This article is about fictional books, television programs, radio programs, and films whose storylines revolve around the paranormal

Paranormal

Paranormal is a general term that designates experiences that lie outside "the range of normal experience or scientific explanation" or that indicates phenomena understood to be outside of science's current ability to explain or measure...

.

Paranormal romance novels

Paranormal romance is a literary subgenre of the romance novel

Romance novel

The romance novel is a literary genre developed in Western culture, mainly in English-speaking countries. Novels in this genre place their primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and must have an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending." Through the late...

. A type of speculative fiction

Speculative fiction

Speculative fiction is an umbrella term encompassing the more fantastical fiction genres, specifically science fiction, fantasy, horror, supernatural fiction, superhero fiction, utopian and dystopian fiction, apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, and alternate history in literature as well as...

, paranormal romance focuses on romance and included elements beyond the range of scientific explanation, blending together themes from the genres of traditional fantasy

Fantasy

Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...

, science fiction

Science fiction

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

, or horror

Horror fiction

Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...

. Paranormal romance may range from traditional category romances, such as those published by Harlequin Mills & Boon

Harlequin Enterprises Ltd

Harlequin Enterprises Limited is a Toronto, Ontario-based company that is a publisher of series romance and women's fiction. Owned by the Torstar Corporation, the largest newspaper publisher in Canada, the company publishes approximately 120 new titles each month in 29 different languages in 107...

, with a paranormal setting to stories where the main emphasis is on a science fiction or fantasy based plot with a romantic subplot included. Common hallmarks are romantic relationships between humans and vampires, shapeshifters, or fantastical beings (the Fae, Elves, etc.). Novels of the genre include the Dark Guardian

Dark Guardian

Dark Guardian is a series of young-adult paranormal romance novels by Rachel Hawthorne. The books follow a peaceful secret society of werewolves, known as Shifters, who are hunted by an ambitious research organization. Amidst this conflict, several of the teenage Shifters become protectors of their...

series by Rachel Hawthorne, and Paranormalcy

Paranormalcy

Paranormalcy is a series of young-adult urban fantasy novels by American author Kiersten White, beginning with the inaugural entry of the same name. The story focuses on a girl named Evie, a member of a special international police force assigned to paranormal cases...

by Kiersten White.

Beyond the more prevalent themes involving vampires, shapeshifters, ghosts, or time travel

Time travel

Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...

, paranormal romances can also include books featuring characters with psychic

Psychic

A psychic is a person who professes an ability to perceive information hidden from the normal senses through extrasensory perception , or is said by others to have such abilities. It is also used to describe theatrical performers who use techniques such as prestidigitation, cold reading, and hot...

 abilities, like telekinesis or telepathy

Telepathy

Telepathy , is the induction of mental states from one mind to another. The term was coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Fredric W. H. Myers, a founder of the Society for Psychical Research, and has remained more popular than the more-correct expression thought-transference...

.

Paranormal romance has its roots in Gothic fiction

Gothic fiction

Gothic fiction, sometimes referred to as Gothic horror, is a genre or mode of literature that combines elements of both horror and romance. Gothicism's origin is attributed to English author Horace Walpole, with his 1764 novel The Castle of Otranto, subtitled "A Gothic Story"...

. Its most recent revival has been spurred by turn of the century technology, e.g. the internet

Internet

The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...

 and electronic publishing

Electronic publishing

Electronic publishing or ePublishing includes the digital publication of e-books and electronic articles, and the development of digital libraries and catalogues. Electronic publishing has become common in scientific publishing where it has been argued that peer-reviewed scientific journals are in...

. Paranormal romances are one of the fastest growing trends in the romance genre.

Television

• The X-Files
  The X-Files
  The X-Files is an American science fiction television series and a part of The X-Files franchise, created by screenwriter Chris Carter. The program originally aired from to . The show was a hit for the Fox network, and its characters and slogans became popular culture touchstones in the 1990s...
  
  , a suspense drama television series in which characters investigate various paranormal phenomena.
• So Weird
  So Weird
  So Weird is a television series shot in Vancouver, British Columbia that aired on the Disney Channel as a midseason replacement from January 18, 1999 to September 28, 2001. In season one and season two, the series centered around teenage girl Fiona Phillips who toured with her rock star mom ,...
  
  , a Disney adventure drama television show about an unorthodox American family and its experiences with paranormal phenomena, starring Mackenzie Phillips
  Mackenzie Phillips
  Mackenzie Phillips is an American actress and singer best known for her roles in American Graffiti and as rebellious teenager Julie Cooper Horvath on the sitcom One Day at a Time...
  
  , Cara Delizia
  Cara DeLizia
  Cara Elizabeth DeLizia is an American television actress most known for her portrayal as Fiona "Fi" Phillips alongside Mackenzie Phillips in the Disney Original Series So Weird.-Early career:...
  
   and Alexz Johnson
  Alexz Johnson
  Alexzandra Spencer "Alexz" Johnson is a Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. Her debut album Voodoo was independently released on March 30, 2010....
  
  .
• Supernatural
  Supernatural (TV series)
  Supernatural is an American supernatural and horror television series created by Eric Kripke, which debuted on September 13, 2005 on The WB, and is now part of The CW's lineup. Starring Jared Padalecki as Sam Winchester and Jensen Ackles as Dean Winchester, the series follows the brothers as they...
  
  , a television drama in which characters battle paranormal forces.
• Ghost Whisperer
  Ghost Whisperer
  Ghost Whisperer is an American television supernatural drama, which ran on CBS from September 23, 2005 to May 21, 2010.The series follows the life of Melinda Gordon , who has the ability to see and communicate with ghosts...
  
  

Film

• The Exorcist
  The Exorcist (film)
  The Exorcist is a 1973 American horror film directed by William Friedkin, adapted from the 1971 novel of the same name by William Peter Blatty and based on the exorcism case of Robbie Mannheim, dealing with the demonic possession of a young girl and her mother’s desperate attempts to win back her...
  
  , a 1973 horror film.
• Poltergeist, a 1982 horror film.
• The Entity
  The Entity
  The Entity is a horror film purportedly based on the paranormal events a woman and her family experienced circa 1976. It stars Barbara Hershey as a woman tormented by an unseen entity...
  
  , a 1982 suspense film about a single mother repeatedly raped by a spirit.
• Ghostbusters
  Ghostbusters
  Ghostbusters is a 1984 American science fiction comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. The film stars Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis, and Rick Moranis and follows three eccentric parapsychologists in New York City, who start a...
  
  , a 1984 adventure comedy film about three unemployed parapsychology professors who set up shop as a unique ghost-removal service.
• Ghostbusters II
  Ghostbusters II
  Ghostbusters II is a 1989 science fiction comedy film produced and directed by Ivan Reitman. It is the sequel to the 1984 film Ghostbusters and follows the further adventures of a group of parapsychologists and their organization which combats paranormal activities...
  
  , a 1989 sequel to the first movie.
• Paranormal Activity, a 2007 horror film.