Question: Is there something disturbing about the fact that I'm hooked on teen vampire fiction?

Specifically, the Stephanie Meyer/Bella Swan Series?

What does it say about me that the age demographic for this stuff is about one THIRD my own?

Am I just immature? (Probably.) Or is it my excessive desire for escapism that gets me? It’s not that I don’t like my life, but I do like to escape on occasion. Stephanie Meyer is a mom, and I think that she really understands the need to mentally check out for at least a few minutes a day in order to keep sane. So even though she purportedly wrote these books aimed at teens, there are lots of moms out there who love them and I am one of them.

I actually bought the book on a lark. I thought it would suck (ha) (love the pun on a platter there) and was pleased when it didn’t. At first I found the adverb-heavy writing a bit exhausting, but the more I read the more I realized that I was actually enjoying this book, and that I gave a shit about the characters, even though they speak in typical teen hyperbole about every feeling. In fact, that’s their charm. They’re so INTENSE. Of course these books have an enormous (and intense, natch) fan following. (This is the first time I’ve ever used the word “natch.” Exciting. For a long time I didn’t know what it meant, but it’s really obvious when you DON’T think about it. I of course thought about it too much.)



There are no less than a gazillion fan sites dedicated to Meyer’s series of books. These sites are usually run by a thirteen year old who is obsessed with Edward Cullen, the teen vampire in the series. And they all seem to identify with Bella, the teen human who is caught in the fairly unusual situation of being in love with the undead. Kind of a problem.

But I can’t honestly believe I’m the only over 14 years old who loves these books. So I did about three seconds of research and I found evidence supporting my hypothesis. I am not the only mother who is into these books. I very quickly found Twilight Moms.com, which clearly states that this site is for the likes of me (no longer a girl, not yet a senior). Its bubbly welcome page certainly confirmed for me that I am not alone in my interest in these books, but still, let’s examine why I like these so much and then I’ll go back and compare on the Twilight Moms page when I’m done. I don’t want to bias my speculations with actual information. But you know I’ll go back to the site and see what the other moms are saying.

First, the premise: forbidden love is hot. This is true. Because it’s all in our heads, the forbidden/potentially deadly love between the protagonist Bella and the vampire Edward is a vicarious thrill for those of us in happy and very stable relationships. My days are pretty predictable, and for the most part that is fine with me. But these books open up a little on that whole drama–as-life thing.

Remember when the most important thing in the world was who was hot? Now when we talk about hot, we’re talking thermometers and late night trips to the pharmacy for liquid Tylenol. Where we used to ruminate all day about our crush, we now obsess about all the crushed damn cereal in between the seats and under the car seats. (Man, it’s gross). Where once we dreamed of a future full of unknown possibility, we now just dream about getting more than five hours of sleep in a row on any given night.


I think as mothers we are so frequently required to contain ourselves and not over-emote, that when we read about someone who is completely intense and 300% emotional, it’s a release for us. The main drama around my house has to do with what shirts are clean for tomorrow’s school day, or why the noodles taste “disgusting,” even though they’re the same ones I’ve served every other day for two years.

So we’ve got the forbidden love. Teenage girls love this. And apparently so do grown women. There are countless descriptions of Edward’s utter perfect hotness, right down to his fabulous odors that make Bella, and as a result, us, swoon.

And all this with no sex and no swearing. Well done, Stephanie Meyer! The hotness is all in the implication, not the action.

And though I’m not going to admit to full-on swooning over this stuff, it did make me realize that as wholesome as the majority of the elements in these books are, there’s something really subversive going on. (And I’m not talking about the death, blood and gore that crop up on occasion.)

Because the big question, at least in the first book, was essentially, will they or won’t they, and I’m not talking about the little teasing hyper-charged kisses that happen in the book. I had a really rude catch phrase I was going to use, but I don’t think Stephanie Meyer had this in her mind when she wrote these. She comes across as a pretty wholesome mama. But the bottom line, in “Twilight”, at least, is we are waiting for (a) the relationship between Edward and Bella to be consummated, or for (b) Edward to consume Bella. I’m sure I’m not the first person to make this point. But it keeps the readers hanging on. And it’s kind of naughty, isn’t it? Sex and death. That’s heavy. No wonder these books are so popular.


This is also why these books are not “the next Harry Potters”. The Harry Potter books were fantastic. They told a story of coming of age and of absolute good and utter evil. Stephanie Meyer’s books, at least what I’ve read so far, are more about sex, or the promise of it, and death, and a lot of gray areas between good and evil. There isn’t so much good and evil as there are degrees of it in these books. This is much more interesting and complex than the straight good/bad of Harry Potter’s world. (Not that I’m dissing the books. We all WISH we could write like J.K.)

So stay tuned for more rambling about vampires. I’m sheepish but not ashamed. And apparently I’m not alone.