're like, Oh, crap, I understand them better.

 

Yeah, but yeah, there's a really good episode in lost girl, where they all get like, switched around. It's Yeah, so there's lots of examples. You can go into that. I like that. Okay. Another type that we've seen, and this isn't maybe not storyline, but a thread for a show is creature of the week. So there's a new threat in every episode. You see it a lot. Or not maybe every episode, but there's usually a new threat, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It's not just vampires that she fights. There's all these different types of things that happen. And now we have the show legacies on The CW where Nah, they do such a good job things are just come in all the time. It was also on Teen Wolf, the television series you see it a lot in more like episodic type of writing. And I think it's great because it gives you so many different opportunities to tell different types of stories.

 

So another great one is what I do typically referred to as a groundhog day scenario, because I'm referring to the movie Groundhog Day with Bill Murray, where he continues to repeat the same day over and over again and he gets reset on the day if he dies. And that's usually what happens or ale don't sleep that night in a wake up and it will be the morning that he just did. And so this is just that time loop one that I really like a lot. There's a lot of great movies that do it Groundhog's Day, obviously is is one of the great ones.

 

And they always refer to it as Groundhog Day. That's that's that's how well that movie did. And it was one of the first ones and so usually when you're trying to explain that story, you say Oh, like Groundhog Day.

 

Yeah. Yeah, cuz it's so well, and yeah, so fun. And Edge of Tomorrow is one of my most favorite movies. It's also referred to as live die repeat. That's what Tom Cruise Emily Blunt, where he does the same thing he's repeating the same day. If he dies yes to repeat there's there's all these scientific reasons for why it's happening to him, of course in battling aliens, but that same thing of how do I get through my day? What new discoveries Do I need to make an even in just this one day? What are all the many possibilities? that lie ahead for me? It's just a really cool story,

 

huh? Yeah. What was that one with Andy Samberg, Palm Springs, Palm Springs. That one was super fun. And one of my new favorites is happy death day. There's happy death day one and happy death. Day two. I like the first one. But first one's definitely better. It's been super, super fun. It's like a horror version. And it's horror comedy. My favorite guy. We're gonna watch that on my birthday. I'm excited. Okay, and this is close to Groundhog Day. But another movie that was made made this theme popular for an alternate timeline is it's a wonderful life. So he wakes up. And his whole world is different. What he knew is completely gone. And that is a really fun type of storyline, which they can do in non paranormal type shows. Usually it's some kind of a dream. But it's that idea that here's an alternate version of my life.

 

Yeah, alternate reality of what, what if this thing had happened and therefore changed so many other things, and usually some sort of crucial moment in your life had gone differently for you. And therefore, these other things have worked out tons of movies have done that? And yeah,

 

yeah, there's like the family man with Nicolas Cage. I can't believe I can't think of any

 

baseball one. Mr. Destiny is another one that has James Belushi in it. And he it's it's very much like a It's a Wonderful Life type of storyline where he did not do well in his baseball career. But then going back, I can't remember how it happened. Maybe he made some sort of wish that What if he did do well in his baseball career, and he did that instead? And so he gets to live out that alternate reality. And then, you know, of course, discovers that his life was so much more fulfilling and yeah, there's always that, that that idea idea to it.

 

But when it comes to time travel, this storyline can be similar to so like Back to the Future. When he does go back to the future. Everything's different. And if he is in charge of everything,

 

right, that's the second one with a hose. Yeah. Actually, the first one when he goes back is nice. Nice and clean in his car.

 

Yeah. But then that truck when he gets a hold of the sports Almanac arena, right? Yeah. So differently. Okay. And then this is one that Chris I feel like has a better understanding, but a MindScape where you're entering into someone's mind. So examples like the cell, which I've never seen, and you told me it was here me too much. Yeah,

 

it's pretty scary. It's that's kind of scary. That gets to you more, I know. Versus like, Oh, this is this is getting in your head a little bit.

 

Yeah. Watch out.

 

But explain it like how

 

so and that one J. Lo is this sort of psychologist and they she's with this group that have discovered a way to sort of go into a person's mind. And in order to help them. Give them therapy is what is happening because they're unable to speak. In particular, there's this boy who doesn't speak he's kind of, I believe he's at such an maybe artistic level that he's not a Want to communicate well or something else is going on? wrong with them? I can't. It's been a while since I've seen it. But then eventually it turns into that this serial killer who goes into a coma, they need to get into his head in order to find out where he's keeping a girl he had just kidnapped and that he put into a chamber and slowly kills a cell. Yeah, that would bother me. And so they're using this process that she's good at. and Vince Vaughn is an FBI guy who's trying to help her out and yeah, just going through that process and the serial killers that guy from the law bill or loan Order Criminal Intent. Not Buffalo Bill, nevermind. kingpin pressure.

