Paranormal Detective
Zita Lifland
Occult detective fiction is a subgenre of detective fiction that combines the tropes of the main genre with those of supernatural, fantasy and/or horror fiction. Unlike the traditional detective who investigates murder and other common crimes, the occult detective is employed in cases involving ghosts, demons, curses, magic, vampires, undead, monsters and other supernatural elements. Some occult detectives are portrayed as being psychic or in possession of other paranormal or magical powers.
For most of its plot, The Hound of the Baskervilles, one of Sherlock Holmes's most well-known adventures, seems to belong in this genre. However, by the story's end, the villain turns out to be completely human and mundane, who deliberately created this misleading impression.
Though never large, the occult detective subgenre grew to include such writers as Seabury Quinn (with his character Jules de Grandin); Manly Wade Wellman, whose characters Judge Pursuivant and John Thunstone investigated occult events through short stories in the pulps, collected in The Third Cry to Legba and Other Invocations (2000) and in the novels What Dreams May Come (1983) and The School of Darkness (1985); and "Jack Mann" (E. C. Vivian), who chronicled the adventure of his occult detective Gregory Gordon George Green, known as "Gees", in a series of novels. Pulp writer Robert E. Howard created stories about Steve Harrison, an occult detective, in the Strange Detective Stories magazine. Margery Lawrence created the character Miles Pennoyer in her occult detective stories collected in Number Seven, Queer Street.
Modern writers who have used the occult detective theme as a basis for supernatural adventures include Peter Saxon (The Guardians series), John Burke (Dr Alex Caspian), Frank Lauria (Dr Owen Orient), Lin Carter (Anton Zarnak), William Massa (Occult Assassin, The Paranormalist, Shadow Detective, Spirit Breakers) and Joseph Payne Brennan (Lucius Leffing).
The occult detective theme has also been used with series characters devised by such contemporary writers as Douglas Adams (Dirk Gently), F. Paul Wilson (the Repairman Jack series), Steve Rasnic Tem (Charlie Goode), Jessica Amanda Salmonson (Miss Penelope Pettiweather), David Rowlands (Father O'Connor), Rick Kennett (Ernie Pine), Brian Lumley (Titus Crow), Robert Weinberg (Sydney Taine), Simon R. Green (John Taylor), Steve Niles (Cal McDonald), Mike Carey (Felix Castor), Mike Mignola (Joe Golem), Mercedes Lackey (Diana Tregarde), Laurell K. Hamilton (Anita Blake), Brian Keene (Levi Stoltzfus), Jonathan L. Howard (Johannes Cabal), and Jonathan Maberry (Sam Hunter). Jim Butcher's best-selling book series The Dresden Files is another well-known example, as is Derek Landy's Skulduggery Pleasant series. Randall Garrett's Lord Darcy stories and Dean Koontz's The Haunted Earth are examples in which occult detectives operate in a world where the occult is simply an accepted part of mundane life. Assaph Mehr's Stories of Togas, Daggers, and Magic combine historical mystery detective in ancient Rome with fantasy and occult elements.
The magazine Occult Detective Quarterly (Electric Pentacle Press, 2016) specialises in presenting a wide range of new occult detective tales set in a range of time periods, with the occasional pastiche of classic figures from this branch of fiction. ODQ moved to Ulthar Press in 2017. On the tragic death of Sam Gafford of Ulthar Press, it was decided that editors, John Linwood Grant & Dave Brzeski, would continue the magazine under the revised title of Occult Detective Magazine from #6 onward. It is now published by Cathaven Press in the UK. It seemed somehow fitting that refugees from Ulthar should go to Cathaven.
In the 1970s, there were a number of attempts at occult detective television series and films. While not overtly occult detectives, the heroes and heroine of the ITC cult classic sci-fi thriller series, The Champions inherited occult powers from a Tibetan lama and used these powers to investigate crime.
The Saturday morning cartoon Scooby-Doo followed an occult detective format, though in the earlier series the apparent occult influences were all revealed as (fully natural) tricksters. In the wake of Scooby-Doo's success, several of the follow-ups from Hanna-Barbera involved varying degrees of occult and supernatural influence, including Goober and the Ghost Chasers, The Funky Phantom, and some of the 1980s entries in the Scooby-Doo franchise. To keep the plotlines suitable for Saturday morning audiences, the occult villains were kept family-friendly.
