The pull of the undead is always enticing. No wonder then that the Twilight book series has many takers

They're gone from this world but not quite. They're lurk around... somewhere in the subconscious or the more obvious tangible places like the neighbourhood banyan trees, behind that fluttering curtain or a creaky door. And despite the fear they bring out in us, we're drawn to them. Fact or fiction, the undead have always intrigued mortalsu2026 and all the more these days.

Fang following
In what Landmark's merchandiser Niyati Dhuldhoya calls the Twilight effect, spook is in again. The popularity of the series by Stephanie Meyer is apparently rivaled only by the Harry Potter saga. Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn are about 17-year-old Isabella Swan who falls for a handsome, angst-ridden (and hence totally desirable) vampire, Edward Cullen.u00a0

The Twilight books which were published in the US 2005 onwards, are on top as far as teen fiction is concerned. "The series has spawned so much interest in vampires, similar bestsellers (House of Night by P C and Kristin Cast and The Demonata series by Darren Shan), are catching on too. It has created a new genre," explains Dhuldhoya.

But the merchandiser points out that it hasn't come in the way of classics by Edgar Allan Poe, Stephen King, Anne Rice and Anthony Horowitz. "Books like The Shining or Carrie are perennial hits. They don't come with a 'sell-by' date," she states. But as of now, anyone between 13 to 29 years can be seen sighing at the vampire section.

It's the same story at Crossword Bookstores. "After Twilight, readers look for paranormal romances. Sales in the genre have doubled over the past year," says Sivaraman Balakrishnan, deputy manager, marketing. Including titles popular at Landmark, The Historian, Interview with the Vampire and Buffy The Vampire series are a hit at Crossword.