Disclosure Time

Where am I coming from regarding the "Twilight Saga" -- do I hate it, do I love it, or am I simply ambivalent??

Growing up in the late 50s and 60s the best offering for a vampire were old Bela Lugosi movies followed by Christopher Lee. Then came the daytime soap opera "Dark Shadows" and American preteens and teens were running home from school as fast as they could to catch the last 15 minutes of the show and waiting for summer so they could see the entire episode. It was the first time in American culture that the adolescence population could have a daily feeding of ghost, vampires, werewolves, time travel, parallel universe etc. It was an amazing five years and almost everyone I knew was involved in the world of Dark Shadows, especially Barnabas, Quentin and their love interest or hatred Angelique. Then in 1971 Dark Shadows ended and by then I was a freshman in high school and had other things on my mind besides characters in a soap opera. In 1974 I actually made Bram Stoker's Dracula the subject of my senior term paper. I even included a brief history lesson on Vlad the Impaler the 14th century Romanian ruler on whom Stoker based his character, Dracula.

It would be 1979 before another vampire would capture the imagination of American Pop Culture. Frank Langella gave a powerful performance as the irresistible and incredibly handsome Dracula. George Hamilton with his own good looks was giving a hiliarious persona to Count Dracula with his bizarre sidekick Renfield played by Arte Johnson that same year. Finally, in 1992 Gary Oldman played a detestable looking Count Dracula who is portrayed as Vlad the Impaler instead of the more romanticized gothic version of past Draculas. This is my history with the vampire culture and like most of my contemporaries I was always intrigued.

As a christian woman I have understood the intrinsic evil in such a being as a vampire but it did not stop me from reading books (actually the only one I remember reading until the "Twilight Saga" was Bram Stoker's "Dracula" which was considered a classic) or watching the soap opera "Dark Shadows" or "Dracula" movies. Eventually, however after experiencing horrible episodes of sleep paralysis and being able to draw a direct line in the sand to such authors as Stephen King I swore off the macabre and literature and movies filled with horror. Dean Koontz is still a favorite from time to time and for some reason his literature has never induced sleep paralysis - go figure.

So, now to "Twilight", the first book came out in 2005 and despite the rave about it I had no interest in reading it or the subsequent books, nor did I have any interest in seeing the movies. Why now? I think the release of Twilight to the television network, FX, was the draw. I wouldn't have to pay to rent the movie and so one night I sat down and watched the movie. I was hooked despite the fact that what I was seeing brought one bible verse after the other to my mind and not in a positive light.

One thing about waiting so long was the entire body of work was finished except for the last book "Midnight Sun." I was also able to view the other three movies in succession on cable and then needing the backstory I made a visit to the Half Price bookstore and bought all four books and then headed to Walmart where I purchased all four movies. I watched all of the movies over a two day period and with a highlighter and pen in hand read all of the books over a five day period. Then I watched all the movies again and started researching. A few days ago I found out that Stephenie Meyer's final book "Midnight Sun" had been pirated and she graciously posted the draft she wanted to be viewed on her website and I read that in a few hours. And when I was through I wanted to send her an email and just tell her to finish it and publish it people will buy the book.

So where do I stand on the "Twilight Saga?" Obviously, not only was I intrigued by it but totally beguiled. Despite understanding it from a biblical perspective I laughed at all the right moments and I cried at all the right passages. My emotions were totally engaged. There is a back backstory and it is a very dangerous backstory and I feel driven to reveal that story. Just because you love something doesn't mean it's good for you.

Next post I will begin to share the back backstory.

Links concerning sleep paralysis and alien abduction visit

http://stopsleepparalysis.org/stories.html

http://www.lamarzulli.net/alien_interviews.htm