Kat with a K

Inviting Vampires In

(I did see Eclipse but I don't think I'm going to write a full review: there have been lots of diverse and interesting and/or funny reviews written already, and I don't have anything I'm dying to add. But I'll probably do a few Eclipse-related posts about specific things. This is one.)

This issue occurred to me a few days before I saw Eclipse, and so I paid attention to it during the movie, and I think it's true (although please tell me if you have evidence to the contrary!): In Stephenie Meyer's universe (or at least the movie version), vampires don't need to be invited in. This is made very clear in Eclipse when Riley is wandering around Bella's room. The fact that Meyer is contradicting traditional vampire lore isn't particularly noteworthy. She throws out practically all of the usual vampire rules. But I was disappointed about this one.

The fact that vampires have to be invited in means that victims who are attacked in their homes are never entirely separate from the situation. I don't want to say that they're not blameless, because I'm not trying to assign fault, but they are in some way responsible, even if they don't know it. The invitation means that an action taken by the human affected what happened. A lot has been written about the lack of agency that Bella, and to some extent the other humans, have in the Twilight universe, and by allowing vampires to wander into homes willy-nilly, Meyer has taken away a main line of defense that humans in vampire stories usually have. But even more than that, I'm disappointed because not having to invite the vampires in just makes it more creepy. Of all the monsters and demons out there, the most disturbing ones are those you know you've somehow, even unknowingly, brought upon yourself by inviting them into your life.