Uncanny Vibes: Atmospheric Settings in Otherworldly, a guest post by F. T. Lukens

Hello again, SLJ’s Teen Librarian Toolbox!

I’m here today to talk about my novel Otherworldly. Otherworldly is a paranormal romance that blends elements of Faustian folklore and classical mythology in a contemporary fantasy setting. There are crossroads bargains, supernatural beings, an endless winter, a found family, and a magical romance.

One of the aspects of the book that I had so much fun developing was the contemporary fantasy world where elements of the supernatural mix with the mundane of everyday life. Not only does the overarching setting of the endless winter and the slowly dying urban landscape play a key role in the narrative and character arcs, it also lends to the unsettling feeling that permeates the story. The importance of setting isn’t limited to only the major worldbuilding either. But each individual scene has a setting that either informs the atmosphere or is pivotal to the plot. And choosing those locations was one of the more intricate pieces of the narrative puzzle for Otherworldly.

As I list the locations and the inspiration behind them, some readers may notice that many of these places could be deemed liminal spaces. The concept of liminality plays a crucial role in the book as well, and as such, many of the important moments happen in liminal spaces. Per Merriam-Webster, liminal means the following: “In its most common extended meaning now, it describes a state, place, or condition of transition, as in ‘the liminal zone between sleep and wakefulness.’” In terms of physical locations, liminal spaces are places that are not destinations, but are places of comings and goings. They are also often abandoned places and may invoke feelings of loneliness or strangeness and are often associated with the surreal.

An abandoned department store:

Most of the action in Otherworldly takes place in Solis City which is a city that is stuck in an unyielding winter and as such much of the populace has fled. Which means many of the city structures have been abandoned. The idea of using an abandoned or empty store to illicit a sense of anxiety isn’t a new one – it’s a staple of post-apocalyptic zombie films—but I loved how familiar that would feel to readers. Also, liminal spaces as aesthetics have grown in popularity since the pandemic and many of the images on liminal space lists are of abandoned malls. So, I knew I had to use one for a specific tense scene.

Corn fields:

While the characters mainly spend time in the city, the rural area surrounding it plays an important part in several characters’ arcs. The main character, Ellery, was raised on a farm before moving to live with their cousin which is an integral dimension to their characterization. The idea of using corn fields came from a friend of mine who lives in the Midwest. While I was brainstorming, this friend and I had a conversation about where they currently live and how the landscape changes from a cityscape to endless corn so quickly that it’s jarring. Plus, they told me about how they’d become lost in a maze of roads through corn fields and found ominous signs with arrows that merely said “shrine.” Corn fields are just creepy in general, and as such also feature in several supernatural horror movies, so I knew a corn field would be a great place to stage two different vital sequences.

Dark alleyways:

There is just something about a dark alleyway that can really evoke a sense of dread. Dark alleyways show up often in urban fantasy settings and it’s usually where some kind of altercation takes place. Maybe a character is running away from a threat and is cornered in an alleyway. Or maybe it’s where a curious person unwittingly follows someone or something and stumbles upon the supernatural. Or, in Batman’s case, a dark alleyway is an origin story. The characteristics of an alley—such as poor lighting, the high and close claustrophobic walls, or the fact that it might have a dead end—all make it a perfect vehicle for a paranormal conflict.

A diner:

While a diner doesn’t automatically feel as eerie as maybe a dark alleyway or an abandoned mall, in our world of fast food and chain restaurants, a diner feels almost… out of time, like a relic of a previous era or an alternate reality. It doesn’t quite fit, does it? And while not as obvious as some of the tropes of contemporary fantasy, diners have shown up on fantasy television series before – a recent example would be the diner scene in The Sandman. The diner in Otherworldly acts as a home base for the characters, a place of normalcy for them, but in the world, even that is subject to the influence of the paranormal. When brainstorming the job I wanted Ellery to have, I drew from the experiences of jobs I had as a teen. In two of those, I had to wash dishes as part of my duties. And it made sense to me that a diner would be a business that might survive a wintery apocalypse.

Meet the author

F.T. Lukens (they/them) is a New York Times bestselling author of YA speculative fiction including the novels Spell Bound, So This Is Ever After and In Deeper Waters (2022 ALA Rainbow Booklist; Junior Library Guild Selection) as well as other science fiction and fantasy works. Their contemporary fantasy novel The Rules and Regulations for Mediating Myths & Magic was a 2017 Cybils Award finalist in YA Speculative Fiction and the Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Gold Winner for YA fiction and won the Bisexual Book Award for Speculative Fiction. F.T. resides in North Carolina with their spouse, three kids, three dogs, and three cats.

Book buy link here.

About Otherworldly

A skeptic and a supernatural being make a crossroads deal to achieve their own ends only to get more than they bargained for in this lively young adult romantic adventure from the New York Times bestselling author of Spell Bound and So This Is Ever After.

Seventeen-year-old Ellery is a non-believer in a region where people swear the supernatural is real. Sure, they’ve been stuck in a five-year winter, but there’s got to be a scientific explanation. If goddesses were real, they wouldn’t abandon their charges like this, leaving farmers like Ellery’s family to scrape by.

Knox is a familiar from the Other World, a magical assistant sent to help humans who have made crossroads bargains. But it’s been years since he heard from his queen, and Knox is getting nervous about what he might find once he returns home. When the crossroads demons come to collect Knox, he panics and runs. A chance encounter down an alley finds Ellery coming to Knox’s rescue, successfully fending off his would-be abductors.

Ellery can’t quite believe what they’ve seen. And they definitely don’t believe the nonsense this unnervingly attractive guy spews about his paranormal origins. But Knox needs to make a deal with a human who can tether him to this realm, and Ellery needs to figure out how to stop this winter to help their family. Once their bargain is struck, there’s no backing out, and the growing connection between the two might just change everything.

ISBN-13: 9781665916257
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Publication date: 04/02/2024
Age Range: 14 – 18 Years

Filed under: Guest Post