What is a Paranormal?
Paranormal is the label that encompasses all humans that have been turned, cursed, afflicted, or transformed into an entity that is non-human. Examples include lycanthropes, vampires, zombies, witches and warlocks, ghouls, pumpkinmen, ghosts, skeletons, non-human-engineered robots, and similar entities, with more to be discovered. Paranormals tend to live in secrecy or live in ignorance to their condition, such as with vampires. Others gain the status of Paranormal without transformation, such as with witches and warlocks, who instead become Paranormals by discovering cursed knowledge. In general, most Paranormals exist outside the realm of modern human science or rationality, and may never be truly understood. For example, it is currently unknown how vampires live for centuries, yet they somehow do. This anomaly makes the Paranormal, paranormal.
Does the Government/General Public Know of Paranormals?
The American government is aware of specific Paranormal entities, such as NHE robots and vampires, in that they have actual documentation of such creatures. Every other type of Paranormal is purely speculative, with most government agencies not concerned with their existences, since most of them stand no threat to the welfare of the United States. For example, lycanthropes tend to die out before injuring anyone or being noticed, and ghosts are very easy to dismiss. NHE robots, on the other hand, are rogue, and cannot be controlled by human interaction. Therefore, they are seen as a threat and are documented. Entities like witches and warlocks are entirely neglected by government officials, since they have not yet identified any as of yet.
Those in the general public that speak about Paranormals tend to be rejected as "crazy" or "crackheads", therefore they are also not a threat to the survival of Paranormals. In fact, the last known occurrence of Paranormal hunting on a wide scale was with the Salem Witch Trials due to religious fear. Since the United States has moved on from its Fundamentalist roots (as compared to such an extreme as before), legitimate witchhunts are few and far between, and vampire-hunts or lycanthrope-hunts are virtually nonexistent. All in all, there are individuals that have come into contact with Paranormals, but they ultimately stand no threat, since the nonsensical nature of their encounter prevents them from broadcasting their findings.
The only true threat to a Paranormal is another Paranormal.
Known Types of Paranormals
This list is a brief summary of Paranormals documented by specifically the United States government, as well as their threat levels to human welfare. This list discounts vampires and lycanthropes, as more information can be found here.
Zombies
Zombies are undead creatures that have been reanimated after once being a corpse. The timeframe between reanimation and death of the individual can greatly impact their appearance once emerging, such as how someone who has been dead for many months may emerge presenting differently than someone who had freshly died. If enough time has passed, the individual will not be a zombie, but a living skeleton, which will be discussed later. Zombies vary greatly in intellect, ranging from nearly braindead and vegetative to completely coherent and normal. What differentiates a human and a zombie, however, is not their intelligence, but rather whether or not they have decomposed or have gone through the process of decomposing. Sepsis and gangrene in human individuals should be discounted, however, since while a large amount of cells are dying, the majority of the individual is healthy.
Zombies are different than lycanthropes, witches, and vampires for the sole fact that it is very difficult to hide being a zombie. Most tend to smell of rotting flesh, have loose skin that falls at the slightest touch, or a lack of joints--allowing them to perform movements not common in an average human (such as rotating the head 360 degrees). Another strange fact about zombies is that they don't feel pain, or as least as much pain as other individuals. The only realistic damage that can be done to a zombie, or the only way to truly kill a zombie, is through burning, although the zombie will not feel this pain occurring. This is because, although the zombie is reanimated and may walk around like an average person, their brain is not connected to the rest of their body. Somehow, against the theories of science, zombies have an intact brain that can regenerate, and since this brain lacks connections to pain receptors throughout the body, it is not sensitive to touch, pain, or injuries. Even shooting a zombie through the brain would do very little, since their brains and most of their skin is regenerative.
Zombification can occur in any age group or gender within the human species, and evidence suggests that zombification can occur in different species as well. There is not one solid theory as to how zombies emerge, but several cases with their own respective causes have been discovered. Occasionally, humans are cursed by witches or warlocks into becoming reanimated upon death. In other cases, humans engage in a form of self-preservation known as self-mummification, a state where the human brain has been depleted of oxygen upon being buried, and while the individual is dead, they do not decompose. Specific diets, religious practices, and environmental factors can contribute to accidental self-mummification, where upon emergence, the person is barely decomposed at all.
