Does This Make Sense?

I'm going to harp for a minute about writing fantasy/sci-fi. This includes urban fantasy, which is probably what BTPM could be termed... well, something like that. (g) And of course THE BRAEDEN is fantasy.

Maybe it's me, but I find the more fantastical a tale is, the more grounding it needs to offset the story. What I mean is, there has to be some kind of real world rules to make the other stuff believable -- even when the other stuff is completely far-fetched.

One great example is (now don't laugh!) Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I recently devoured the series -- I don't care what anyone says, that show is funny and VERY good. :) I used to rag on my sister for watching it, but NOW I get it. (g) Anywho, in one of their 'behind the scenes' episodes, they talk about the death of some of the characters and how it was important to kill off people in "normal" ways -- because even the fantastic of vampires/werewolves/demons, etc. needs to be grounded in the real world. So, to kill off people with guns or blood clots in the brain, etc. served to remind people that even in a world ruled by wooden stakes and crucifixes, people can and will die in ways uninvolved with the paranormal.

The reason I bring this up is because lately I've read a couple of things that have a paranormal angle to them, but simply don't have enough real world quality to them to give the unusual...punch. If the stories aren't grounded, I feel completely off balance throughout reading the story. This could be because their characters behave strangely....it could be the author is trying _too_ hard to make everything in their world unique... Gah, dare I say more is less?