Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Archives - Page 3 of 3

My Favorite Writing Music for Urban Fantasy Fight Scenes

By Roger Hyttinen / August 1, 2025

Or: Why Drum & Bass Makes My Demons Punch Harder

The first time I realized music could actually fuel a fight scene I was writing, I was sitting in my usual corner booth at a coffee shop—half-buzzed on espresso, procrastinating like a pro. My protagonist, a snarky necromancer with a grudge, was supposed to be battling an eldritch creature in an alleyway drenched in rain and neon light. But I couldn’t get it right. Everything felt flat, like a clunky stage play with swords made of cardboard.

Out of frustration, I yanked in my earbuds and hit shuffle on a playlist I’d made for cardio workouts. The opening notes of The Prodigy’s “Invaders Must Die” blasted into my skull—and suddenly, the fight came alive.

And I mean alive.

The Vibe Matters

Urban fantasy is a genre soaked in adrenaline and shadows. You’ve got werewolves scrapping behind nightclubs, witches slinging hexes in subway tunnels, vampires in pinstripe suits pulling knives in back alleys. It’s gritty, fast-paced, a little unhinged—and the music you use to write those scenes? It needs to match that energy.

For me, it’s all about rhythm. That pulse. That driving, relentless beat that makes you clench your jaw and type like your keyboard owes you money. It’s less about melody and more about momentum.

My Top Picks (That Totally Slap)

Let’s talk specifics. These are my go-tos when the fists (or fireballs) start flying:

1. Drum & Bass / Dark Electronica
Artists like Noisia, Pendulum, Sub Focus, and Black Sun Empire. These tracks are tight, aggressive, and make me feel like someone’s about to crash through a window any second now. The rapid-fire percussion is perfect for tracking blows, dodges, and magical chaos.

Favorite tracks:

“Stigma” – Noisia
“Tarantula” – Pendulum
“Timewarp” – Sub Focus

2. Industrial Rock
When I need a grittier, more grounded fight—think brass knuckles in a dive bar or a werewolf-on-vampire showdown—I turn to Nine Inch Nails, Celldweller, or Marilyn Manson’s earlier stuff. There’s something visceral about distorted guitars and electronic growls that just works.

Favorite tracks:

“The Way You Like It” – Adema
“Switchback” – Celldweller
“Wish” – Nine Inch Nails

3. Cinematic / Trailer Music
Sometimes I need the drama turned up to eleven. You know, when the world is literally cracking open and the hero is unleashing some forbidden spell. That’s when I dive into the overly dramatic, brass-heavy world of Two Steps From Hell, Audiomachine, or Epic Score.

Favorite tracks:

“Heart of Courage” – Two Steps From Hell (cliché? maybe. effective? absolutely.)
“Blood and Stone” – Audiomachine
“I Am the Storm” – Ramin Djawadi (Game of Thrones, but still counts)

The Mood Shifter

Here’s the wild part: the right track not only makes the scene flow better, it changes me. I sit differently. I breathe faster. My typing speeds up like I’m trying to win a race. I stop second-guessing myself and just go. It’s like music unlocks the primal part of my brain that knows how to write a brawl better than my thinking mind ever could.

Also, I’ve scared my cat more than once by shouting “DUCK!” at my screen mid-write. So, bonus points for immersion.

Honorable Mentions: Because Not Every Fight Is a Bloodbath

Sometimes you need something less in-your-face. Like if the fight’s more psychological—an underground chess match with telepaths—or stylish, like a sword duel on a rooftop. That’s when I pull out:

Woodkid – moody and majestic
Carpenter Brut – synthwave with a sharp edge
UNSECRET – cinematic with a modern twist

So Yeah…

Writing fight scenes used to stress me out. I’d overthink every blow, every reaction, trying to choreograph it like a Hollywood stunt coordinator. But once I let the music lead the rhythm, everything changed. Now, I build a playlist before I write the scene. I match the tempo to the tone, hit play, and let my fingers go feral.

So yeah. Music isn’t just background noise—it’s my fight choreographer, my pacing coach, and, on some days, the only thing that keeps me from giving up and switching to writing soft-baked vampire romance instead.

Which… might also need a playlist.

But that’s another blog post.