 

Oh, yeah, I don't know his name. Vincent D'Onofrio. Oh, yeah, he was in Jurassic World two. Yeah.

 

So well. Vincent D'Onofrio is actually the serial killer that they have to get into the mind of And so yeah, that's this MindScape it's this place that he's created. And all these things are possible, because he's making these things up in his head. And so it's like, they're in a serial killers head. And that's what's crazy about it. And that's the the MindScape type thing. I've seen it again on Star Trek, and Star Trek does all of these. And supernatural where it's not, they're not playing and they're going into someone's head. And so they have really, it's this world that's in their head. It's it's what they've created, and they

 

don't know the rules and everything

 

right. And usually they're trying to bring them out of it is oftentimes the story that's being told is, is get them out of it or get in there in order to figure out something from them secretly Inception does this yes, these minds Yeah, in or they're trying to plant the seed of a thought. And so they're actually going into this person's brain. And

 

it's such a fun storyline. I've seen it I've seen on lost girl. I've seen it on Xena, actually, I think it's like Xena goes into Gabrielle's mind. And it's a fun, it's a fun storyline. And it's super similar to Christmas saying like, I think it's the same thing. But there's also the idea of a vision quest where you're going into your own mind. But there's other other things that have joined you spiritual guides. And so they're taking you on this journey. So you're not there for someone else, you're there for yourself. But still, you don't know what's going to happen, you can't navigate because you don't know what's coming. Because it's this the world of your mind that you've created. So there's like, Buffy meets the first Slayer, like death is your gift. She's like, I don't understand. And there's there's also really, really good examples of that kind of storyline, too. Okay, and so now we're gonna talk about the transformation type of storyline. And there's two basically, one is it's a forced transformation example, your bit by werewolf up by vamper, you turn into a werewolf, or a vampire, or a zombie, or whatever. And then all the things that you have to go through to now become this new being. And I mean, so many different examples of that. And then there's the other type, which is a coming of age transformation. You were always this thing. And now that you're a certain age, you're now becoming this thing. Because Didn't you say in team wolf, the movie? It was like a hereditary thing?

 

Yeah, his dad was a werewolf. And so at once he was going through puberty, he finished his transformation into a werewolf. And so his dad was trying to explain that to him and everything. So it wasn't, he was always going to be that he didn't get bit like he does in the show. He was just born a werewolf like his dad is and a just dealing with what that means for him.

 

And then of course, you're a wizard, Harry. Right.

 

And a lot of it. Oftentimes these happen on this coming of age thing, which is not an accident, because it's this, like, I'm going through puberty, what are these crazy changes that are happening to me? And then we're just trying to accentuate that story by saying that, oh, it's because you're a werewolf. It's because you're a wizard. It's because you're a vampire. That now you're at this, you know, this crucible, this point that's happening. And these changes are happening so as to relate to the young adult audience that this is focused around.

 

Yeah. Another good thing that I've seen when it comes to which stories is that they're spellbound, until they're adults. We've seen that in discovery witches and charmed, they don't find out that they're witches until they're like in the early 20s. Right. And that is a really fun way because it's, oh, your parents wanted you to have this normal life until you were ready.

 

Right? This new amazing discovery Otherwise, you probably would have had a pretty good grip on it by now. And you'd be managing Oh, true, right.

 

But now it's like all these different challenges. Um, similar to the body swap, the next storyline is possession. But this instead of being switched with someone, it's just something demon, Angel, bad spirit, good spirit, whatever comes into your body. I don't even want to list all those because you can think of them. There's a lot. Now, this is I, I don't really know how to explain this, but I always find it and it bothers me and supernatural stories. Anytime there's a ritual where you have to have blood involved. So many examples. In Buffy, in supernatural, even in Nancy Drew in charmed. Why? Think about it. Think about those scenes. Where do they cut themselves, Chris on their hand

 

was on the palm, and they're very useful hands. Why did they do a slice in

 

the middle of it nice and deep and all the way across. You could cut yourself in so many other places, in order to give a few drops of blood spell your, your Lake, your ankle, anywhere except your needed hands and

 

you've ever get a cut on your hand. It's like the worst place to get a cut. Because it's always moving us why going that deep? Yeah, it's always super deep. And then what they do, they ball up their fist, and then they squeeze the blood over whatever.

