Denman is the name of a fictional market town in Staffordshire, England. It's the hometown of most of my main OC's. The universe that it's located in is much the same as the real world - just with some minor differences. Said differences are mostly those of a strange, supernatural variety, but they're only small things, not known about by the vast majority of the population. On the surface, things are identical.

Martha, Matthew, and Addison, all had a bizarre, world-changing experience in 2015. For two years, they were thrust into the story of Impossible Years. But when this turbulent time came to an end, time reversed backwards - dropping them back off in 2015, back where they started, the world, none the wiser. Aside from Martha's girlfriend Sylvi, nobody else knows about the grand, universal truths that were revealed during this time.

Additionally, ghosts, vampires, werewolves, and other odd things are all present in this world. Just hidden, mostly.
The Dokken-Dee family are known spirit mediums and channelers.

The Town

Denman, located in Staffordshire, is south-west of Stoke-on-Trent. It's not a huge town, but has a train station, 3 secondary schools, A post-16 centre, and a small college. Some neighborhoods are poorer, and some are slightly more middle-class.
The secondary schools are -
Birchley High, a school known for good grades, but also for bullies. Addison went there until 2009.
East Denman High, the biggest and most populous school. Martha went here, Addison went here since 2009, and Sylvi went here since 2008.
Craigsbridge High, which has a stereotype of being lower class, but really, is no different than East Denman High. Matthew and Charlie went here.

Notable places -

Ridgeline Drive, the upper-class street where Addison grew up, and where their dad, Samuel lives.
Rose Grove, the street where Martha lived for most of her late teens, and where her grandma, Jude lives.
Ashfield Avenue, the tightly-packed street where Matthew and Charlie grew up. Their parents, Jodie and Lisa still live there.
Somerfield Close, the cosy, well-off residential street where Kai and Clara grew up. Their parents, Dominic and Indira still live here.
Hvitttre House, the new build surrounded by trees, on the edge of town, where Sylvi spent most of her teens. Her parents, Lena and Krystian still live there.
J K Auto Repair is the repairs garage, where Kai, Matthew, and Joe (Better known as 'Fish') work. The manager and their boss is Joel.
Sara Sugar's Café and Sweet Stop is a café/bakery/sweet shop where Martha works as supervisor, and manager of the shop section. It's owned by Sara.
RightStar Estates is an estate agents where Sylvi works.
The Duck's Nest is a small, local pub, where most of the patrons know each other. It's well-liked by the residents of Denman for it's friendly owners and familiarity. Kai was stabbed there.
Denman Post-16 Centre is where Martha, Addison, and Matthew went after high school, and where the former two met Matthew.
Rapture is Denmans relatively small nightclub, in the rougher side of town.
Ravenscall Forest is a woodland area to the northern side of town. It's popular with dog walkers and joggers. Addison knows it well.
Ternmere Forest is a denser woodland area to the south-east of town. Sylvi's childhood home, Hvitttre House, is nestled in it.

Outside Denman

Alex's café (name pending) is a LGBT coffee shop, not in Denman, but in Stoke-on-Trent. Addison works there. It's owned by Alex.
Ray's (name pending?) is a non-alcoholic bar in Stoke-on-Trent. It is a cosy, communal place, where everyone knows each other. It's owned by a cheerful man named Ray Morrison. Matthew goes there often. He knows the regulars there such as Lana, Simone, Matt ('Blondie'), Ruta, Rose, and Jonny, quite well.

