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I just noticed that Are vampires and werewolves on-topic? is closed as a duplicate of Should we include folklore?. A comment below points out that if folklore is going to be on-topic, then vampires and werewolves are going to be included automatically.

But vampires and werewolves have a lot of new stories today.

Assuming folklore, and with it vampires and werewolves, is going to be included on this site - then where do we draw the line?

When are posts about vampires and werewolves on-topic, and when should they be migrated to Science Fiction & Fantasy ?

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  • As per conversation in chat, we're using "scope" to tag discussions about what is in and out of scope, since "on-topic" or "off-topic" is a meta-tag. I can't edit your question, but could you remove the on-topic tag please? :)
    – Luna
    Commented Apr 29, 2015 at 21:09
  • @Luna A link to that chat message would be helpful, this is going to be convention.
    – user93
    Commented Apr 30, 2015 at 1:04
  • @fredsbend true - here you go chat.stackexchange.com/transcript/message/21377225#21377225 :)
    – Luna
    Commented Apr 30, 2015 at 8:19
  • In general I would recommend keeping the scope wide initially and tightening it as the site grows. An overly-restrictive scope at the very beginning risks putting off many potential users and limiting the number of questions we get.
    – Nick Udell
    Commented Apr 30, 2015 at 11:25

2 Answers 2

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I think it's a relatively simple distinction. Questions about Twilight belong on SciFi.SE, questions about medieval vampire myths belong here, etc. Obviously there are going to be questions that blur the lines a little bit, something like, "Are there any historical myths that bear resemblance to the vampires in Twilight?"

Ultimately I think those will have to be dealt with on a case by case basis, but I'd generally suggest looking at where the focus seems to be. For that example, I'd argue that the focus is primarily on actual myths, with Twilight being mostly a shorthand for the specific traits they're asking about. Although, I'd also probably suggest improving the question by specifically calling out the traits in question, rather than relying entirely on answerers' familiarity with Twilight.

The Mythology vs Fiction section in this answer covers a lot of the important distinctions, I think.

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Undoubtedly, stories about vampires, werewolves, zombies, and other such creatures are folklore. I think making them on-topic would be a mistake. They are not part of a larger mythos, save for the recent Hollywood inventions (Underworld, Blade, Twilight, Resident Evil, Walking Dead). Making them on-topic would be similar to allowing questions about Big Foot, the Loch Ness Monster, La Chupacabra, and even aliens. Those are also not figures in a greater mythos. These are simple myths revolving around a singular figure, or type of figure. The myths about them place them within an otherwise natural and normal world and they stand alone without any accompanying myths.

So, in my opinion, these question are not allowed at all.

However, questions about how these folktales may have affected once or currently extant mythologies is certainly on-topic and might prove to be a very interesting question source.

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