Supernatural Sensations - Who Do You Want to Know More About?

So yesterday on Facebook, I asked the question: what supernatural creature is the most underrepresented that you want to read more about? If you follow me on Facebook then you know I like posing questions periodically to open up a dialogue regarding what people are thinking about.

The answers varied, but here is what I pulled together:

• Trolls
• Leprechauns
• Unicorns
• Banshees
• Djinn
• Centaurs

What a wide and varied mix, but as you can see, we're definitely looking at mythological creatures from around the world. What critters didn't make the list?

• Angels
• Dragons
• Witches
• Werewolves
• Vampires

So arguably those areas are pretty saturated or at least satisfying to the readers and no one is feeling that they are underrepresented. So here is what I came up with based on the requested critters:


Trolls

Trolls come from Old Norse mythology and the word meant "monster" - trolls are most often described as giant or giant like - they are according to the Encyclopedia of Magical Creatures "extraordinarily ugly", live in caves and prey on humans. Loud sounds are rumored to drive them away

Leprechauns

Leprechauns are kitschky in our modern society, rosy faced and cheerful little men -- or think about the happy dude from the Lucky Charms commercials -- but leprechauns were originally associated with the water and these water spirits were hardly rosy cheeked cheerful buggers -- in fact, they were among the craftiest and most deceptive of the fae creatures -- perhaps that rosy faced image is the work of great public relations.

Unicorns

Unicorns are a magical creation and according to the Encyclopedia the most enduring mythos of unicorns is that there is only ever one at a time (Highlander: The Unicorn anyone?) The tales vary on whether it is a majestic white horse with a solitary horn to a Shetland pony with a horn that can become a sword, even the stories about what kind of hooves it has changes. Still, for the little girl in me, I will always love the stories of the unicorns.

Banshees

Banshees - or women of the fairy - were responsible for announcing the death of a family member. The banshee would be attached to particular families and their cry would let loose the mourning wail that death approached. They are also associated with the Tuatha de Danan and the goddess Brighid.

Centaurs

Centaurs have a sensuous and orgiastic reputation, their half-man, half-equine bearing made them fierce both in battle and in life. As children of the gods though, they rarely had happy endings and only one amongst the legends seems to be a scholar and that is Cheiron who is said to have taught Hercules (and more recently, Percy Jackson).

Djinn

There are several classes of Djinn and they are considered demons by some on the Islamic world, they also have a sensuality and a mystery to those of us from the West.

Now, here is your challenge. I have a few books I could recommend for each of these categories, but I want to see what you can come up with. Help out your fellow readers, share a paranormal romance or urban fantasy that explores these under-utilized supernaturals. Oh and if you are interested in a supernatural not mentioned, share that too!

I'll share mine tomorrow!