Long Live ‘Twilight’: Bay Area Fans Memorialize The Messy, Beautiful Legacy of Vampire Romance

The date was Nov. 10, 2008. Barack Obama had just become America’s first Black president. A new artist named Lady Gaga had released her debut album. The U.S. was just one month from an official recession.

And in San Francisco, the city’s Stonestown Galleria mall was brimming with the anxious energy of three thousand fans of the Twilight book series by Stephenie Meyer.

The crowd had gathered to meet the actor playing the lead in a brand-new movie adaptation: Robert Pattinson. But only the first few hundred would be able to actually meet the aloof British actor — who wasn’t yet a star — in the mall’s relatively tiny Hot Topic.

As TMZ reported, mayhem ensued as attendees began pushing forward, hoping to be the lucky first few. In what ABC 7 described as “near rioting,” the crowd collided, with fans being trampled and one girl reportedly breaking her nose. The event was promptly canceled.

“I remember seeing the girl on the news, ‘I love ‘Twilight’ so much,’ blood coming out of her nostrils,” Pattinson — who has admittedly owned up to lying in press interviews out of boredom — told SFGATE in 2019. “It was spectacular, you couldn’t have paid for better promotion.”

Throwing caution to the wind, Stonestown Galleria dared to hold another Twilight meet-and-greet the following year to celebrate the release of the sequel, New Moon, featuring two members of the supporting cast. Relying on extra security, the mall avoided a repeat of the 2008 crush.

Jump straight to: Twilight-themed events around the Bay Area

One of the fans in attendance, 16-year-old Kathalina Lopez of Richmond, told SFGate that she heard the girl who got hurt in 2008 got to meet Pattinson that day after all. “I want to get trampled now,” Lopez said wistfully.

This October will mark 20 years since Meyer’s first Twilight book was published, spawning three more novels and launching the wildly popular film franchise starring Pattinson and Kristen Stewart. In honor of the anniversary, the films will return to theaters, accompanied by a host of Twilight-themed events locally that include a San Jose screening on Friday, accompanied by a live orchestra.

But here in the Bay Area, affection for the vampire romance saga — and the meaning fans drew from it — never truly died.

Twenty years of Twilight

The initial fandom sparked by Meyer’s books — following shy teen Bella Swan as she falls in love with brooding fellow student Edward, who is in fact a century-old vampire — went supernova in 2008 with the release of the first film adaptation, Twilight.

Directed by Catherine Hardwicke of rebellious-girlhood blueprint Thirteen, the movie’s mix of longing, emo-meets-goth-meets-Livejournal-entry aesthetics and 2000s aquamarine filters immediately found its audience.

In the years that followed, four more sequels from three different (male) directors ensued through 2012, bringing plots that expanded beyond supernatural high school romance into European vampire cabals and werewolf battles. The saga also ignited a paranormal romance trend and launched the careers of Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, whose doomed real-life romance only fueled fans’ feverish interest.

Eight years later, the films’ popular resurgence arrived during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic — and boosted hugely by the availability of all five movies on streaming platforms when most of the United States was under stay-at-home orders. As my San Francisco friend Jenny George notes, suddenly, many more people could relate to the scene in New Moon, where a forlorn Bella sits statue-still in her room as the months and seasons pass by her.

“It’s kind of how [depression] goes sometimes,” George, who recalls streaming the movies back-to-back during lockdown. “I thought it was a pretty astute way to show how empty she was.”

Social media during this period had evolved into something very different from the 2010s landscape the movies were first born into, with Twitter, Tumblr, Reddit and TikTok generating and spreading memes like wildfire.

And the movies – achingly sincere and embracing the rollercoaster of emotions that come with being a teenager in love – were a goldmine for social media content: Edward declaring, “This is the skin of a killer, Bella.” A vampires-play-baseball scene soundtracked to Muse’s “Supermassive Blackhole”. An uncanny CGI vampire-human hybrid baby.

@caiticlare89 Mask off #titussburgess #tituss #twilight #twilightsaga #twilighttiktok #renesmee #bellaswan #edwardcullen #jacobblack ♬ original sound – Bleak Salvation

Suddenly, the Twilight saga was seen as something of a camp masterpiece. Semi-ironic merchandise sold out online. Rowdy drag screenings took over venues like San Francisco’s Roxie Theater. Even Pattinson, a famous hater of his own franchise, gave credit to its excellent soundtrack. Twilight fan Sophie Kim, an assistant producer at KQED, noted that fans who were too young when the movies first came out are now selling old Twilight items on resale app Depop “like it’s Balenciaga.”

