Happy Twilight anniversary, everyone! Or should we say...Twanniversary? We shouldn't say that? OK.
The year is 2005. Stephenie Meyer has released a novel about a teenage vampire named Edward Cullen who falls in love with a quirky, clumsy but still adorable high school student named Bella. He's drawn to her, addicted to her and he's super-hot and brooding so she falls in love with him, too. It was called Twilight. Eventually, the world becomes obsessed with these two. Three more books are released. Five movies based on the books get made. Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart become the on and off-screen couple that no one could get enough of. The books and films make a million, trillion dollars. Twilight and vampire craze officially takes over the planet.
Elsewhere in 2005, the penultimate book to the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, is released, and HP fans generally looked down on Twilight fans. A serious rift is born. This was the same year that Facebook became open to high school students so that teenagers across the country could make their statuses: "I love Edward Cullen 4EVER!!!"
So in honor of the Twilight's 10-year anniversary, we thought we would look back at how we remembered the book series and the insanity that followed.
How We Remember It:
Cinya, Senior Editor: "I bought Twilight the same Friday the first EW cover (with RPatz and KStew) came out. I'm so ashamed to admit this now but I not only liked it, but I read the other two books (the fourth one wasn't out yet) that same weekend! Then to make matters worse, I went to work on Monday and insisted all my friends in the office read it. To be fair, they all LOVED it too! I really think it was some kind of temporary insanity moment for all of us (er, the world, really) because I tried to read it again last year and I kept thinking: How did I not notice that Bella faints, like, all the time!"
Jenna, E! Loves Editor: "There was a Borders (aw, remember Borders?) right by my office and I would go there almost every week to browse books. It was my first job out of college and spoiler alert: it was awful. So reading during lunch kept me sane.
This was probably a couple months before Breaking Dawn was supposed to be released, so the book store had a giant display of the first three books. I didn't know much about it, but I remember hearing about the frenzy surrounding it. I grabbed the first one and sat down to read it over my lunch break. 20 minutes later, I was really into so I just bought it to take home. I ordered the next two online when I finished reading Twilight, but Eclipse came to my house before New Moon, so I actually got spoiled on their engagement because I started reading the third book before the second one, like an idiot.
I also knew that Robert Pattinson had been cast as Edward, so he was always the Edward I pictured whilst reading. I didn't mind it one bit. I also distinctly remember throwing New Moon off my bed in anger when Edward left Bella right at the beginning of the book."
Bruna, Editor: "I didn't actually get into the book series until I watched the first movie, but once I dived in, I was super into it. When I'd visit my boyfriend at the time, I'd tell him to leave me alone for a couple of hours and would put on headphones to listen to nature music as I read so I could really be in the story (I probably shouldn't have admit that part). Luckily, he didn't mind, because it meant more Counter Strike for him."
Rosemary, Supervising Editor: "The year was 2008. In the spring, a few of my friends started reading—no, devouring the Twilight books. Of course I was a book snob and looked down at such drivel, but I finally broke down and started the series. HOLY MOLY. My motto became 'Twilight IS my life now.' The books were so addicting, and I convinced just about all of my pals to read the books. Sure, Bella's a little whiny, but that's part of the fun. I was never Team Edward or Team Jacob, I was always Team NOT Bella or, if I had to pick, Team Jasper, because who doesn't love a Southern Gentleman?"
Maddie, Intern: "I was Twilight obsessed and I'm not embarrassed. I read the first two books in two days. I forced my mom to go to Barnes and Noble to get me New Moon and threw a FULL on 15-year-old fit when Edward and Bella broke up and I saw that there were just empty pages for October, November and December. I was screaming. My dad took a picture of me. My hair is crazy and I'm crying cause they broke up."
Holly, Writer/Reporter: "I camped out for one of the movie premieres…as in "Twilight fan camped out" outside of the Nokia Theatre for four days. I didn't have a guitar but my campsite was decorated all Team Edward. I have photos and lots of (embarrassing) memories."
Francesca, Writer/Editor: "I was one of those I-refuse-to-read-these-books kind of girls until my freshman year college roommate basically forced me to read them. I was three pages into the first book when I realized I was hooked. I didn't leave my dorm room for three days until I finished the entire series. We then went to the midnight showings of all the movies because that's how obsessed we were. Not tattoo-level obsessed, but into it to say the least. #TeamEdwardInTheBooks #TeamJacobInTheMovies"
Jeffrey, Social Media Manager: "I was on a flight back to Michigan a few years ago and the woman next to me, who was in her 50s, was flying back to Michigan to meet up with her girlfriends (all similar age) to go see the midnight release of the final movie together. She went into great detail how she was rereading the final book so it would be fresh in her memory for the movie. The way she described Robert Pattinson and her excitement for the film was extremely graphic. But she would just laugh like it was no big deal after every description. The movies/books weren't talked about in my circle of friends and I never really understood how big of a craze it was until then. It was a long flight."
Did you give in to the Twilight craze? And were you Team Jacob or Team Edward?