As the Twi-verse prepares for total The Twilight Saga: New Moon domination this week, I have done my part to get ready.

Reread Twilight: Check.
Reread New Moon: halfway Check (hey, a working girl has to sleep sometimes).
Wear my Cullen crest on a daily basis: Check.
Watch the latest New Moon clip...



...Check.
Go to The Paley Center's Vampire Weekend, check.

We celebrated all that is vampyre during this panel, with a Vampire (S)Takedown, where panelists represented different popular vamps—from Barnabas Collins to the Salvatore brothers. It was great fun to be around my own kind (now I know what it feels like to have my own coven, a la the Cullens). There was a poll, taken before the weekend festivities, on who is the best vampire of all time. The fans spoke, and Whedon-files will not be at all surprised to learn it was Spike, with Angel a close second.

There were many clips shown of each vampire represented on the panel, but this clip got the most reaction—proving that we can even love vampires (Spike!) who break out into Broadway-style ballads:

What I took from this event, other than finding comfort in a gathering of my comrades, is that the marriage of Gothic Romance and Fantasy—first sparked by the 1960s series, Dark Shadows—is alive (or, more appropriately, undead) and well in this new century, kindling the interest of a whole new generation. If you don't know (and love) the romantic vamp who helped to change the image of our dear nightwalkers, from Nosferatu to the Abercrombie models who dominate the CW today, Johnny Depp will be resurrecting the tender-hearted Barnabas Collins on the silver screen in the announced 2011 adaptation of Dark Shadows.

To further prepare for the teenage fantasy gothic romance coming your way this week, listen to some music from the well-received soundtrack, found in my previous posting.

Hope everyone enjoys the festivities!
 

As everyone not living in a cave knows by now, New Moon opens with midnight screenings Thursday night. Find tickets, if they aren't already sold out.

And props to the Vampire Weekend panelists, who all deserve honorary doctorates in undead pop culture: Angel Cohn, Senior Editor, Television Without Pity; Sammy Buck, Blogger, tvland.com; Chelsea Doyle, Freelance Writer, Starpulse.com; Alan Kistler, Comic Book Historian, alankistler.squarespace.com; Jim Pierson, Author/Producer, Dark Shadows DVD releases; Andi Teran, Contributing Writer, VanityFair.com. The panel was moderated by Ken Tucker, Editor-at-Large, Entertainment Weekly.