KQED’s Vicky Chung, who grew up watching the movies in Sunnyvale theaters, has the books on her desk and a “Where the hell have you been loca?” mug in hand, proudly: because people just get it now.

“There’s no point in feeling a little guilty about my guilty pleasure,” she said.

Reclaiming Twilight

Despite the movies making billions of dollars upon release, contemporary coverage of moments like the 2008 Stonestown Galleria incident exemplifies how the mostly young, mostly female “Twihard” fandom was originally mocked or derided.

Carrying signs that read “Twilight has RUINED Comic-Con,” male comic book fans protested the Twihards at the annual San Diego fandom convention — unaware that Pattinson would cross over into their fandom to become their Batman within a mere 13 years. And KQED’s Kim, who grew up in Orange County, recalled that growing up, for every girl reading the book in her school cafeteria to look “really mysterious,” there was a teenage boy mocking her interests.

@netflixlat Esta escena es icónica en cualquier idioma 🐺 #Crepusculo #LunaNueva #CrepusculoLunaNueva #Twilight #TwilightNewMoon #Jacob #JacobBlack #Bella #BellaSwan #Loca #WhereHaveYouBeenLoca #Meme #Idiomas #TikTokMeHizoVer #Peliculas #Netflix #ParaTi ♬ Dónde rayos te has metido loca. Crepúsculo. – Netflix Latinoamérica

But in the intervening years, culture enjoyed by young women and their mothers became (something) less of a popular punching bag. 2023 was even declared by some outlets as the ‘Year of The Girl,’ in recognition of the phenomenal cultural — and economic — impact of Barbie, along with high-grossing stadium tours from Taylor Swift and Beyoncé. The Twilight saga was, Kim said, “just too ahead of its time.”

Twilight’s popular reclamation has also been driven in large part by recognition of its queer credentials. Actor Stewart, who came out as queer in 2017, told Variety that “it’s such a gay movie,” and that its themes of dangerous desire are “a very Gothic, gay inclination that I love.”

Daly City artist and Twilight fan Amie Sarazan agrees wholeheartedly, calling the series “a foundational work of bisexual panic.” For Sarazan, the saga is “at once, this pop cultural juggernaut and also this bizarre indie movie that shouldn’t be as weird as it is.”

Sarazan, a costume designer for stars like Trixie Mattel and Peaches Christ, watches the Twilight movies on a loop while sewing for their drag clientele. And for their birthday last year, they convinced Bay Area collective Media Meltdown to turn the retro 4-Star Theater in San Francisco’s Richmond District into an adoring Twilight drag tribute.

During the party, performer Cheetah Biscotti strutted down the aisle, ripping off their shirt like the scorned werewolf Jacob Black. Piranha Psychotronica touched Sarazan’s hand and read their mind – mimicking the saga’s unhinged villain Aro portrayed by Martin Sheen – as Twilight erotica blared in the background. Kafka X bit Sarazan’s neck, making them “forever 39.”

Sarazan was even dressed as Vampire Bella herself in a dark navy blue dress with tinted sunglasses to mimic blood-red eyes.

Afterward, Sarazan cued up that night’s screening: the fourth installment of the saga, Breaking Dawn: Part 1. They recall being “in full delight” watching their friends scream during the film’s wilder moments, including a pregnant Bella receiving an emergency C-section from her vampire husband using his teeth.

“Because my experience in a female body has been one of body horror,” they said, “I like to inflict that on my friends.”

‘Twilight’ as text

Twenty years after the Twilight book series was released into the world, the novels and the movies they spawned have also become the focus of academic study — opening up the thornier aspects of the saga to critical appraisal from fans and students alike.

Recent graduate Eden Crowhurst, who taught a student class on the Twilight saga at UC Berkeley, said she was compelled to create this course after seeing franchises deemed more “acceptable for boys to read” be the center of other classes.

Crowhurst, whose appreciation for the saga was cultivated by her Twilight-loving family, wanted to prove that a series with a mostly female fanbase could be discussed in an academic sense.

