[Odin]

iPhantom,

While I'm no fan of the Twilight books, you seem to be defending a version of vampires that itself is little more than a product of 19th century publishing. There is no single version of vampires even when one only exams European culture. There are more versions of vampires than there are languages. What you know, and are trying to defend is a perversion of Slavic lore, and even it deviates form the legends substantially. Indeed the pale blood sucking creature that you are protecting is/was the 1st rendition of the sexy vampire written soley for the purpose of selling books. Almost everything written in the last 200 years is based on a short story "The Vampyre", written by John Polidori in 1918. Before this little story galvanized our perception of what a vampire should be, there was a myrid of grotesque creatures that feed upon the life essence of the living ... and the dead. The most common ones were a blotted and swollen manlike creature that was more often blamed for killing livestock than men. Others were the dead, unwilling to pass into limbo, who crept into the graves of their fellow dead to feed upon their corpses. Then there were the children of Lilith. There are several variations of this Jewish legend, but these are were the idea of vampires being seductive had been derived. The ones who saw sought to liberate mankind, from death and the lies of God. The legends about vampires and mirrors are part of this mithos.

I've yet to read a single book, nor view a single movie that truly embraces any one of the legends of old. There are all a conglomeration of attributes from many creatures that roamed the fears of man's history. So please do not tell me that Ms. Meyer is destroying the true legend of the vampires. This was done long ago.

My suggestion is, that if you hate her books so much, then do not read them. If you despise the movies based on the books, then do not watch them. If they annoy you so, then the next time you cross paths with a raving fangirl, then do as I do. Apply face to palm, turn and walk away. Neigh, you may even run away if you so desire!


P.S. ... and if you think there is only one correct version of Greek mythology then you are sorely mistaken. That, however, is a lesson for another time.