It’s hard to believe that as little as fifty years ago, “fantasy” was thought to be exclusively castles and unicorns and elves with great hair. Today, the fantasy genre is booming, and urban fantasy is leading the pack.
If you’re thinking about diving into the world of urban fantasy but aren’t sure where to begin, we’ve got you covered. We’ll take you through the conventions of this popular fiction genre, along with some examples and tips for writing your own.
What is urban fantasy?
Urban fantasy is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which fabulist elements are transposed onto an urban environment. It blends reality with fantasy, and incorporates both human and supernatural characters. Modern conventions, technologies, and ideas often play an essential role, and the setting can become a character in its own right.
These stories can take place in real cities in the world we know, or in fictional places that have been strongly influenced by real cities. Some authors choose to set their urban fantasy stories in a real-world city, but create a fictional neighborhood within it as the story’s focal point.
Urban fantasy novels bridge the divide between the magical and the mundane, which makes them a great vessel for communicating timely social themes such as prejudice, homelessness, or urbanization. They can also overlap with other genres like detective fiction and horror. You can think of this genre as the fantasy equivalent of city-driven noir fiction, and it frequently overlaps with other genres, including detective fiction, horror, and paranormal romance.
The urban fantasy genre arguably began with the shared-universe Bordertown series, pioneered by writer, editor, and folklorist Terri Windling as early as the 1980s. Together with fellow writers Emma Bull, Charles de Lint, Will Shetterly, and others, she put together a groundbreaking series of novels and anthologies that took familiar Tolkien-era fantasy tropes and gave them mohawks and motorcycles.
The Bordertown series isn’t as well known today as it was then, but almost every popular urban fantasy novel that’s followed can trace its creative lineage back to the influence of those books.
Most urban fantasy books take place in the modern world. But some, like those in the sub-subgenre of “gaslamp fantasy”, can take place earlier. These stories will often have science fiction elements too. The only criteria is that urban fantasy has to be set in a time when humans have gathered together in the kind of cities we recognize today, and that city setting has to play an important role in the story.
What’s the difference between urban fantasy and contemporary fantasy?
Urban fantasy is sometimes called contemporary fantasy, which is a bit misleading. Contemporary fantasy is a broader genre of fiction with fantastical or fabulist elements that’s set in the modern day. Urban fantasy is one kind of contemporary fantasy (although it can also be considered historical fantasy when it’s set in the 19th or 20th century). But there are other subgenres under this umbrella as well.
Let’s look at a few other kinds of contemporary fantasy, and how they compare to the urban fantasy genre.
Urban fantasy vs. paranormal romance
Urban fantasy and paranormal romance share a lot of common elements, but they’re not quite the same thing.
As the name would suggest, paranormal romance is defined by its guiding romantic plot. These novels often feature a romance between a human and a non-human character such as a vampire, werewolf, incubus, or other folkloric figure. If you were to remove the paranormal aspects, you’d still have a standard romance novel. They can sometimes lean into erotic overtones more than plot-driven narratives.
Additionally, paranormal romance doesn’t have to take place in a city; it can take place anywhere in this world or any other. Something like Twilight, for example, wouldn’t be considered urban fantasy even though it has a few urban fantasy elements.
Urban fantasy, by contrast, is more plot driven than its paranormal romance counterpart. These stories are characterized by the characters’ relationship with the setting. Romance can play a role, but it’s not essential.
Urban fantasy vs. magical realism
Magical realism (or magic realism) is another genre that sometimes gets confused with urban fantasy, likely because they both take place in a recognizable human world. But compared to urban fantasy, magical realism tends to be much subtler; the magic is gently woven into the fabric of the everyday. You can think of magical realism like literary fiction with supernatural undertones.
Urban fantasy is more overtly fabulist, transposing classic fantasy elements such as mythical creatures and supernatural beings onto a modern city. While the magic of magic realism is generally an accepted part of day-to-day life, the magic of urban fantasy is more often hidden from the general public and only accessible to people “in the know”. It’s also more plot driven than magic realism, which is usually more character driven.
Magical realism can take place in an urban setting, but it’s more common to see it set in small, intimate communities where this kind of magic is an open secret.
Urban fantasy vs. YA fantasy
Young adult readers are a key demographic for urban fantasy literature, so there can sometimes be a misconception that all urban fantasy is YA and all YA fantasy is urban! Part of this is because today’s teens, in contrast to those that were coming of age sixty or seventy years ago (in the time of Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, et al.), want to see the potential for magic in their own “backyard”—which in many cases is an urban setting.
Another useful parallel between urban fantasy stories and the YA genre is that because urban fantasy straddles two worlds, it’s very popular with YA readers (who are themselves straddling two worlds—childhood and adulthood). This makes them a key demographic in urban fantasy literature today.
YA fantasy can encompass a range of styles and environments. All it means is that the story has fantasy elements and explores the unique struggles, challenges, and rewards of being a teenager. And the urban fantasy genre is a space that does this very well. But there are also adult urban fantasy novels that take a more mature approach through a more experienced lens.
