Thursday, September 1, 2016

Name That Genre #38

TITLE: SECRET
GENRE: Adult SECRET

   Welsan was out of souls to sell. This was a problem, for two reasons. One: It meant he had no money. Two: It meant he had to stay in this hell-hole a little longer.

    The hell-hole in question was a resurrection hall, so well concealed that those who needed it most were hard pressed to find it. A dark barrow ribbed with subterranean vaults, it lay deep in the cleft of a sunken valley, far from disapproving eyes. Hoary trees hemmed it in, and choked its tunneling length with their roots. Unlike the reputable charnel houses governed by the Mortuary, the resurrection hall was a butchery. A purveyor of all things forbidden by Charnel Law, it was a desperate choice for those too poor to afford the last rites, and a coveted vendor for those willing to pay for dark desires in gold.

23 comments:

  1. PARANORMAL

    This is cool. I took souls to sell literally, since you follow it with a bit of exposition. Otherwise, it could have been a bit of figurative language.

    Side note: Cool premise, but the second paragraph is too on-the-nose for me. You can let us know all of that cool world-building stuff without telling us directly. Use it subtly to let us know he is literally in a hell-type place.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Fantasy - I thought Urban because of the tone but the descriptors don't fit that.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Fantasy. The setting, charnel law and an organization known as the Mortuary indicate to me that this is a Fantasy world.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Fantasy
    souls to sell, a resurrection hall, roots choking a tunnel

    ReplyDelete
  5. Fantasy/Dark

    A resurrection hall, selling souls, charnel house.

    ReplyDelete
  6. FANTASY

    At first I thought URBAN FANTASY, because the voice in the first paragraph is so modern, but 'charnel house', 'valley', and 'gold' suggest a non-Modern/Urban setting

    ReplyDelete
  7. Steampunk Fantasy
    The dark style leads me to think it could be set in Victorian times (resurrection hall, barrow, vaults, hoary). Fantasy because he's selling souls and the currency's gold.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Steampunk Fantasy
    The dark style leads me to think it could be set in Victorian times (resurrection hall, barrow, vaults, hoary). Fantasy because he's selling souls and the currency's gold.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Urban Fantasy

    It has the flair of a rogue lead in a fantastical world, kind of like Dresden Files

    ReplyDelete
  10. paranormal?
    resurrection, soul-selling.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Fantasy
    selling souls, dark style, barrow, hoary trees

    ReplyDelete
  12. Fantasy, seemed more like a different world than paranormal creatures in a contemporary space. Really well written.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Horror (2nd Guess -- Fantasy)

    Clearly not our world, so it could be fantasy, but the focus on death and illegal resurrection makes me think horror.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Fantasy
    I thought paranormal at first, but the world building aspect makes me think fantasy.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Paranormal

    You talk about selling souls

    ReplyDelete
  16. Dark Fantasy.
    The guy sells souls. Charnell Laws and the Mortuary sound like powerful establishments in this fictional world.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Fantasy, with the selling of souls.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Hello! I am the author of this post. My work is Paranormal Fantasy. This was such a great exercise! I learned a lot just from everyone's guesses, on this thread and the others. Thanks to all who commented!

    ReplyDelete