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When Kelly Varesio wanted to maim one of her creations in a crowd-pleasing fashion, she put it to a vote.

At the end of her next self-published novel, the Millville teenager planned to see a key character hurt by a vicious, mythic creature.

But what sort? She pondered the question aloud in a brief Internet poll among her fans.

A werewolf, she offered? Perhaps a minotaur, to mix things up? Or would it be the populist choice?

As she put it on her blog, "Vampires are more traditional; they are more popular than other creatures, anyway."

Varesio, from Millville and currently promoting her first vampire novel, "Insperatus," is just 19 - precocious for a novelist, but at the age best-placed to tell when the current trend for vampire tales goes on deathwatch.

But she's confident there's life in today's search for all things undead - at least long enough to give her reason to hustle on her next novel.

When the movie adaptation of "Twilight" debuted last year - the glossy and wistful adaptation of the first in Stephenie Meyer's set of teen novels - its pre-Thanksgiving weekend saw $69.9 million in box-office revenue, thus beating "Interview With the Vampire" to become the biggest vampire-movie opening of all time.

As the second "Twilight" movie, "The Twilight Saga: New Moon," opens this weekend, entertainment executives must wonder why the trend has refused to lie down and die.

Today's incarnations may have simpler storytelling than past hits like the novels of Anne Rice and TV vamps like Barnabas Collins (Jonathan Frid) - but these new versions have generated more than a year's worth of excitement, with no sign of slowdown.

That's because teens can see the vamps are getting younger. Before "Twilight," bloodsuckers had gone to high school before - most notably in the long-running TV series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," which is considered a clever, savvy landmark in fangy fandom. Each new imagining shows creatures of the night not as heavily-accented outsiders but as the misfits within our own society, even within our own social circle.

This year, the trend has tapped deeper veins, as vampires embody everyone from anxious teens to lonely victims of prejudice.

HBO's "True Blood," based on novels by Charlaine Harris and now wrapping up its second season, views a world where vampires struggle for rights and understanding in the South - while CW's new show "The Vampire Diaries" this season follows a high-school girl who's torn between two vampire brothers - one striving to be good, one less so.

Allen Grove, a professor of gothic literature at Alfred University in New York state, thinks he has an answer: "A backwoods waitress finds sexual adventure and fights evil; the clumsy and awkward new girl in school turns out to be special as she captures the heart of an extraordinary boy… These are not stories that will grow old between 2009 and 2010," he explained recently. "Indeed, in times of economical and political uncertainty, such tales of wish fulfillment and escapism will capture our imaginations even more strongly."

If there's a reason for vampires' new longevity, says Dr. Annalisa Castaldo, it might be less about them and more about us.

"We live in a time when we celebrate diversity, but we're also so frightened of it," says Castaldo, an associate professor of English and director of women's studies at Widener University in Pennsylvania. Seeing the vampire as stand-in for all sorts of misfits or opponents, Castaldo says teenagers use the tales to approach what they're scared of.

Far from seeing today's incarnations as watered-down versions, Grove thinks the essence of the mythology is still intact.

"Bram Stoker got the vampire formula right," he continues: "Craft a story that transforms the tedium of modern life into adventure."

Tiffany Gray, 34, would agree: When not managing an actual bloodwork lab in Mays Landing, she devours vampire fiction - often sharing series with her two teenage daughters.

"I think what's boosted the trend is really that the shows and so on are based off books," she said. "They're not going away; there are always more book series to pick from, and the studios see there's a lot of chapters they can tell with each story."

And though she disagrees with her colleague Candice Cummings, 24, who thinks the "Twilight" movies are better than the books themselves, the pair can agree on something: Fans like them don't prefer one vampire adaptation more than another - they live through all of them.

"My friends are all really into it - all of the shows," Cummings said. "Put a vampire at the center of a story, and it's instantly mysterious."

Contact Juliet Fletcher:

609-272-7251

JFletcher@pressofac.com

Thinking outside the coffin

As on-screen vampires have morphed from stereotypical foreign outsiders to high-school heartthrobs and everything in-between, each new incarnation has used quirky character details to set their fanged creations apart.

"Interview With the Vampire"

Claudia: Played by a young Kirsten Dunst, Claudia showed you didn't have to be fully grown to go all-out vampire.

"Forever Knight"

Nick Knight: The blond, tousled vampire (Rick Springfield) was a young-looking 800 - but more mid-career than current incarnations. He eschewed the traditional, sickly-pale complexion for an outdoorsy look - honed while he worked his day job as a detective.

"Buffy the Vampire Slayer"

Harmony: A supporting character, played by Mercedes McNab, but the first notable vampire on television who we know was a brat beforehand. While Angel (David Boreanaz), Buffy's love interest, was the first to look like he worked out, Harmony blazed a trail for Valley Girl vamps, with a shopping addiction and a nagging way with her boyfriend, punk-rock vampire Spike (James Marsters).

"Twilight"

Edward Cullen: Looking totally out-of-joint in his gray suit jacket, Edward (Robert Pattinson) wears his hair messed like an indie-rock kid.

"The Vampire Diaries"

Stefan Salvatore: One-half of a pair of vampire brothers, Stefan is played by New Brunswick native Paul Wesley, who Americanized his last name from the original Polish. Wesley plays Salvatore in that vein: He's the American second-generation immigrant fiercely trying to belong.

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