Alluring Fantasy

I successfully avoided the decade of Harry Potter only to be confronted with the decade of vampires. Not that I didn't give Potterville a chance. I started to read the first book, but within the first chapter I decided that I didn't care about the abused waif kept under the stairs by evil relatives. I might have put up with the Cinderfella story if only he had shown some spunk. When I realized this was the story of a victim whose only relief came from magic, I tossed it aside. There is a perfect word for how I felt about the story, but using it would just be rude.
Then just as that pity saga ended, along comes Twilight. Even back in the day of Nosferatu there was something chillingly sexual about the blood sucking creature of the night. Modern vampires have been cleaned up a bit. Attempting to modify their blood sucking ways turned them into lovable self-abused losers, but I don't like to judge.
I know a bit about the Twilight Saga because I have continual contact with tweenagers, so I know a lot more about the story than I ever wanted. This gave me the opportunity to move two little girls from Team Edward to Team Jacob by pointing out that one was a blood sucking monster while the other was like a loyal, trustworthy wild dog. I like good role models.
Since Twilight's success, vampires have made a comeback. Like Angel, the vampire cursed with a soul from the Buffy series, modern good vampires fight evil vampires.
Did I mention that I'm not a big fan of fantasy? But the Pacific Northwest is a breeding ground for it. The television series, “Grimm,” set in Portland, Oregon is much more interesting than “Once Upon a Time” which is set somewhere in the northeast. I don't care what Stephen King has to say about it, New England isn't fantastical. There is no fairy tale alternate reality on the east coast, except maybe for Washington D.C.
But in the misty forests sandwiched between the mountains and the sea, a vegetarian wolf-man is actually believable. Another monster fighting against his natural impulses, I notice. I've been sucked into the show, although so far the only sucking has been done by a spider woman who hated giving into her nature, but did for the sake of her youth and beauty. My personal favorite monster is the rat boy who is a gifted violinist.
So I guess I have my soft spot for fantasy also. I'm just glad I didn't waste time on Harry Potter, whose influence over our culture has already begun to dissipate. Except for Quidditch, which, I fear will never go away.

Nancy Sherer