by Amy Wilkins, Harlequin’s Digital Production Coordinator
Will werewolves replace vampires as the next big thing in entertainment? I’ve been meaning to post about a New York Magazine article that asks that very question. The writer points to a number of upcoming werewolf-themed projects in 2009, like the recently released movie Underworld 3: Rise of the Lycans (forgetting the fact that the Underworld series has vampires, too) and a remake of The Wolf Man in November starring Benicio Del Toro.
Now, paranormal fans will know that werewolf books have been around for ages — along with other “were” creatures. Just take a look Karen Whiddon‘s werewolf series The Pack, or Rachel Vincent‘s werecats series The Shifters (Stray, Rogue, and the third novel Pride out in February 1st).
And with vampires continuing to be popular paranormal romance heroes, and the smashing success of the Twilight movie, are vampires really on the way out? Or will they just have to learn to coexist with their wolfy brethren? Or will there be an entirely new species that will rock the paranormal world? Have your say in the poll below and leave a comment!
Hi Amy!
Marta over at Vampire Wire asked this very thing a while back as well. I think vampires will continue to be popular even when they fall out of the mainstream. Same with werewolves. There’s something timeless about both creatures and I think it’s interesting that more entertainment (both movies and TV) are latching onto fans of both creatures. It looks like they’re following book trends rather than the opposite which is pretty cool.
I do think more creatures will be added to the mix of paranormals. It’d be interesting to see what kinds of books come out with the mixes of genres and creatures though!
Personally, I’d like to see more demons. Love vamps though and will reserve my opinion about werewolves for a later time. I’ll be experimenting with those this year.
Werecreatures, i think, will be more popular for say the Nocturne line from Harlequin then vampires eventually. I think for a writer, werecreatures are a better chance of writing that basic, alpha male (the human form) while writing something a little more primitive and as I call them in my own writing “savagely docile” creatures.
Demons, vampires. faeries/elves, are good to but 2 of those 4 I think won’t last long.
Lou, are there any werecreatures in particular that you’d like to see? I’ve seen everything from werecats, to bears, to a beaver! I think it can be a fine line between something cool to shift into and becoming a tad silly.
~Amy
Personally, Amy, I like to stick to the classics. Werewolves in other words. But I’m partial to the cats as well.
The only bears I’ve seen are from Sherrilyn Kenyon and Lauren K. Hamilton. I’ve also seen swans, and rats and hyenas and even snakes from Hamilton and that turned me off from her writing right then and there.
So, yeah, I definitely prefer to stick to the classics.
I’m thinking they’re just going to have to co-exist! I really enjoy reading about both, as well as other paranormal creatures. There’s plenty of room for both/all, right? The popularity of anything tends to rise and fallbusin, but I guess that’s just the nature of the industry.
I hope we have balance. Too much of one type of paranormal can be boring…