 

Maybe maybe a needle isn't readily available, but somebody grab a needle and just draw a little bit of blood out. Like this huge cover. When you find that knife, I can

 

jam it into my head.

 

It hurts.

 

It's like every single time. I just have this dream in my head. A storyline right there. Yeah, I know. It's not a storyline, but it's an example I just bring up because it just it's a trope. It's like they always cut their hand. I just have this vision of writing this kind of like paranormal comedy horror movie, and it would be like, Oh, we need a blood exchange. And then someone goes for their hand and another character says, Why don't you just do something smart, like your arm or something and be ready with a bandage. I don't know. I just have a premonition. So like a premonition. Usually I find these like a character that gets premonitions or something that can either be really good or not helpful. Like I don't know That's So Raven is a really good example of how she gets these little premonitions of the future right. But sometimes they change and so she's always trying to change them and don't they always just come true no matter what.

 

I don't know. I didn't see a whole lot of that. So Raven, it's been so Stan what happened in it? But but that's the people getting premonitions or even just I mean, that's the final destination movies right there. Yeah, yeah. Is them having this premonition of the deaths and then trying to avoid that, and then you trying to escape this fate that's ahead of you.

 

But like you were saying the characters a character on a new show called The Nevers, which I highly recommend to HBO viewers, right, of how she gets these premonitions, but she doesn't know when they're gonna happen. And she knows that she can't change them. And Chris was saying the other night, he's like, her gift is useless,

 

utterly useless. Good thing, you know, something that you can't remotely change. Yeah, it was a little that's like, No,

 

I'm gonna get hit by a car. And then you just go, Oh, well, that sucks. Yeah, that's definitely gonna happen.

 

And there Yeah. So sometimes I like that type of storyline. When you can change it, like charmed. She can usually change it in both versions, the ones that get that psychic inclination of like, what's going to happen. So I like the premonition storyline when you can change it because then you have an upper hand because if you don't have an upper hand, then you're just like, well, dang it, I can't do it now. Okay. And this is kind of something that we see is when someone becomes aware of the supernatural and they have to now deal with the fact that their world has changed. It's world shattering news, Harry euro wizard. wizards exist What? Like

 

they don't even have to be part of it either. So much like what I was saying with the the the transformation or the bite that you're becoming your werewolf and you are this thing now. It's that that this is different because we're now saying that this person becomes aware that these insane things exist, and they have to just manage their life. Now with that knowledge. That doesn't mean you take any doctor who Assistant that he brings in there his partner and then going like, well, like a look at this world. And that's why brings assistant along because doctor who's used to all this stuff, we don't necessarily care about Doctor Who discovering these new things, there is some fun in that. But that's why

 

that show is interesting because the assistant has an

 

assistant comes along so right about them managing this whole new world of possibilities that he's showing to them of all of these crazy new things. And them how this world shattering idea of what's going on here and then having to manage that.

 

It's also you can see this a lot when it's, say, a haunted house storyline. And you know, usually there's this struggle of No, it can't be real, I'm gonna prove that it's not real. There's that dumb character. It's like, Steve, no ghost is gonna get me and then they're like drug off off screen. And I do think that the way you write that discovery is going to make or break the movie. We've talked about before, how, let's say like a supernatural threat came to us. And we had to therefore acknowledge that it was like the black eyed kids is something that I've talked about. And you're like, I wouldn't be scared about it. I'd be like, Okay, well, how do we get rid of them? Let's look at let's look at what all the scholars have

 

just laid out in front of you. And you just you're just like absolutely denying it or just like, Oh, yeah, it's a ghost. I saw it. So you know, okay, let's do a salt circle. Let's do all that. Yeah, let's do the ritual. Do the things that you need to do instead of just yeah, saying no. I know, it's holding me upside down, but can't be real. But

 

I imagined it. Yeah. And then the last kind of storyline is the idea of a powerful magical object. And that the story is built around that you seen in the movie The mask with Jim Carrey Lucky's mask, he puts it on he transforms into this cartoon like creature. And then Infinity Gauntlet, and the stones are the stones called

 

the Infinity Stones. The Infinity Gauntlet, it gives that that person a bunch of power, right? These

