Before I get started, I have spent days thinking over
possible topics and finally made the decision whilst watching True Blood in my
pyjamas and trying not to look at the stack of reading on my desk. Over these past few weeks it has seemed
impossible to escape the media frenzy over the most recent Twilight offering, Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart are plastered everywhere you
look and it doesn’t seem like their teenage fan base will be running out of
enthusiasm any time soon. Breaking Dawn: Part One took almost $140 million in its
opening weekend in the US and the enduring fascination with the vampire seems
to have exploded with the genre of ‘paranormal romance.’ Twilight is not alone in exploiting this new
fashion, with a number of American television shows, films and books featuring
the vampire as both villain and romantic hero.
Whilst True Blood and Anne Rice’s vampire novels remain my personal
favourites, other examples include books by L. J. Smith and L. K. Hamilton, the Underworld films, and television shows like The Vampire
Diaries.
