I suspect Supernatural might have something to do with this, but it looks like the new trend is going to be angels. I personally find them more fascinating than vampires, but maybe that’s just because of a certain angel in a trench coat. What interests me most about this is the socio-political implications:

“As we understand it, angel books are appealing to the same people who were reading so-called misery memoirs,” says Michelle Pilley, MD and publisher of Hay House, which publishes angelic bestsellers by Jacky Newcomb and Doreen Virtue.

Tales of tragic childhoods were big sellers in recent years, but since the recession sales of the genre have dropped dramatically. According to supermarkets, where misery memoirs have always sold strongly, the same readers have turned to angels instead.

These angel books particularly appeal to people who do not feel a connection to traditional religion. “I think people find (angels) very approachable,” says Pilley.

“They’re very accessible. People study the different archangels and their different attributes, and they feel they can have a direct personal connection to these angels in a way they may not be able to do with a God. You have personal (guardian) angels, who are (devoted to) you as an individual, and people without strong religious faith may not feel God has such a personal interest.”

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010 at 2:00 pm and is filed under Miscellaneous, speculative fiction. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.