Popular literature for young-adults has been a booming element of the publishing world since the early 1800s, and one of the most predominant themes has always been fantasy and horror. Although children's fairytales are generally considered to be fairly mild fare for kids, many of the concepts, such as the story of Little Red Riding Hood, were pretty harrowing in their day, especially given that the first versions of the tale simply ended after the wolf had devoured Red Riding Hood and her granny. Even Bram Stoker took a turn in 1881 at writing fairytales in the compilation Under the Sunset, which was often considered far too disturbing for impressionable minds (see Chapter 3).

Most modern young-adult literature features teens as the major characters, and fictional forays into the world of the undead are no exception. The book series that followed television's Buffy the Vampire Slayer is one case in point, with the ultimate Valley Girl, Buffy Summers, continuing her crusade of monster mayhem against the forces of evil. But in the netherworld of young vampire literature, no one holds a candle — or a crucifix — to Stephenie Meyer and her thoroughly absorbing and heart-pounding Twilight Saga.

Move Over, Harry Potter

Although Anne Rice has developed a literary reputation as the original Queen of the Damned, Stephenie Meyer has achieved her measure of notoriety and success in the young-adult market as more of the Queen of the Darned. In a marked departure from the sexual undertones of much youth-oriented literature, Meyer has sidestepped the hormonal rages of growing up to provide a series of wildly popular books featuring teenaged heroine Bella Swan and her continuing, relatively coy, relationship with the irresistibly considerate and impossibly gorgeous boy vampire, Edward Cullen.

In the original self-titled book of the Twilight Saga, published in 2005 and written when Meyer was twenty-nine years old, Bella Swan moves from sun-soaked Phoenix, Arizona, to the damp and dreary town of Forks, Washington, to live with her father. On her first day in school, Bella notices the ethereally handsome and secretly vampirish Edward Cullen staring at her with a blood-chilling glare while the phrase “if looks could kill” suddenly runs through her mind. As it turns out, Cullen isn't offering a threat — he's just primordially fascinated by her smell. Through the next three novels the pair fall deeply in love and survive painful separations and harrowing scrapes with evil vampires and other creatures of the night.

Innocent Blood

The innocent nature of Meyer's novels is no accident. As a devout Mormon and mother, she insists that much of the sex, drinking, and violence of young-adult literature upsets her, and she directs her work to the vast audience of youngsters — particularly girls — who don't identify with or haven't experienced the darker side of adolescence. For Meyer, her characterization of Bella is that of a nice, normal girl whose boyfriend is attentively and irreproachably respectful. Meyer's unique approach struck a positive chord with an enormous fan base, and the Twilight series is giving the popularity of the Harry Potter series a run for supernatural supremacy. Books in Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series include Twilight (2005), New Moon (2006), Eclipse (2007), and Breaking Dawn (2008).