It is not yet known if zombification is just as contagious as the media portrays it as. It seems more like something that only occurs after death rather than being spread. Nonetheless, the United States government is very keen on exterminating all forms of zombie individuals across the United States, in the event that zombification is contagious.
Threat Level: ★★★★✩
Witches/Warlocks
For the sake of brevity, this summary will use the term witch to describe any form of magic user. Before modern times, individuals could become witches upon encountering cursed knowledge provided by other witches, such as in journals, speeches, books, etc. Cursed knowledge, from what evidence suggests, is different on the brain than simply observing a fact. It deeply affects brain chemistry and allows for witches to create energy, have the knowledge for potion making, levitate, as well as other powers. In ancient times, between the years of 1300-1400BCE, an unnamed witch documented their knowledge of spells, curses, and potion making in a leather-bound journal known as The Canticum Canticorum. This print was replicated by several other witches who were taught under the guidance of this witch. To this day, the only way to become a witch is to become exposed to this cursed knowledge, by either stumbling across one of the original texts (most lost to time) or being taught by another witch.
In the modern age, however, it has been documented that individuals may become witches after stumbling across a PDF file of The Canticum Canticorum, rather than a physical copy. Most modern witches believe this to be a travesty on the original doctrine of witchcraft, but nonetheless many teenagers have become witches after discovering the PDF on specific internet forums. The text itself is considered lost media, with very few individuals claiming to have it online. Nonetheless, the posting of such a PDF can create dozens of witches overnight, if not hundreds. This has greatly multiplied the witch population, although not as much to the point of a threat. Most spells outlined in The Canticum Canticorum either do rather menial tasks, such as lighting a small flame or creating phantom projections. The potions outlined, while somewhat dangerous (such as the love potion), need many rare ingredients to be created, and therefore are nearly impossible to create without much skill. Additionally, there are several pages of the doctrine that have been lost to time, such as pages concerning dealing and summoning demons, reanimation of the dead (necromancy), and death spells altogether. These are known as the Lost Pages collectively, and are a big source of discourse within the online witch community.
It should be noted that witches are the only group of Paranormals in the United States that have had a nationwide hunt against them at any given point. Dating back to the Salem Witch Trials, it is unknown how many of these people actually were witches or just unfortunate casualties (the general estimate considers every person killed during the Salem Witch Trials an unfortunate casualty, since no appearance of The Canticum Canticorum has existed in Massachusetts, USA). Since then, witches have been considered nothing short of a fantasy, and the general public has no real issue with the threat of witches.
Threat Level: ★★★✩✩
WILL BE UPDATED SOON
Ghouls
Ghouls, otherwise known as ghuls, are monstrous being that feed off dead bodies, typically found in burial sites or cemeteries. They are not born nor transformed from humans, as they are a different species entirely. All reasons for their existence rely outside of modern science, although folklore tells that ghouls were once humans, corrupted by cannibalism and turned into decrepit, morbid beings of Hell. They are one of the more rare Paranormals, as they typically live underground or in tunnel societies, and it is not known whether or not they can procreate. Nonetheless, there are no recorded child ghouls, and romantic relationships between ghouls have never been cited. They possess average human intelligence, although their morals are corrupted for the desire of human flesh.
Ghouls tend to reside in Middle Eastern countries, with early incarnations of them being described in hadith. They almost are always female, but male ghouls have existed throughout history. Besides eating human flesh, they live with a different lifespan than humans, being seemingly ageless for their entire lives. They also spoil any food, drink, or medicine that they touch, which can cause great sickness in humans. It is said that when a ghoul enters a room, the temperature drops drastically, even if well-heated. Despite all of this, they are too rare to be considered a threat, at least for now.
Threat Level: ★✩✩✩✩
Pumpkinmen
Ghosts
Living Skeletons
Non-Human-Engineered (NHE) Robots
last updated: april 28 2023
created: february 14 2022