How to write your own urban fantasy novel
With all this in mind, we’re ready to get creative. Here are some tips on how to write urban fantasy books of your own.
Establish your setting
As we’ve seen, the time and place in which your story roots itself is a huge part of what makes this genre special. For readers to pick up your book from a shelf full of competing fantasy novels, the urban fantasy setting really needs to shine.
First, consider whether you want to set your story in a real place or a fictional one. The benefit of using a real known city as your backdrop is that readers familiar with that place will be able to interpose their own experiences, creating a deeper emotional connection with the story. The benefit of creating a fictional city is that you don’t have to worry about getting everything just right, and you can add essential features that you need to move the plot forward.
In some of our urban fantasy examples below, you’ll see that some writers like to set their novels in the near future. The reason for this is you can take a real place and imagine what it would be like after some [super]natural disaster, which created the magical world of the story. That way if some aspect of the real-world city is creatively inconvenient, you can simply get rid of it and replace it with something else.
The best urban fantasy novels use their setting as a way to bridge the fantastical and the banal, blending supernatural terrors with relatable everyday struggles. It can be helpful to give your urban setting a dark, noir-ish feel (think Batman’s Gotham or the LA inhabited by Raymond Chandler).
Just like the cities are a melting pot of mythical creatures and status, the novels are likewise a melting pot of multiple genres.
Once you’ve decided where your novel is going to take place, spend some time brainstorming (read: daydreaming) about what it’s like to live in it. Consider the natural landscape—are there city parks here? Beaches? Or is it a never-ending wash of concrete? What sort of materials are used in the buildings? Things like iron, wood, silver, or even certain pigments might have unexpected effects on the magical denizens of this place.
Each of these details will create more facets and more depth in your story world.
Get to know your point-of-view characters
Now that you have your scaffolding, it’s time to start fleshing it out with your characters—the human lens through which your readers will experience this world.
“Human” in this context doesn’t necessarily refer to a biological species; it means characters with relatable and empathetic feelings, ideas, beliefs, fears, and dreams. Characters in which we can see some element of ourselves. This is true whether your protagonist is an out-of-depth businessman or a millennia-old fae prince.
It can be useful to have a blend of ordinary humans (species) and supernatural creatures that show a number of different perspectives. Whose story is this? Who’s the hero, and who’s the villain? What’s their role in society? Consider how they look, how they talk, how they deal with conflict, what they’re best at and what their weaknesses are.
This is a good place to explore foil characters and character archetypes. Write out some thoughts and ideas about each main character (read: more daydreaming) until they start to feel fully formed and real.
Give popular tropes your own spin
As you begin building your world, you’ll likely find that you begin leaning into common urban fantasy tropes: vampires, werewolves, fae, death-dealing hunters, supernatural nightclubs, reimagined fairy tales, and so forth. There’s nothing wrong with incorporating these tropes into your story—they’re popular for a reason! But see if you can add a new angle or perspective that’s uniquely your own.
The comic book series American Vampire did this very well when they decided that like all creatures, vampires would eventually evolve and adapt to their surroundings. Their new, modern breed of vampire had nontraditional strengths and weaknesses that arose as a result of a changing world. They took a recognizable figure that readers have come to know and love, and added a few select details that made these figures into something new.
Think about the defining traits of your fantastical characters and pick one or two to subvert in surprising ways. What this does is creates a predetermined connection with your target audience while also giving them something they haven’t seen before.
Explore the sociopolitical mechanics of this world
Which is really just a fancy way of saying: who’s in control here? Is there a (literal or figurative) food chain? Who’s on top, and who’s on the bottom? Power dynamics play a huge role in urban fantasy novels, so getting to know those dynamics in your story will create a more engaging world for your readers.
Then, look at where each of your main characters fits into this power structure. This will probably change over the course of the story. Those without power are trying to claw their way up; those with are trying desperately to hold onto it.
Think about who makes the rules, what those rules are, why those rules are there, and what happens if they’re broken. Who enforces these laws? Who benefits from them, and who is held down? All these elements will help shape the direction of the story, not to mention the theme.
Give each character a driving motive
Once you have your characters, you’ll need to give them some direction—in other words, the building blocks of the plot. Take a look at your protagonist, your antagonist, and any key secondary characters (friends, family, love interest, sidekicks, etc).
What does each of these characters want? What do they need? What’s missing from their life when the story begins? What’s propelling them forward, and what’s holding them back? Make some notes about each of these questions. It’s okay if you don’t know all the answers for every character right away; some you may discover as you go through the writing process.
These driving motives can range from things like “impress the new girl next door” to “save the world” to “find a rare medicine for a dying loved one” to “nail an audition at a hot new music venue” and everything in between. Because you’ll have several characters, you’ll also have several motives all crossing paths and getting in each other’s way.
When you have a sense of what your main characters are working towards, turn your attention to the stakes: what’s at risk if they fail to achieve their goals. As the story progresses, these stakes will likely get higher and higher as the characters have more and more to lose. This means that the reader will become increasingly invested in the characters’ journey and choices.