Spirit Channelling

The Spirit Channelling that the Dokken-Dee family are known for is passed down a family line. Despite all genders being perfectly capable of channelling, men being just as naturally skilled as women, it's usually seen as being more focused on the female members of the family, and almost semi-matriarchal. In fact, some people say that females are inherently better at it, though this is a misconception and not true. The skill has been passed through generations for centuries, but nobody really knows where it first originated.
Children do not have any supernatural traits until usually around 10-15. However, if they never even learn of their abilities in the first place, they usually do not pick up on anything, and can live 'normal' lives.
Teenage spirit-mediums-in-training are usually a long way from actually channeling. They're taught to be in tune with their surroundings, and aware of every little thing. Soon they'll begin to feel presences. This ability to sense presences is not limited to ghosts. Mediums are able to sense individuals nearby them, and whether they're alive or dead, without being able to see them. A competent medium knows exactly how many people are in a room before they set foot in it.
Very gradually, the trainee learns to understand the presences around them. This can eventually lead to a very vague sort of communication between medium and ghost.
Spirit Channelling can be dangerous. Not every ghost is harmless, and not every ghost even used to be a living person. Typically, people go through vigorous careful safety precautions and advice before they even think about allowing any bodily control to anything outside the realm of the living.
However, blunders happen, and an unwanted possession can be quite a serious thing. While it's typical most places to have a priest handle this situation, the idea is dismissed by most of the Dokken family, who are largely agnostic to some extent, and believe the situation should be handled by spirit channelers.

Traditionally, when a medium arranges an appointment to channel a spirit, they'll use candles and incense. Whether this actually helps is debated. Water is also associated with strengthening channelling abilities, and some people, such as Lena, swear by it.

Not very much is actually known about the realm of ghosts. It's seen as unwise to make broad assumptions about the afterlife and spirituality. A good spirit channeler knows to take what they see at face value. They know that the information is beyond them, and that is how it is meant to be. However, some facts are known.
Not every deceased person becomes a ghost, trapped in this realm. Some pass on, whatever that means. It's assumed that there's a link between a ghosts existence and the idea of it having 'unfinished business'.
Some, therefore, see channeling as a noble pursuit - providing the dead with what they need in order to pass.
It's also known that spirits who are unable to move on lose their sense of identity and sanity over time. They become angry and confused - and eventually, violent. These individuals make up a portion of the less-than-benevolent spirits.
Another phenomenon known to the family is the difficult time a young channeler sometimes faces, usually in their early twenties. Being a medium isn't always easy, and around this time, people sometimes struggle with the intensity of the supernatural connection they now have - a connection that they cannot escape from.
Oftentimes, this personal crisis manifests in the form of leaving the place where they're settled, travelling, soul-searching. Spending time in solitude, to get used to the buzz of supernatural presences around them constantly. Everyone's experience during this time is different. It's viewed as a very personal journey.

Sylvi, Lena, Aina, and Kjellfrid are all spirit channelers. Ivy and Willow also both have the bloodline and the ability, but they do not know and do not care, respectively.

Snake Bitez

Snake Bitez is a band formed by Lexie Lethal (Real name Iona Jacobs, vocalist) and Kai London (Lead Guitar), when they were only 10 and 12, respectively. They eventually had two other long-term members, Matthew (Drums) and Julian (Bass Guitar). They also had Lucy Wilkinson (Bass Guitar) and Michael Stanney (Drums), though these were both for shorter periods of time. Mike Morgan and Abigail Shepley were both close friends of the band and helped a lot behind the scenes, though neither were ever official band members. Snake Bitez became very popular and quite notorious for the 17 years they were together, but they split up in 2021 after a convoluted series of events, not long after they began to achieve widespread popularity. There was a huge amount of inter-band drama between the members.
Lexie, or Iona as she was known by the band, was particularly controversial, eventually getting the rest of her bandmates and peers in various circumstances, ranging from criminal charges to substance abuse. After she seriously attacked Kai's partner, what was remaining of the band split for good, and Iona faded into obscurity, before disappearing entirely.

Snake Bitez, during their run, released 3 albums; Night Tremors (2010), Drain (2017), and Listen to me (2020). They released 4 EPs, several music videos, and performed many, many shows - rarely, they opened for some very famous bands. In 2021, Iona had a short-lived solo project called Spit In My Mouth.
Many years later, some ex-members of Snake Bitez (without Iona, their vocalist) formed together to play reunion shows. Eventually they formed a new band called Kingdom.