After all, for many, Twilight is a truly loaded text, with a lot to dissect even after all of these years, she said — everything from innocence and love to sex and chastity, interwoven with themes from Meyer’s own Mormon faith. There’s also an upholding of whiteness – especially among vampires, who are described as incredibly pale and beautiful – and the depictions of an indigenous tribe that Meyer “Christianizes” in “every sense of the word,” Crowhurst said.

@dantehotsauce i cant escape mormonism #twilight #twilightsaga ♬ Originalton – moetdaddy

Noting the “perfect bad media” aspect of Twilight’s resurgence, Crowhurst stresses the escapism inherent in the much-derided romance genre of which the series is a part, despite its horror trappings. It’s no accident that the series found true popularity during the 2008 recession, she said — with hero Edward providing a fantasy of protecting Bella physically and financially.

“Romance is the one place where women can really be like, ‘No, this is what I want,'” Crowhurst said. “And Twilight is kind of the blueprint for these things.”

But Crowhurst wants her fellow students to critically engage with Twilight’s myriad contradictions, too. “It’s such a weird book series because again, it toes the line,” she said. “The reception can be feminist, but also the content is very conservative.”

And ultimately, for Crowhurst, this complexity holds true for the saga’s legacy itself. “People take Twilight nowadays more seriously — and less seriously,” she said.

How you can observe 20 years of Twilight in the Bay Area

Internalize the Twilight vibe

First off, listen to Sarazan: Washington-set Twilight is not a “Halloween movie” but “a rainy season movie” — and the Bay has plenty of gloomy, “hoa-hoa-hoa-hoa” brooding spots here if you want to observe the 20th anniversary properly.

KQED has a round-up of spaces perfect for overcast days, including Tomales Bay in Point Reyes and the eucalyptus groves in El Granada. Just be sure to bring your Twilight filter lens.

Attend a Twilight movie screening

To mark the 20th anniversary of the Twilight book series’ publication, studio Lionsgate is bringing the entire Twilight series back to theaters.

Major chains across the Bay Area are showing each movie in The Twilight Saga, mostly from Oct. 29 to Nov. 2:

San Francisco screenings: AMC Metreon 16 in San Francisco

East Bay screenings: AMC Bay Street 16 in Emeryville; Cinemark Century Hilltop 16 in Richmond; Cinemark Century Bayfair Mall 16 in San Leandro; Cinemark Century in Hayward; Cinemark Century Walnut Creek 14 in Walnut Creek; Cinemark Century Downtown Pleasant Hill 16 in Pleasant Hill; Cinemark Century in Union City; AMC NewPark 12 in Newark; AMC Brentwood 14 in Brentwood; Regal Hacienda Crossings in Dublin; Cinemark Century in Vallejo

North Bay screenings: Regal Edwards in Fairfield; Cinemark Century Great Mall in Milpitas; Cinemark Century in Napa

South Bay screenings: Cinemark Century Daly City 20 in Daly City; Cinemark Century in San Mateo; Cinépolis Luxury Cinemas in San Mateo; Cinemark Century in Redwood City; AMC Mercado 20 in Santa Clara; Cinemark Century in Mountain View; Cinemark Century at Pacific Commons in Fremont; AMC Saratoga 14 in San Jose; AMC Eastridge 15 in San Jose

If you’d like to host your own screening, be prepared to pay around $4 for an online rental: the movies have recently been pulled from Netflix. But according to KQED Education’s own Janelle Kim, this could be a great opportunity for a drinking game. Her suggestions include: a shot every time a vampire sparkles, or when Kristen Stewart has a dramatic Acting Moment (screaming Jacob’s name, scoffing, etc.) Try not to pass out.

Go to a Twilight concert or party

• Twilight in Concert, with live orchestra accompaniment, has a San Jose stop on Sept. 26. Tickets range from $59 to $253.
• The Midway in San Francisco is holding a Twilight rave on Oct. 18. Tickets on the website are sold out, but there is a chance that some of those people will drop out by mid-October.
• Books Inc. in Mountain View is hosting a free Twilight party on Oct. 25.

For any Twilight fans who cross over with Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, you can take the pilgrim to the Nob Hill house where the book takes place.