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Love sucks: Vampires the new romantic heroes
Jennifer Frew
Caroline Sibley and some of her books from the "Twilight" series
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Published: November 20, 2008
Hickory - Thirteen-year-old Caroline Sibley believes vampires are the modern answer to Heathcliff from "Wuthering Heights," the prototypical romantic hero.
She read "Wuthering Heights" because Stephanie Meyer, author of the four-book, vampire romance series, "Twilight," said the second in her string of novels was based on the Emily Bronte classic. It was a brief interruption of the books Sibley can't get enough of since "Twilight" transformed her reading habits.
Before Meyer's breakout bestseller, she liked the "typical angsty teenage books." Now her library card comes in handy for titles such as "Vampire Academy," the "House of Night" series, "The Silver Kiss," the "Blue Bloods" and "The Morganville Vampires" series. Those are just a few of the romances she's devoured.
"After 'Twilight,' it's almost like you need a vampire fix," she said.
She'll get one this weekend when "Twilight" the movie hits theaters. The Patton High student will see it with her mom when it opens Friday, and then she'll use her little sister as an excuse to watch it again.
Twilight mom Carin Sibley likes that she can share a fondness for the book with her daughter, probably more than she likes the book.
The younger Sibley, an astute reader, helps her think about the books' nuances. They debate their favorites. They also share a crush on Robert Pattinson, one of the lead characters in the upcoming movie. Mom admits she's relieved books are capturing her teenager's imagination.
"At this point, I'm fine that she's into boys who are fictional," Carin Sibley said.
The Morganton mom and daughter are two of millions of adults and young people swept up in the blood-craving craze that hardly stops at Meyer's successful run.
Without having to stop to think, Waldenbooks manager Virginia Galloway can rattle off a half dozen of the romances that weren't on Sibley's list.
"Half my staff is hooked on this stuff," she said.
Galloway said vampires and other fantastical creatures have been going strong in the fiction world for the past three or four years. Even Nora Roberts, fiction's love-story authority, jumped on the dark, crowded bandwagon.
Galloway got into vampires around the fifth of author Christine Feehan's now-15-book "Dark Series." When the waiting list for that one got long, Galloway started reading. She caught up in time to add her own name to the list.
"For me, it's the fantasy," she said. "I like getting totally into something fantastic that I know couldn't happen. Some people like to think maybe there is a real vampire right around the corner — a nice, handsome one."
Sarah Laughren, a 22-year-old Newton resident and long-time fan of vampire fiction, is one of those.
"I believe in angels on earth and in demons. Why not vampires," she said. "We might be surprised at how real they are."
She already has a boyfriend so she's not looking for an immortal romance, but she does sigh when she talks about Edward, "Twilight's" main vampire character, whose skin glistens in the sunlight. She read the first three books in three days.
Vampires are a family fascination for Laughren. She and her mom, Record online sales rep Sharon Little, fell in love with the movie "Interview with a Vampire" back in 1994. With "Twilight," her sister and her aunts got in on the fixation. Since then, Laughren added the "House of Night" series and "The Vampire Diaries" to her bookshelf. When she saw the word vampire on the back of the books "City of Bones" and "City of Ashes," she couldn't help herself.
She can't miss HBO's new show "True Blood," based on the "Southern Vampire" novels. And those books are definitely on her Christmas list.
Laughren isn't surprised that vampires are all the rage these days.
"I guess deep down everybody wants to be beautiful and live forever and just fall in love with that perfect person who would do anything for you," she said — and sighed again.
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