Push your characters to their limits
As the story progresses and your characters pursue their goals, they’ll be faced with challenges. With every victory comes an even bigger challenge, forcing the characters to confront their inherent weaknesses.
To get the most possible tension from your story, look for ways to make your characters fight harder and harder for what they want. This will ultimately culminate in the story’s Big Finish known as the climax.
When you developed your story’s supernatural elements, you also established the limitations of any supernatural powers your characters might have. The climax is the place to bring these limitations to the forefront. If for example your protagonist can’t cross running water, they’ll inevitably have to find a way across it at the novel’s climax. Or if the character can’t travel in daylight without risk of bursting into flames, they’ll be forced into action at high noon.
Because you’ve pre-established these limits early on, the reader will be intensely riveted and satisfied to see them pay off.
Once you have all these pieces in place, it’s just a matter of stringing them together to tell a complete, cohesive story.
Examples of popular urban fantasy books, series, and media
Looking for some inspiration to get you going? These urban fantasy classics are a great way to start percolating ideas.
The Mercy Thompson series, by Patricia Briggs
Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thompson series hit the ground running in 2006 and spawned numerous sequels, prequels, and spinoffs (you may notice that quite a lot of urban fantasy appeared at this time; you may also notice that Buffy the Vampire Slayer concluded its seven-season run in 2005. Coincidence?). The series follows a coyote shapeshifter making her way through a Washington tri-cities area populated by vampires, werewolves, fae, and more.
Although the genre became extremely saturated in the early ’00s, Briggs’ urban fantasy series stands out as a gateway for many readers discovering this genre for the first time. It struck a chord with its tough she-mechanic protagonist and blending of world folklores. The coyote shapeshifter aspect was considered a fresh take on the popular werewolf legends.
War For the Oaks, by Emma Bull
Jumping back in time, Emma Bull’s War For the Oaks was first published in 1987, one year after the launch of Terri Windling’s Bordertown series. War For the Oaks leans heavily into British fairy folklore, set against the backdrop of 80s rock and roll.
The novel follows an aspiring musician who gets roped into a war between rival courts. It takes place in Minneapolis, and was one of the first novels to present these kind of high fantasy concepts in a recognizable modern setting. The narrative culminates in an epic showdown between good and evil—and what’s the unshakable force that ultimately saves the day? If you answered “true love”, you’d be close; it’s actually a good old fashioned guitar battle.
The Hellblazer series, by Jamie Delano et al.
Hellblazer, better known by the name of its protagonist John Constantine, “working class warlock”, landed on the pages of DC Comics in 1988 (one year after War For the Oaks, two years after Bordertown).
The kind of character was one readers had seen many times before, from the wizard Merlin of Arthurian legend to Schmendrick in Peter S. Beagle’s The Last Unicorn to Marvel’s Doctor Strange (who predated John Constantine by twenty-odd years). The big difference was that Constantine was a foul-mouthed, chain-smoking, morally disreputable, blue-collar occultist. In other words, he felt like a real person (and not one you’d necessarily want as your friend).
Hellblazer primarily takes place in London (as does our next title on the list), showing that modern-day America isn’t the only place an urban fantasy can take root. It blends fantastical creatures and epic battles with recognizable human problems, like paying rent in a big city.
Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman
Many people don’t know that Neil Gaiman’s urban fantasy novel Neverwhere actually began as a BBC miniseries, and not the other way around. But a combination of time constraints and budget CGI limitations meant he couldn’t quite create his vision the way he wanted it, so he decided to upcycle the entire thing into a novel.
Neverwhere features two versions of London (a premise which was later expanded upon in Ben Aaronovitch’s Rivers of London series). It was inspired by some of the funny names you’ll find around the city: Earl’s Court, Shepherd’s Bush, Knightsbridge, the Angel of Islington, and more. The novel follows an “everyman” protagonist who finds himself caught up in supernatural politics and unable to return to the life he knew.
This is a useful novel to study because it’s very rooted in a central theme; it uses fantastical elements to communicate an important real-world idea. Seeing how he did it can help you do the same with your own writing.
The Talamasca, by way of Anne Rice
The Talamasca is a TV series set in “the immortal universe”, a set of storylines based on or inspired by the work of horror author Anne Rice. It follows a secret society tasked with keeping an eye on the world’s magical creatures and, occasionally, restoring equilibrium.
The early season of the show takes place in and around London, likely because it represents more of the “old guard, old money” aesthetic compared to the younger, hipper America. The show leans into this juxtaposition of old and new worlds, which is a useful contrast for any urban fantasy work. Like many novels on this list, it introduces the audience to its world through the eyes of an ordinary outsider.
Some other urban fantasy authors to keep an eye out for are Jim Butcher, Kim Harrison, Charles de Lint, C.E. Murphy, Cassandra Clare, and Tanya Huff.
Bright lights, big magic
Urban fantasy rose to prominence at a time when people were looking for magic in the back alleys, shanty towns, and ominous highrises they saw around them every day. As cities and societies develop, many authors are finding ways to explore speculative fiction from new perspectives. Now, you can leave your own mark on the broadening horizon that is urban fantasy.
