A vampire love triangle is bringing York County families together.
From Rock Hill to Clover, mothers and daughters, sisters, nieces and aunts are bonding over a shared obsession for “The Twilight Saga,” Stephanie Meyer's best-selling series of teen novels chronicling the love affair between a teenage girl and a 104-year-old vampire.
Many of them will be in line tonight waiting to see the premiere of “The Twilight Saga: New Moon,” a film adaptation of the second book in Meyer's four-part series.
“We've had our tickets for two months,” said Ashlyn Walden, a Clover High junior whose aunt is flying in from a job in Seattle today to see the film with her. They plan to dress like characters in the book.
Sable Leddick, 22, plans to take her 11-year-old sister, Joanie Wallace, tonight if she can score tickets. She tried to win a pair in a radio contest but didn't get them.
“She's like the main huge fan,” Leddick said of her sister, who turned her on to the books. “I don't know how to explain her obsession with it. She just loves ‘Twilight.'”
“New Moon” continues the story of high school senior Isabella Swan's tragic romance with Edward Cullen, a mysterious classmate whom she fell for in “Twilight” and discovered is a vampire. The second installment introduces werewolves and finds Bella torn between two love interests.
The popularity of Meyer's books with teens has propelled the franchise to a cultural phenomenon that some liken to a popular series about a young English wizard.
“New Moon” advance ticket sales have reportedly broken records for Movietickets.com and Fandango.com. Theaters are reporting sellouts. As of 6 p.m. Wednesday, Manchester Cinemas in Rock Hill still had tickets, but not many, an attendant said. Some estimates have the more than 3,000 theaters scheduled to premiere the film nationwide grossing $100 million on Friday.
And parents are caught in the craze.
“It's just been fun to talk about with my daughter,” said Cindy Humphrey, an English teacher at Indian Land High School who planned to be at the 12:01 a.m. premier. When “Twilight” opened last November, Humphrey and her 12-year-old daughter, Brooke, both of whom had foot surgery, showed up at the theater with matching crutches.
Their passion for the series has brought them closer, Humphrey said, and sparked conversations about topics parents sometimes find tough to broach with teens.
“It's opened the door to the girlfriend-boyfriend thing,” she said. “We talk about relationships and what's good and what's bad. That was an unexpected bonus.”
Every week, York County librarian Abbie Carnes said she meets mother-and-daughter “Twilight” fans.
“The books offer an incredible springboard for wonderful conversations,” said Carnes, who's been organizing “New Moon parties” for teen fans of the book. She's planning a mother-daughter “Twilight” party for February.
“It's because we've had so many requests from mothers to attend,” she said.
The best part of the fanfare, Carnes said: “It's so exciting to see so many students excited about reading. I didn't think anything would come along that could rival Harry Potter. But this has definitely done it.”
At Clover High School, it's not just students who are crazy about vampires. The staff is reading too, media specialist Mica Brakefield said.
“It appeals to moms a lot because (vampire Edward Cullen) is so nice and very courteous to the parents,” Brakefield said. Plus, “Every mom was a teenage girl at one point … it's appealing (because) he's sort of a bad boy that doesn't cross the line.”
She added: “We have a lot of guys that read it, too, but they don't want to talk to you about it.”
Dodie Ballard, an assistant principal at Clover High, was skeptical when her daughter, Toni Hammer, pushed her to read a novel about vampires.
“I had the preconceived notion that I'm really not going to like this book,” she said. But soon, Ballard was a fan. She and her daughter saw the first film together last year and plan to see “New Moon” this weekend.
“If you can have that shared connection over something that your teenager will allow you to be a part of, that's very beneficial,” she said.
For Terri Jeffreys, 49, the infatuation spans three generations. After turning her 24-year-old daughter into a fan, she got her 78-year-old mother hooked.
“Even my son,” Jeffreys said. “It's just fun. We enjoy the storyline, and we enjoy the obsession.
“Our favorite line is: ‘And you say obsession like it's a bad thing.'”
Shawn Cetrone 803-329-4072
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