Vampires

There's something inspiring ? for old-fashioned booklovers ? about an early scene in Deborah Harkness' novel "A Discovery of Witches. " Magical creatures gather as a woman opens a legendary, lost book. Never mind that most of these creatures ? vampires, daemons, witches ? are plotting to get the book out of the hands of Diana, an American professor on a research trip in England. Menace aside, the scene is almost a homage to the printed word: There's far more magic in an old book than in an iPad no matter how good its backlighting is. "My fingers trembled when I loosened the small brass clasps?

"The Avengers"will take a big bite out of the opening of"Dark Shadows,"as the superhero blockbuster is set to dominate the box office for the second consecutive weekend. After launching with a record-breaking $207.4 million - the biggest opening weekend ever, not adjusting for inflation - "The Avengers" isn't likely to lose steam at the box office any time soon. In its second weekend, the film featuring beloved comic book characters such as Iron Man, Captain America and the Hulk is expected to collect an additional $90 million, according to those who have seen pre-release audience surveys.

Up all night? Been chowing down on rare steaks? Trying to land a job at your local blood bank? If you answered yes to any of these queries, then you might possibly be a vampire. Or, at least, a vannabe. For starters, you're in the right place. The City of Angels is Vampireville to slightly more than 50 vampires, claims the VPR, or Vampire Research Center, in New York, another favorite haunt.

They don't call it "Tim Burton's Dark Shadows," but they might as well have. Nominally based on the cult favorite 1960s daytime soap opera, this film has much more to do with what goes on inside director Tim Burton's head than with any TV show, no matter how beloved. In fact, "Dark Shadows" is as good an example as any of what might be called the Way of Tim, a style of making films that, like the drinking of blood, is very much an acquired taste and, unless you're a vampire, not worth the effort.

Vampires — so hot right now! Also religion. And the apocalypse. And maybe cowboys? Pull together a hodgepodge of all these elements and one ends up with something like "Priest," the big-screen adaptation of a series of graphic novels, directed by Scott Stewart. A long war between humans and oozy, unsexy, eyeless vampires ended with the humans victorious, thanks to a league of battle-trained priests. The remaining vampires have been herded into remote prisons, while humans live in walled-off cities, rendering the warrior-priests unnecessary.

As he prepares to formally announce his presidential bid, Mitt Romney estimates his chances at beating President Obama at better than 50-50. He also likes vampire books. But vampires? Not so much. These were two items culled from a Tuesday morning interview of Romney on NBC’s "Today" show, one that appeared intended to introduce America to Romney the human being. The fact that Romney’s campaign feels the need to remind voters that, yes, Mitt Romney sometimes swears (using words that can be printed in a family newspaper)

Forget the garlic, the crucifixes, the security of daylight. Nothing is holding the vampires at bay these days. With the wild popularity of movie, TV and literary properties including "Twilight" and HBO's hit series "True Blood," the bloodthirsty undead are dominating the pop culture landscape in ways Count Dracula could have never imagined, and the trend seems unlikely to abate any time soon. "The Twilight Saga: New Moon," the second film adaptation of the popular series of novels, is set for release in November, with the third installment to follow in June 2010.

When Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan set out to make vampires frightening again with their novel "The Strain," the writing partners had their work cut out for them. The scariest thing about the sexy, brooding bad boys that seemed to be everywhere in pop culture was just how much of their initial bite they'd lost. Under the right circumstances, you could even take one home to meet Mom. Del Toro and Hogan had a noble aim, and they certainly put their hearts into the endeavor. In "The Strain," the calculating monster known only as the Master embarks on the first phase of his plan to subjugate humanity, stowing away on a plane bound for JFK and infecting the passengers with a virus that turns them into mindless, hairless, crimson-eyed minions who feast on blood through fleshy stingers in their throats.