 

things that also sort of change your perception on reality because it has this whole nother level of possibilities that are usually supernatural paranormal beyond the explanation of science of the laws of nature. The Holy Grail is another one we talked about the fifth element with the stones and actually, you know, the Fifth Element herself. The Sorcerer's Stone in Harry Potter and Harry Harry Potter just continues to throw those types of things on this list. The fairy wand and elderberry the elder was elderberry elderberries are real. It's like a thing. They aren't good. Yeah. So it's a great way of telling a story is powerful, magical object. Whoever possesses it some sort of crazy thing different than will change for them. I mean, just the genies lamp. Yeah, great example of that.

 

I think there's something called the skull of truth. And it's supposed to be the skull that like Shakespeare uses. It's Yorick. It's that and whoever's in the same room as the skull, they have to tell the truth. So that would be kind of handy. I do think. So, those are some of our favorite storylines within the genre. Let us know if we missed anything.

 

There's plenty more. I'm sure we missed some. There's all sorts of different ways. I mean, watch every single Star Trek episode, and they do all sorts of these different things. Yeah. 15 years of supernatural wasn't just by chance that they only cover the storylines that we mentioned. I know. Yeah. So there's other Yeah, they're out there. And they're awesome. And each one gets to be used again and again and again, and thrown little different elements at it. And that's one of the reasons why. supernatural paranormal things are so much fun, because it does not get old.

 

Yeah, it doesn't get old when you have so many options to play with. Right? And you can mix these things around. You can have like, oh, a Freaky Friday, within Oh, we also have to get this powerful object and this powerful object is what made us do the Freaky Friday thing in the first place. Oh, it's so great.

 

So many versions. And like we said that, that these they transcend just being in even in their own story, worlds of fantasy, science fiction, Supernatural, paranormal and even the drama series. We'll touch on some of these storylines that are primarily focused in these types of world and then they'll sort of explain them away of why this, you know, the real world is still functioning here that they had a dream, the dream, but it's, they're all incredibly awesome ways to tell stories and that's why I just,

 

yeah, eat it up. Eat it. Oh, yeah, same. Alright and as we end Make sure to follow me on Instagram at the folklore Friday podcast and message me message me if there's any storylines that you like, or if there's a topic you want us to discuss, because I am looking for feedback. And as I end I wanted to tell Chris and you my listener, so as listening to this podcast, if you'd like my podcast, and you're really gonna like it's called stories with Sapphire, ah, do you ever just look at someone and their accomplishments and you go, I want I want those. She's living my best life. Like, that's this chick for me. And so I was listening to this episode where she tells these scary stories. Sometimes people write in sometimes she narrates, sometimes they they narrate, narrate, I can talk. So I listen to her podcast a lot when I'm working because I do sign work. And I usually find it really soothing but on my way home to you love in my life, Chris. I was listening to this one. And it made me gasp out loud. Because I was like, Oh, I don't like that at all. This, like family, and they kept being haunted by this ghost of someone that looked a lot like the daughter and kept saying, Mommy, Mommy, and it sounded, you know, pretty general. And they said, Please leave and as most ghost stories do the ones that end will that left but then you find out that it was like the ants. Baby, she had a miscarriage. And they said, Oh, the aunt said we couldn't bury it in him. I think it was her her son couldn't bury him in the cemetery. So we buried him in the house. And out loud I went what she said, she put the remnants in this big glass jar with alcohol and put it under the floorboards of the couch, like render underneath the couch. It seems like work to just do that. That's easier to bury airy and live somewhere just disintegrate and become part of the earth.

 

That sounds very natural to the work to do what they did. It's like preserving it in like a free pickle jar. Yeah,

 

that's the most disturbing thing I've ever heard. I don't know if it was like a cultural thing. And if it is, I'm sorry, but they didn't say it was and I would be so disturbed if I found found that. Sure. You know what? Just like it was very disturbing to me. So check out that. Yeah, check that out. Check that. It's very good. Also check out guide to the unknown. I've been listening to that one a lot. Super like it props to them. But also listen to all of the other previous episodes for folklore Friday. Oh, yes, please. So thank you so much for listening. Thank you for joining me, Chris. Oh, thank you for having me, Megan. And we'll see you next time on folklore Friday. Bye. Thanks for listening my little strange things. I hope you join us next time. scare you later.

 

Transcribed by https://otter.ai