The Witching Hour is nearly upon hundreds of Twihards in the Twiad.
At midnight, Eclipse, the third movie in the hugely popular Twilight saga, will premiere in theaters around the area. Many in the crowd will be adults, and they won't be there as chaperones.
Though Stephanie Meyer's Twilight books are marketed at tweens and teens, lots of adults have fallen under the spell of Bella, Jacob and Edward.
Jessica Shadley, 33, is among them. She and nine of her friends plan to attend a midnight screening of Eclipse at Carmike Wynnsong 12.
"We've watched the DVDs of Twilight and New Moon again together so we're ready for the third one," said Shadley, who was referring to the first two films in the saga. "We all have posters and pictures and other memorabilia."
Despite pressure from a friend, Shadley resisted the Twilight books for a year.
"I wasn't interested in vampires and silly sci-fi stuff," she said. Her friend persisted. "You don't understand," the friend told her. "You'll become part of that world."
Shadley said she caved, bought the books and was hooked.
"You revert to a time in your life where you experience feelings of first love, almost a forbidden love," she said. "It takes you back to being in your youth. It's an escape."
School-board member Jeannie Metcalf, another Twilight enthusiast or Twihard, as they are sometimes called, said the books also drew her into another world.
"I was like a 16 year old reading these," she said. "It's just the best love story, if you can get beyond the vampires. It's a good old-fashioned love story. I just loved it."
Metcalf's four adult daughters have all read the books. But unlike her daughters, she won't be seeing the movie. Film depictions of books are often disappointing, she said. Metcalf also doesn't care for Robert Pattinson in the role of Edward.
Most of those buying the books at Borders in Thruway Shopping Center are young adults, said Todd Childers, the store's manager.
"I'd say it's probably 90 percent (young adults) to 10 percent (adults)," Childers said. "For other teen series, I'd say it'd probably be 97 (percent) to 3 (percent)."
Mary Dalton, an associate professor of communication at Wake Forest University, understands why people are drawn to the books, but admits she is flummoxed that it has mushroomed into such a pop-culture phenomenon.
She saw the first two movies and read part of the first book.
She said she found it predictable and repetitive.
Some aspects of the movie bothered her. Bella, the lead female character, comes across as passive, while the male characters take the lead. Parts of the second movie, she said she felt, glamorized angst and suicide.
Dalton also wonders whether the books and movies create unrealistic expectations for young readers who are green in the ways of love.
"The women who are reading the books, they know what life is like, but these young girls? Geez, Louise," Dalton said. "Real boys are not sparkly."
lo'donnell@wsjournal.com
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