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At the peak of Twilight’s popularity, the small town of Forks, Washington, was awash with fans of the series that wanted to visit the ‘real life’ town, that played home to the vampire clan.
The town usually homes just over 3000 people, but in 2010 it was a must see travel destination for a reported 72,000 people.
With the release of a fifth book in the Twilight saga, named Midnight Sun, residents and businesses in the town are hoping interest will peak once again.
The book is a retelling of Edward and Bella’s love story, from Edwards perspective.
Just one week into its release, the novel has reached number 1 on the Amazon most sold books, and the previously dead fandom has risen once again.
Forks’ business boom coincided with the release of Eclipse, the third movie of the franchise, and has since declined drastically.
Charlene Leppell, who owns Leppell’s Flowers & Gifts in Forks, has said she hopes for Midnight Sun to reach fans, and once again “spark their interest” to visit the town where the vampire romance took place.
Describing what kind of hit business in the town has taken with the dwindling popularity of the Twilight franchise, Leppell said: “At one point, the whole bottom part of my store was Twilight. Now half of my store is Twilight merchandise. I imagine in the next five years, there’s probably going to be just one little corner.”
This is all despite the fact that filming for the 2008 movie, starring Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, was in fact shot in Oregon and British Columbia.
Those who are still fans of Twilight are just as passionate as ever though. As well as an annual festival the celebrate Bella’s birthday, called the Forever Twilight in Forks Festival, fans also banded together to support the Forks Community Hospital during the pandemic.