My Favorite Writing Music for Urban Fantasy Fight Scenes Read Post »

Things That Go Bump (and Why We’re Weirdly Obsessed With Them)

By Roger Hyttinen / July 31, 2025

…The Psychology Behind Why We Love Ghost Stories

I still remember the first time I scared the absolute crap out of myself with a ghost story.

I was maybe seven or eight, tucked under a blanket fort with a flashlight and a battered copy of Mystery of the Witches’ Bridge. You know the one—the one with those sketchy ink illustrations that look like they crawled straight out of a haunted fever dream. I got to one part and something about that story made my skin crawl so badly I didn’t sleep for two nights. It was also about that time that I read “The Ghosts” by Antonia Barber which had the same effect on me. I found it spine-tinglingly scary and had to start sleeping with a nightlight.

And yet… I went back for more. I always do.

So what’s that about? Why do we love ghost stories when they make us flinch at our own shadow or check behind the shower curtain at midnight like total weirdos?

Let’s dig into it.

Fear Without the Fallout

Psychologists say that part of the thrill comes from something called benign masochism—that sweet spot where we enjoy fear because it’s controlled. When you read a ghost story or watch a paranormal movie, your brain lights up like it’s under attack… but your body knows you’re safe on your couch with snacks.

Basically, it’s fear in a fun-sized wrapper (though Poltergeist was more fear than fun).

I think of it like a haunted house you walk through on purpose. You get the rush of adrenaline, the spike in heart rate, but there’s no actual demon dragging you into the basement. (Hopefully.)

It’s the same reason we scream during The Conjuring but then immediately rewatch it with friends, pointing out the moments we jumped. We like to feel brave. Or at least pretend we are.

Ghosts as Emotional Mirrors

But ghost stories aren’t just about thrills and chills. A lot of them are secretly about grief, guilt, or unfinished business.

Think about The Sixth Sense. It’s not just a ghost story—it’s a story about loneliness, about communication, about helping people find closure. Cole sees dead people, sure, but what hits me harder is how broken the living people are.

Same with The Haunting of Hill House (the Netflix version, not the old black-and-white one—though that one’s got its charm too). The Bent-Neck Lady? That twist crushed me. That entire series was basically a psychological study in family trauma dressed up in creepy ghosts and jump scares.

We love ghost stories because they haunt us emotionally. They take things we’ve buried—loss, shame, regret—and give them form. They make us look at them.

Telling Stories Around the Fire

There’s also something communal about ghost stories. They’ve been around forever. Like, literally forever.

Even ancient Mesopotamian texts mention spirits who wander the Earth. Every culture has its version of the ghost story—La Llorona in Latin America, the yūrei in Japan, the White Lady in Europe. Ghosts are the world’s oldest campfire gossip.

I grew up hearing about Resurrection Mary, the hitchhiking ghost from Chicago. My cousin swore she saw her once near Archer Avenue. Of course, she also swore she saw Bigfoot in Indiana, so take that with a salt lick.

But that’s part of it—ghost stories create shared experiences. Whether we’re watching a movie together, listening to a podcast like Lore, or swapping creepy tales on Reddit at 2AM, they give us a reason to connect (and maybe keep the lights on a little longer).

Safe Spaces for the Unexplainable

I think ghost stories also give us space to talk about the unknown without needing to solve it.

We live in a hyper-rational, hyper-scientific world. If something creaks in the house, we Google “HVAC noises at night” instead of just saying, “Welp, it’s haunted again.” But ghost stories let us suspend that rational voice. They give us permission to believe in something bigger, stranger, less tidy.

Even if we don’t believe in ghosts (I’m still undecided, personally), we’re drawn to the possibility of something more.

The Last Little Haunt

So yeah, I still love ghost stories (not surprising, given that I write them as well). Not just the heart-racing kind, but the ones that sneak up on you emotionally—the ones that leave you unsettled long after the credits roll.

There’s something oddly comforting about being scared in a safe way. Something satisfying about facing the unknown, even if it’s through the eyes of a fictional character holding a flickering lantern in some creaky Victorian house.

And honestly? I think a little haunting now and then keeps life interesting.

Things That Go Bump (and Why We’re Weirdly Obsessed With Them) Read Post »