As the fascination with the paranormal and the supernatural grows, so does the number of movies, books and choices to feed the public’s hunger. One of the most amazing paranormal explosions to capture the public’s attention is the Twilight series of books and movies. The impact on most of the fans’ lives could literally be described as an obsession. A cult-like following that shows no sign of slowing down. And its impact is mostly strongly felt with the younger generation, especially young girls and women.

The most recent movie, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2, was released on November 16th of this year, and has already made more than $226,000,000. The combined total of all the movies, including this most recent one, is over $1.2 billion and growing! The total number of books sold is over 100 million just since the release of the first one a few years ago. That’s an incredible number of books sold in such a short time (I would be ecstatic if my book sold 1% of that!), and an astounding amount of money from the movies. Stephenie Meyer is no doubt a very wealthy woman. And very adored by her fans.

In my opinion, no one author since Bram Stoker has had such an impact on society and culture, at least in the arena of vampirism, as Stephanie Meyer’s 2005 novel, Twilight and the other books and movies that followed. The “Twilight” books and movies have become so popular, that among other things, midnight parties and vampire-themed proms have become a must for many teenagers and young adults. Personally, I don’t think Meyer set out to write novels that mislead and deceive people about love and eternal life. She was a stay-at-home mom that woke up one morning with a dream stuck in her head. She quickly wrote the first book, and probably thought she would be lucky to even get someone to look at her manuscript, much less buy it. But I do believe that the dream was demonically given to her and she was prompted and guided after that.

There are many things that are disturbing about the whole vampire trend today, but one of the most disturbing to me, and should be to any Christian, is the emphasis on eternal life, blood and love, but from a completely anti-God perspective. It’s become a completely perverted and twisted gospel that young people are swallowing hook, line and sinker. Even young people in church don’t see anything wrong with diving into the vampire culture. But we as parents, pastors and youth ministers, need to be not only aware of this subject and the trends themselves, but we need to be warning our children on this blasphemous, wrong teaching.

Eternal life through blood and love is definitely real, and achievable, but not in the way they are being seduced into believing. And don’t fool yourselves, this message is being promoted so strongly through young love and devotion, young people believe it. It’s not just a book or a movie; it’s a belief system for many. The “Twilight” books, and many other “Vampire Romance Novels,” tug at the reader’s heartstrings and emotions very strongly. This is why it’s so especially dangerous for young girls and women more than boys and men. Women operate in life much more highly on emotions than men do, and these books are targeted for them. Unfortunately, they seem to have hit their target.

In John 6:53-58 (KJV) it says, “Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live forever.”

As I’ve said many times before, I believe we are in the very last days as described in the Bible, and I believe that interest and fascination with all things paranormal and supernatural are only going to grow and impact the world around us. I don’t believe that everyone who reads the Twilight books or watches the movies are doomed or will begin to live in the world of the occult. I believe the majority of people read and watch for entertainment. I have several friends (yes, women) that love the books and movies, but they are Christians. But I believe most Christians today don’t see many of the warning signs around us, concerning many things, not just the paranormal, and they don’t realize the massive negative impact that things such as this have on a certain, impressionable segment of society. And the fact is that there are many people, especially young women who struggle with low self-esteem, and rejection, and a desire for acceptance, that will be drawn deeper into the world of the occult because of the huge popularity and influence of books and movies such as the Twilight series.

We need to warn our young people and talk to them about the times we live in. They need our love, support and prayers. The world of the paranormal and supernatural are only growing. They are getting stronger and building to the final climax that is just around the corner.

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jeff@jeffpatty.com