How to swear like a Nightstalker

Back in 2019ish, I was reading a little series called Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas.

And I noticed something interesting. Her characters tended to use the swear word "rutting".

At the time, I was struggling with swearing in my own books. I wanted to write romantic young adult urban fantasy books that could be read by twelve-year-olds¹, but I wasn't sure how to handle swearing. I certainly didn't want to throw F-bombs² around here, there, and everywhere in my books.

And there Sarah J. Maas was, throwing around "rutting" here, there, and everywhere.³

The more I read, the more I saw other fantasy authors doing similar things, coming up with their own swear words specific to their worlds.

So I tucked that idea away.

Fast forward to a few years later, and I'm working on the edits for the relaunch of my own books in The Eversfield Academy Vampire Hunters series and in Eversfield Academy: Vampire Origins.

And I see a casual "Crap."

Now, I'm not saying a twelve-year-old can't read "crap" and/or can't say it in real life.

But (a) I don't want a parent refusing to buy my books for their kid because of a few casual swear words. (Though we are probably talking about less than or equal to five casual, contemporary swear words in an entire 400-page book.)

More importantly, (b) I saw an opportunity to deepen the world of The Eversfield Academy Vampire Hunters and Eversfield Academy: Vampire Origins.

What if Nightstalkers (my vampire hunters) had their own particular set of swear words and phrases they used?

What if the Indestructible (my vampires) had a different set?

What if different characters tended to use different swear words and phrases from one another?

So, my list of swear words and phrases for The Eversfield Academy Vampire Hunters and Eversfield Academy: Vampire Origins was born.

And here it is! I can't say that I always stick to these hard and fast. Civilian swear words (i.e. swear words from our contemporary nonmagical world) do come in occasionally too.

But I promise I'm always intentional when I break my own rules. 

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The swear words and phrases of The Eversfield Academy Vampire Hunters and prequel series Eversfield Academy: Vampire Origins⁴

Nightstalker (vampire hunter) swear words and phrases

• A sword's lot of good: Bobby in Chain of Blood (replacement for "a heck of a lot of good")
• Bloodsucking: Jackie in Chain of Blood, Lucy in Chain of Magic (inserted where you might put the equivalent F-bomb)
• Bloodsucking fangs: Jackie in Chain of Blood
• Magic forbid: Lucy in Chain of Magic (replacement for "God forbid”)
• Shattered stakes alive: Gabe in The Eversfield Academy Vampire Hunters (starts with School of Shadows), Sylvi in Chain of Shadows
• Slashing fangs: pretty much all the Nightstalkers, lol; Gabe and Darius in The Eversfield Academy Vampire Hunters (starts with School of Shadows), Bobby and Jackie in Chain of Blood, Lucy in Chain of Magic
• Splintered stakes and shattered spells: Gabe in The Eversfield Academy Vampire Hunters (starts with School of Shadows)

The Indestructible (vampire) swear words and phrases

• Blades of fire: Duncan in Chain of Flame and Chain of Magic, Kane in The Eversfield Academy Vampire Hunters (starts with School of Shadows)
• Blasted blades: Duncan in Chain of Flame and Chain of Magic, Ink in Chain of Blood
• Fire and flame: Kane in The Eversfield Academy Vampire Hunters (starts with School of Shadows)
• Stinging swords: Kane and Gnash in The Eversfield Academy Vampire Hunters (starts with School of Shadows)

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There you go, swear words and phrases to look for when you're reading The Eversfield Academy Vampire Hunters series and in Eversfield Academy: Vampire Origins.

Or you know, to use to swear without anyone not in the know noticing. 😉

Happy reading and happy secret-swearing,

Betsy

The list of side notes and digressions

1. Or maybe even down to ten or eleven, if they're precocious readers and good with PG-13-or-so violence. My vamps are evil after all!
2. In real life, I feel free to throw the occasional F-bomb around for emphasis and/or fun, lol. My personal rules for F-bombs are: (1) never in anger and (2) never in front of my kid (at least until she's old enough to learn when and where swearing can be okay and when it's not and to adjust her speech accordingly).
3. Okay, that's an exaggeration for sure, but you get the idea.
4. I'm only going to include characters for which you would expect to swear in this way (i.e. Nightstalkers use Nightstalker swear words, The Indestructible use Indestructible swear words). Anyone who, you know, may pick up some Nightstalker or Indestructible swear words during the course of my books for #reasons (a.k.a. spoilers!) is not included in this list.