Vampires and Children

When I was a kid, I watched "Salem's Lot." Let me just say that it scared the bejeezus out of me. I had nightmares for years. But I've always loved vampire horror and fantasy, particularly the erotic/romantic and/or contemporary depictions [gets lost daydreaming about Kiefer Sutherland in "The Lost Boys," Gary Oldman in "Dracula," and cute lil Stephen Dorff and Parker Posey in the "Blade" series]. So now I'm watching "True Blood" on HBO, getting chuffed about seeing the latest "Underworld" movie, and reading the Sookie Stackhouse series and the "Twilight" books.

But I have a now three-year-old and an 11-month-old. So I have to hide my dirty little vamp addiction from them so they aren't traumatized, scarred for years. When Isabel saw one of the "Twilight" covers featuring a white feather covered in blood, she asked what it was, but before I could answer, she called it a "pretty feather from a red bird!" "That's right, honey! Maybe a cardinal?" We left it at that.