Halloween and The Twilight Saga

Halloween was never mentioned in The Twilight Saga, that I can recall. How very interesting... One would think that Stephenie Meyer would include it somewhere in the books. After all, vampires have been part of Halloween for the longest time now, ever since Dracula made his debut. However, Meyer's vampires are far from "traditional". The Cullens are, essentially, good guys who have been dealt a rather bad hand by destiny, or whatever you might want to call it. They are not destroyed by sunlight. Instead, they sparkle. They are immune to crosses, silver, and garlic. And, most interestingly, they do not have fangs. Not even the Volturi possess these blood-sucking implements. You would think that vampires who do prey on humans would have them. Of course, the Volturi are also unaffected by the items mentioned above. (Hmmm...the similarity between the words "Volturi" and "vulture" has just struck me...guess I tend to miss the obvious sometimes...lol.)

The Cullens do everything they can to fit in, and yet they don't. They stand out at Forks High School. The human students there don't know quite what to make of them, but instinct tells them that the Cullens aren't, well, like "regular folks". Yet, none of the Cullens has ever harmed a single student at the high school. This would not endear them to Stephen King's heart, that's for sure!

So I suppose The Twilight Saga and Halloween don't really go together. What the heck...a vampire is a vampire is a vampire...right? Not in the case of the Cullen family.

And what about Jacob and the pack? They're not really Halloween material, either. All of them are good guys, too. Their fight is with vampires. They do not prey on humans.

In fact, neither the Cullens nor the wolf pack are a threat to humans at all. Their common goal is to make sure no human is hurt, whether by one of their own, or "the other side". This is what turns them into allies toward the end of the series.

Halloween is mostly about terror and monsters trying to destroy humans. Even the tradition of going from house to house to collect candy has a dark side -- give us a treat or we'll reward you with a "trick". This could be anything from papering an entire house, and dowsing it wih water, to throwing eggs at the family car, to...who knows?

Furthermore, Edward Cullen's all-encompassing love for Bella Swan is hardly the stuff of nightmares, unless one wants to raise an eyebrow at certain stalker-like aspects of his behavior. But poor Edward can be forgiven for this. Unlike a real-life, human stalker, he only wants to protect Bella, not only from himself, but from anyone else who might want to harm her. He loves her for herself, not for any celebrity or societal status she might possess. He is the quintessential romantic, in love with her inner being... This kind of love is in scarce supply in the real, human world. Some people might think this cheesy. I think it's exceedingly romantic, and is at the root of the Saga's popularity, especially with the female gender.

If anyone comes to mind when one is thinking of Halloween and The Twilight Saga, then it's obviously the Volturi. What an appropriately nasty bunch they are! They're definitely of Dracula's ilk. Ugh. I have never liked Dracula, or traditional, scary vampires, with or without fangs.

So this year, I'll go with the Cullens. They bring an element of wholesome family fun to Halloween, I think, and I'm not being sarcastic or facetious. Baseball, anyone? Just make sure there's some thunder in the background, and we're all set to play!

So I can happily say, "Happy Halloween!", without necessarily endorsing any of the gruesome, scary aspects of this weird holiday.

Now I'm wondering what Reneesmee might wear when she goes "trick or treating"...