Confessions of a Grown 'Twihard'

En español | Although the hugely successful Twilight books were written for adolescent girls, grown women have fallen madly in love with the teenage vampire romance series, the fourth film of which, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part 1, is in theaters now.

See also: Movie reviews from AARP's Movies for Grownups.

When women — of many different ages — discover their shared Twilight obsession, they often ask one another, "Are you Team Edward or Team Jacob?"

(Perplexed? Checkout "How to talk to a Twilight fan." For a very quick plot summary of the series read "The Twilight Saga: In a nutshell" at the bottom of this page.)

My friend Erin is to blame for my addiction to a teen romance series. She became my Twilight dealer by raving about and lending me all four books: Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn. Since then, Erin has been my steady opening weekend date for the films, which I've seen in theaters and on DVD more times than I can count.

I attended the midnight premiere of New Moon with hordes of screaming teenage girls, young women and, well, older ladies. I hosted a mom's night out event for the opening of Eclipse and just did the same for Breaking Dawn. (For a glimpse at the latest film, watch the Breaking Dawn trailer on the next page.) Like other Twilight fans, I buy my movie tickets weeks in advance.

Once the books in the series have been read and re-read, Twilight devotees plow through author Stephenie Meyer's spinoff novels and web-posted Twilight outtakes. Once the Twilight films have been watched and rewatched, we view fan-made Twilight trailers and films on YouTube. Seemingly mature women like myself join Twilight chat rooms and Facebook groups. We listen to the Twilight movie soundtracks.

When the DVD of the first film debuted, a half-dozen friends and I gathered for a viewing. Among the seven women present, only Lyn and I had become consumed by the books. The others attended for the fun of getting together, and out of curiosity about the story and their own teenage daughters’ obsessions.

When I had suggested to Lyn that we recommend the series to our 15-member book group, she swiftly declined. "I don't want that responsibility," she said. "I don't want to be the reason someone becomes so consumed by the stories that all she wants to do is read the books, and read about the books, and think about Edward Cullen."

After that gathering, three of the five Twilight newbies started reading the books. One confessed that she was looking at her husband and trying to imagine him as Edward Cullen. Other friends have admitted to spending hours on the Internet, searching for more information about the stories and, in a couple of cases, looking into whatever happened to that long-ago high school boyfriend. My doctor (an age fortysomething woman and Twilight fan) and I got sidetracked into an extended conversation about the series during an appointment.

Next: A theory about adult women and Twilight crushes. >>