Twilight, or the Horror of Growing Old

This dream isn't feeling sweet

We're reeling through the midnight streets

And I've never felt more alone

It feels so scary, getting old.

-Lorde “Ribs”

A few months ago I wrote this tweet: 

“Normalize horror as serious literature.”

During a literary discussion, I discovered that some of my librarian colleagues were quick to dismiss the horror genre as a way to explore diversity and racial disparity in modern society. I cited Mariana Enríquez’s Things We Lost in the Fire as well as The Good House by Tananarive Due as modern horrific examples of those themes as well as the works of Octavia Butler. I was casually dismissed since I work in Children’s Services and I walked away from the conversation feeling deeply annoyed. 

Hence the tweet. 

The response I had from that tweet was mostly positive. Some expressed solidarity, while others expressed that we should dismiss the concept of “serious literature” all together. There was one response though that stuck in the back of my head and hasn’t let go.

“But Teen + goth Vampire/Werewolf isn’t Horror”

My first reaction and reply was: Yes, it is. 

Teen Vampire stories are horror. Teen Werewolf stories are horror. Teen Gothic stories are horror. Teen Monster stories are horror. Even if romance is a central part of the story, these stories should still be considered horrific. The definition of horror is subjective and we need to start actually acknowledging that horror comes in different styles and how horror is consumed is different for everyone - specifically for children and teens. 

It’s because of that reply I want to talk about a specific, famous teenage book and film series. I want to talk about how Twilight IS horror. It’s also fantasy and a romance. It’s a drama and a bildungsroman. It’s the story of a girl who falls in love with monsters. 

Please note that I’m not here to write a piece in which we say Twilight is actually brilliant. Having recently rewatched the film adaptations as well as (finally) read the books, the series has a lot of issues that deserve dissection and discourse. The series is incredibly heteronormative. Edward is kinda controlling to the point of possession/obsession/gaslighting extraordinaire and the writing is often repetitive. But I’m actually mildly entertained by both the books and the films and I will gladly defend the ending of the Breaking Dawn Pt. 2 film adaptation as one of the craziest action sequences of modern cinema - All Hail Michael Sheen and his embrace of camp.

I also won’t go into detail how media for teenage girls is constantly mocked and demonized. Lindsey Ellis’s video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8O06tMbIKh0) about Stephenie Meyer and teenage media in light of the Twilight craze is a pretty good starting point on how we treat female-centric content. In short, media for teenage girls, as well as women, is often mocked and demonized to the point where you are looked upon as something less than worthy if you even consider exploring said content. As Ellis discusses, this is the case of internalized misogyny and our personal quest to be the cool girl like Amy Dunne. Plus, if you’re reading this, you already know the importance of teenage voices as Cory’s blog serves to bring a much needed new, youthful perspective on modern horror. 

What I do want to talk about is why Twilight, and other similar Teen content, is actually important to the horror genre. I want to discuss the theme of growing old. 

If you haven’t read the Twilight series, it revolves around a teenage girl named Bella who moves to Forks, Washington to live with her dad, who is also the sheriff. At her new school, she meets and falls in love with a vampire named Edward Cullen. She also meets Jacob Black who is part of a local werewolf pack. A love triangle is formed as Bella comes to terms with her desires and her hopes for her future. 

Throughout the series, specifically in the book series, Bella expresses her frustrations at Edward’s reluctance to turn her into a vampire. Edward believes that vampires have no souls and are doomed to hell after their final death. He doesn’t wish this horror on Bella as he wants nothing but her happiness for the rest of her life. Edward is content with Bella growing old and living her life to the fullest, even next to his ageless features. For whenever Bella dies, Edward would shortly follow as his devotion to her is his very existence. Edward’s unwillingness to live without Bella even becomes a plot point at the end of New Moon in which Edward seeks his death after being informed that Bella had died. The whole thing was a misunderstanding and she goes on to save him from his personal destruction. 

In the opening minutes of the film adaptation of Eclipse, Bella is faced with an image of herself as an old woman as Edward stands next to her, still youthful and unchanging. Within this dream sequence, Edward is still affectionate towards this older Bella but she is horrified by this potential future. After Jacob Black becomes a werewolf in New Moon, Bella later learns that he no longer ages in a normal fashion. His werewolf metamorphosis slows his aging process. Bella is once again horrified as she fears she will forever age while the men she loves stay timeless. With each new day, she grows anxious that her inevitably aging human body will destroy whatever connection she has with her new immortal “family.”

When I was young, I remember the feeling of horror as I finished reading Lloyd Alexander’s The High King. The young protagonist of the series, Taran, faces a choice in which he accepts the duties of being king in a broken world. He rejects the option of leaving Prydain, accepting a world in which magic would no longer exist. I was horrified because the ending of this book felt real. It felt tangible. I understood, even at a young age, that there is an expiration date on life and what we face in this world is nothing compared to our fantasies. 

In answering questions from young readers, Alexander spoke of Taran’s ultimate decision: 

“I cried for three days afterwards. Some readers would have liked Taran to go off with all the other companions. My answer was if he had done that, would you have liked him better for it? When they stopped to think about it, they realized that Taran did the right thing. It was a hard decision, but they liked him better because he stayed.” (Scholastic)

I remember being Bella’s age, facing a new future outside of high school. I had no clue of what I wanted and I had a vague notion of what my dreams and goals were outside of my parents’ home. I wasn’t thinking of death, sorrow, mortgages, or loneliness. I was thinking about opportunities and the next chapter of my life. Now that I’m older, if I had been given an opportunity of possessive love and immortality as a teenager, I would have jumped at the chance, consequences be damned, because it would mean I could keep that sense of adventure and longing in a body that would know no age. And having been with my Husband for more than 15 years, the idea of being without him is devastating. While I may have (a lot of) issues with the characters of this book series, I do understand Bella’s desire to stay with the love of her life for all of eternity. 

Twilight, and other similar teen horror romance titles such as The Vampire Diaries and Vampire Academy, are horror narratives wrapped inside a passionate teenage love story. These novels share the theme of lost opportunities and unfilled promises. It’s the fantasy of living forever in an unforgiving world with a chosen family who will provide and support you because of who you are. It’s the idea that despite the horrors of mortality, especially now in a year of lockdowns and destruction, we can survive and live deliciously.