Doctor Occult, created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, was one of the earliest occult detectives in comic books with a 1935 debut. Doctor Occult was first a costumed superhero but his appearance quickly changed to a more typical detective (Fedora hat and long coat).[2] The Phantom Stranger, created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino, first appeared in an eponymous six-issue comics anthology published in 1952, first as a debunker of fake supernatural events[3] but later incarnations showed him with mystical or supernatural abilities. Doctor Occult and the Phantom Stranger were both published by DC Comics, with Occult falling into obscurity for decades before a 1980s revival, while the Phantom Stranger appeared steadily from his debut if mostly in a supporting role.
The comic book Hellblazer began in the 1980s and boosted the popularity and image of the occult detective fiction genre and shaped it to its modern form.[4] Many modern examples of the genre such as Hellboy, Supernatural, Grimm, The Originals, and The Dresden Files have been influenced by it,[5][6] and many imitators of both the series and its character flourished such as Criminal Macabre, Gravel, Planetary, and others.[7] Its elements and style have been used countless of times in other works and many analogues of the cynical protagonist John Constantine have appeared.[8]
Other examples of occult detectives in comic books include Doctor Spektor from Gold Key Comics, Hellboy from the Dark Horse series of same name, Dylan Dog from the Sergio Bonelli Editore series, Nightlinger by Steven Philip Jones and published by Caliber Comics; certain elements and characters in The Goon; Martin Hel, a character created by Robin Wood; the Joe Golem series; and Witchblade from Top Cow Productions. Two Hellblazer writers have gone on to write their own occult detective characters: Sebastian O also at Vertigo by Grant Morrison and Warren Ellis' Gravel from Avatar Press. 2000 AD has featured a number over the years in their own eponymous series: Bix Barton, Devlin Waugh, Ampney Crucis Investigates and Dandridge. The occult detective team of Syd Deadlocke and Doc Martin, featured in Pulse of Darkness and other comics by Chris G.C. Sequeira, also fits into this genre. There is also the comic book series Ruse, once owned by CrossGen and now by Marvel Comics.
Paranormal DetectiveDescriptionAfter joining [Ghost Club], he became a paranormal investigator. With peculiar tools he invented himself, he unveiled the truth behind supernatural activities.General DetailsWearer"Prisoner"RarityS-Tier (Gold)Other DetailsSeries
- Truth & Inference
- The Phantom of the Crystal Palace
- Castle Zinaida's Unfinished Chapter
- Season 20 Essence 2
- Season 27 Essence 2
12888 FragmentsParanormal Detective, also known as Investigator[1], is a Reoccurring Time-Limited S-Tier Costume for the "Prisoner", Luca Balsa. It was introduced in the Illusion Hall from April 14th, 2022 for a limited time after the release of Season 20 Essence 2 based on the The Phantom of the Crystal Palace Event.
As it is not a true Limited Costume (which are denoted by the "limited" tag found in the top right of certain card icons), it can return to the Illusion Hall shop multiple times. It generally returns each time with its specialty accessory Crystal Palace.
Luca has pale skin, thin, arched eyebrows and translucent turquoise button eyes with thin metallic gold rims and crossed stich with pale gold thread. His left eye is half-closed, revealing a dull rose gold eyelid. His hair is now platinum blond, longer, and messier, with sharp, cut edges, and tied into a higher ponytail. A tiny fang sticks out the side of his mouth.
Luca wears an elegant three piece suit consisting of a pale blue waistcoat with rose gold embroidery and buttons, a white undershirt with a high collar, a pale blue tie, a matching silk coat with three tails, rolled-up sleeves, and intricate gold embroidery, fitted white slacks and prismatic white dress shoes with grey laces. The left pocket of his coat contains a gold pen with a matching tag clipped to it, while the right contains a brass device with yellow and blue diodes. He wears a white leather belt with a pale blue and pink buckle bordered in gold, and two brown leather belts crossed beneath the former, on which three corked vials containing pale green, blue and pink liquid and a small satchel are visible. A pair of metallic gold goggles with turquoise and lime lens hang from his neck. Luca seems to be shouldering a backpack with a brass device resembling a gramophone on it. He also wears an earring cuff on his ear with a tiny dangling crystal. Last but not least, his hair tie is adorned with a brass halo shaped like a gear, sticking up straight from his ponytail. He wears pure white tuxedo gloves with loose cuffs and equations written on them, one of them apparently about prisms and light. His left hand seems to have a device also on his hand with a wire leading out of it, up his sleeve.
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