Twilight: New Moon

There is no other legend as delicious as the legend of vampires, and in the "Twilight" series, vampires are the perfect bad-boys that every girl is attracted to at some point during high school. That first contact -- the touch of a hand on the school bus -- can be as electrifying as a set of fangs sinking into the jugular vein. The bad-boys were always a bit aloof, as if they were hiding a deep, dark secret. The darker the secret, the more attractive they were. One always imagined, what were they hiding in their tortured souls? And what secret could be deeper and darker than being soulless -- a vampire? Bella is attracted to Edward and when she finds out the truth about him, she is even more attracted. She is hopelessly lost and willing to give up her own soul for him.

The second and third movies of the "Twilight" series were filmed here in Vancouver, and I cannot imagine a better location for these movies than the forests of British Columbia. When I was growing up on Vancouver Island, I lived on the edge of the forest. I was comfortable in the forest, and spent a lot of time there on hot summer days, but there were times when I became afraid of the trees. Or, I should say, I had an instinctive knowledge of what lived in the dark forest trees, something that shouldn't have been there -- something unnatural. And whatever it was, I could feel it watching me, waiting until the sun went down. Even as an adult, I don't like driving through a forest at night. At every bend of the road, something menacing is lurking beyond the headlights of the car. I can feel it.

If ever there were an environment where vampires, werewolves and humans could co-exist, it is here. After a few weeks of Pacific Northwest weather -- rain, clouds, wind, more rain -- humans begin to resemble vampires with translucent, pasty skin and blank, bloodshot eyes. Vampires could walk amongst us, and we wouldn't know the difference. The co-worker at the next desk, is that a spot of ketchup on the corner of his mouth, or could it be....? And, as far as werewolves are concerned, I work with two monsters people who shapeshift on a regular basis.

Do vampires and werewolves exist? Oh, yes, they walk amongst us.