If you’ve been awake for the past decade, you’ve seen some pretty unique, often freaky romances. I’m not talking about Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, I’m talking love of the supernatural kind.
Vampires, werewolves, zombies, gods, faeries…have you noticed that there’s pretty much NOTHING humans won’t get horizontal with?
I’m also talking love of the doomed kind. 9 times out of 10, something gets in the way of this relationship, be it a hunter with a silver bullet or old age taking its toll on the mortal form.
And 9 times out of 10, we know how things are going to end…but we still keep reading because speculative fiction is the suspension of disbelief, and we’ve also all suffered doomed relationships. Not usually with re-animated corpses, but doomed nonetheless.
But why the appeal?
For me, it’s the uniqueness of the relationship. Sure, when I was in college I could date a guy who drove a Jaguar…but I couldn’t date a guy who turned INTO a Jaguar. There’s something very special about being with someone who’s…well, very special.
There’s also the appreciation that this is someone who doesn’t conform to society’s rules (sometimes because they can’t/sometimes because they choose not to), a rebel without a cause. Not to mention, they’re not tainted by modern society. They’ve got that romantic old world charm.
When we talk about trends in speculative fiction, we know that they all eventually come to an end to make way for something new. This, I believe, is one of the few exceptions to that rule.
Sound off!
What’s been your favorite cross-species romance?
Donkey and the dragon in Shrek!
Haha! I love that pair because they have the weirdest, cutest babies. I’m such a girl.
Honestly (and rather crudely), I can’t get past the physics of the baby-making.
Mistuko and Goranu (a tengu – a mischievous demon-like bird shape-shifter from Japanese folklore) from the book Little Sister by Kara Dalkey.
HANDS DOWN. Period.
Oops. That’s Mitsuko, not “Mistuko”
Hmmm. I may have to check that one out!