Students swooning over “Twilight” book series, movie

Young women are in love. It’s not with the boy next door, or even the boy sitting next to them in class.

They’re in love with a vampire.

Edward Cullen, one of the main characters of Stephenie Meyer’s book “Twilight,” is capturing the hearts of young women across the country, including some at the University of Minnesota.

The four-book series, following the love story between a human girl and a vampire, has sold 17 million copies worldwide and the first installment debuts in theaters Friday.

Elementary education and Spanish studies sophomore Becki Etzel couldn’t think of a better way to spend her birthday than seeing “Twilight” on Friday night.

Etzel said she began reading the book series after it was recommended to her by a friend, but she was reluctant about reading something with a vampire as a main character.

Putting aside the fact that the book might be a little strange, Etzel said after picking up the first book in the series, she read through the first three books in only four days.

“Bella, the main character, is really down-to-earth and insecure,” she said. “She seems kind of like a real person, so it brings the supernatural level down to a normal level.”

Behind the mystical element is a true love story, Etzel said.

The romance, especially the character of Edward, is what kept history sophomore Kendra Malinowski reading the novels.

Malinowski said she and a friend looked into the novels after seeing bumper stickers on Facebook profiles that said things like “I love Edward.”

The use of social networking websites like Facebook to advertise the “Twilight” series is something for which Meyer is getting praise.

Malinowski said ultimately, however, it was word of mouth that pushed her to read the novels.

Although the Internet is playing a role in getting college-aged students to read new books, word of mouth is still the force to be reckoned with, Julie Schumacher , director of the creative writing program at the University, said.

“It sounds like people are flocking to these things,” Schumacher said of Meyer’s series. “People are attracted to things that are scary and romantic.”

Fans of the book are planning to go in droves to the movie version of “Twilight” beginning with the midnight showing on Friday.

Bob Strong, complex manager of Kerasotes Block E Stadium 15 , said he expects to sell out two auditoriums of 500 seats for the midnight showing alone.

Early in the week, half of the seats were already sold out for one of the showings, he said.

As early as Oct. 31, advance ticket sales for “Twilight” accounted for 51 percent of sales on Fandango.com, a movie ticket sales website.

According to a Fandango.com survey of more than 5,000 moviegoers, 92 percent of respondents said they planned to see “Twilight” on opening weekend.

The heavy majority of the respondents — 95 percent — were female, 58 percent of whom were under the age of 25.

While 85 percent of the respondents also said they plan to see the film more than once , international business sophomore Amanda Free doesn’t want to see the movie at all.

Although Free said she is a fan of the novels, she believes the movie will only ruin what she’s imagined while reading the books.

“Everything I read is how I see it and what I imagined it to be,” she said, “and when you see a movie then you imagine those characters and what they portrayed.”

From previews alone, Free said she thought the actress chosen for the character of Bella was “too rugged looking” and Edward wasn’t at all what she pictured him to be in her mind.

Schumacher said it’s common for readers who prefer visual imagery to be excited for a movie version and readers who are “word people” to be wary of images constructed from someone else’s view of the novel.

Etzel said she is going to the movie with an open mind.

“You can’t necessarily have high expectations going into the movie,” she said. “You just have to take it as another interpretation.”