Kia Garriques

With the release of the final instalment of The Twilight Saga this week, talk of vampires, werewolves and supernatural love stories has reached fever pitch.

Whether you are a self-professed ‘Twi-hard’ who basks in the hype, or you tend to shun the epic tale faster than a vampire runs from the sunlight; there is no escaping the hysteria which Stephanie Meyer’s blockbuster has spawned.

There certainly was no escaping it during the week, as I went about my usual business in town. Taking in my surroundings, I was struck by the number of times I was met with Bella, Edward and co. boring down upon me at every street corner. Huge promotional posters and adverts emblazoned with red-eyed, handsome faces and fearsome fur and fangs decorated every billboard and book store within a one-mile radius.

The Twilight Saga is undoubtedly considered one of the hottest phenomena of modern literature. Everything about this movie release screams 21^st century: movie theatres are boasting about the 3-D Breaking Dawn experience, and there are enough Twilight apps and e-books to satisfy even the most die-hard fans. Our fascination with the vampire, however is about as old as the combined ages of our beloved Cullens.

Just what is it about vampires that has drawn readers in in their droves for centuries? If you take some of the more popular characters and stories for example, it is not hard to figure out.

Dracula, Lestat de Lioncourt, Angel, right up to Damon and Stefan Salvatore from The Vampire Diaries; they all have something in common that we cannot resist, that draws us in again and again: mystery, intrigue and a certain enchanting charm cloaking their wild, vicious natures. They may be tortured, damned souls, but there is something about their air of power that titillates us every time.

While some ponder over the concept of the vampire love story, it is not hard to see why has always, and continues to sell. Maybe it is us girls’ penchant for a ‘bad boy’; granted a vampire hardly fits the stereotype, but that sense of danger and excitement is unquestionably a major draw.

Maybe it is the adventure that inevitably accompanies a figure of such dark intrigue? While many lament the old saying that the course of true love never runs smoothly, there is always that little voice deep down inside which welcomes the challenge of a diamond in the rough.

Whatever our draw to these powerful creatures of the undead, it cannot be disputed that the vampire love story makes for an epic read. Danger, dark good looks, mystery and a touch of magic – it is fantasy fiction at its best and most scintillating.