Well, the vampire archetype, initially considered a figure of horror, has gone through a number of transformations in popular culture over the past century. Nevertheless, I maintain that the inherent sexual aspect of vampires is not new. The great thing about vampires is that they can be reinvented again and again, in forms acceptable to different tastes. The even greater thing about vampires is that they can express the socially unacceptable in a literary form that is acceptable. That's why creatures who essentially celebrate Dominance/submission--a concept that is taboo in many circles--can be tolerated as the stars of children's books. Nifty, hey?

Now to me this is not at all a bad thing. When kids pass through puberty, suddenly there are a lot of weird feelings and concepts wrestling with one another in their minds and bodies. Fantasy, in this case, fiction, can help a person make sense of the conflict. Young girls experiencing their first sense of being thrilled by the feeling of submission, get to practice that emotion with imaginary vampires. Coming to terms with the new sensations goes a long way towards accepting your new, nubile self.

Forgive me that as of this writing I'm only 50 pages into Twilight. I know enough about the book, however, to know that Edward Cullen, the book's vampiric hero, will prove to be a beneficent character. "Good" vampires serve the purpose of helping us accept our cravings to submit to an erotic partner; they prove that desire can be both safe and beneficial. On the other hand, bad vampires (and I know Twilight will have some of those) serve a purpose as well. Feeling attracted to them lets us give reign to our darker side, process those emotions, so that we need not indulge them in reality. (Better to fantasize about a brutal vampire than live with an abusive relationship, for example.) We also learn the valuable lesson that sexual attractiveness does not equal goodness.

Vampires serve other psychological purposes as well, many of which are equally useful to pubescent girls. They teach about the moral ambiguity of beauty, and how sexual allure can mask bad intent. There's no denying the hot guy gives one pleasure; but just how bad a person can he be before it's no longer worth it? And then there's the issue of self-sacrifice for love. Just how much should a girl give up in order to be with an attractive male? Is self-sacrifice really its own reward, or are your hormones just telling you that?

So I'm all for this trend of adolescent girls enjoying vampire romance. I honestly think some healthy self-understanding can occur when kids read the Twilight books. In fact, it couldn't hurt us older readers to do the same...it's my opinion (and I stole it from Carl Jung) that whenever the imagination engages with powerful archetypes like this, emotional growth can result.

Besides, it's fun.

So I'm all for the Twilight craze, and it's not only because it's caused my own vampire romance novel, Bloodchained, to sell like hotcakes (it happens to be the #1 result when you search Amazon books for "vampire romance"). I'm simply a fan of the genre. Crazy about Frank Langella's Drac, and Gary Oldman's Drac, loved "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," etc. In addition to Bloodchained, I've written contemporary vamp fiction (the story "Pints" in Soulful Sex Volume I), Regency vamp fiction ("The Verity of the Vampyre" in Soulful Sex Volume III), and a vampire story with no actual vampires in it ("Playacting") which you may read for free--over 18 only, please, this one is racy).

So I say, vampire romance, rise! Indulge your inner Mina Harker today. Or if you have a daughter who's obsessed with Edward Cullen (or it's you), let her indulge her inner Bella Swan!

Diana Laurence is the author of the Soulful Sex anthologies of erotic romance fiction, and the vampire romance Bloodchained (www.bloodchained.com). Diana's works are published by Living Beyond Reality Press (www.livingbeyondreality.com.) Visit her at www.dianalaurence.com or enjoy her blog at www.eroticawithsoul.blogspot.com.