A roundup of Friday morning's arts and entertainment headlines: "Twilight" author Stephenie Meyer says she's burned out on vampires. (Sci Fi Wire) Meanwhile, the latest "Twilight" movie has finally premiered. ( Los Angeles Times) Michael Jackson died one year ago today. (Los Angeles Times) The Weinstein brothers raid their film library to settle debts. (Los Angeles Times) Mariah Carey is being sued over an unpaid $30,000 vet bill. (Los Angeles Times)

Fanged characters have sunk their teeth — sorry about that — into the adult and young adult book markets, so is it really a surprise to find a new children's book called "Dick and Jane and Vampires" (Grosset & Dunlap: 144 pp., $9.99, ages 5 and up)? The original "Dick and Jane" series dates to the 1930s, when educators Zerna Sharp and William S. Gray were looking for a way to help young children develop their reading skills. Now Laura Marchesani and illustrator Tommy Hunt have teamed to continue the pair's adventures, featuring a smiling bloodsucker who just wants to make friends and encounters the children in all kinds of daffy situations.

Jonathan Frid, whose portrayal of charismatic vampire Barnabas Collins in the supernatural soap opera "Dark Shadows" turned the classically trained actor into a pop-culture star in the late 1960s, has died. He was 87. Frid died April 13 of natural causes at a hospital in his hometown of Hamilton, Canada, said Jim Pierson, a spokesman for Dan Curtis Productions, which produced"Dark Shadows. " The campy daytime soap was a year old and struggling in the ratings in 1967 when series creator Dan Curtis took his daughter's advice to "make it scarier.

Marcos Siega, a director and producer of "The Vampire Diaries" since 2009, has sold his Encino home for $1.65 million. The remodeled midcentury house features floor-to-ceiling doors, an upgraded kitchen, five bedrooms and five bathrooms in 3,628 square feet. The half-acre lot includes a swimming pool with a spa. Siega, 42, has worked on "Charlie's Angels" (2011), "Dexter" (2007-09) and "Cold Case" (2005-09). The property came on the market in September at $1.665 million.

Audiences haven't tired of Kate Beckinsale as a butt-kicking heroine — the fourth installment of Sony Pictures' "Underworld" series debuted to healthy ticket sales over the weekend. The vampire action-thriller "Underworld: Awakening" opened to $25.4 million, according to an estimate from the studio's Screen Gems label. Meanwhile, George Lucas' "Red Tails" — about the Tuskegee Airmen — exceeded industry expectations, selling $19.1-million worth of tickets. "Haywire," Steven Soderbergh's action-thriller starring mixed martial arts star Gina Carano, had a less impressive opening of $9 million.

"Underworld: Awakening" begins with a tidy, three-minute wrap of the series' first two movies (the third, a 2009 prequel minus star Kate Beckinsale doesn't figure into the equation) before revealing the current grim state of affairs for its clashing vampires and werewolves. Humans, at least those oblivious to the charms of the "Twilight" movies, have decided to stop killing each other and focus on eradicating creatures possessing fangs. Our vampire antiheroine Selene (Beckinsale)

"Awesome," according to one dictionary of slang, is "something Americans use to describe everything. " The linguistic overkill horrifies John Tottenham. So the British-born L.A. poet, painter and journalist has launched what he calls the Campaign to Stamp Out Awesome, or CPSOA. "Saying the word in my presence is like waving a crucifix in a vampire's face," Tottenham says. "It's boiled down to one catchall superlative that's completely meaningless. " I met with Tottenham last week at CSPOA headquarters inside Stories, the Echo Park bookstore he is trying to turn into the world's first awesome-free zone.

It's more than just a TV show. It's part of your daily or weekly routine that reaches beyond the small screen. It's a piece of pop culture you want to experience even when you're not watching it. You, my friend, are a merchandiser's dream, and you've contributed to the growing cache of TV-inspired swag that's never more in demand than at the holidays. Today's choices are nearly endless, including "Cougar Town's" "40 is the new 20" throw pillow, Animal Planet's pet beds and a temporary tattoo of the "Sons of Anarchy" grim reaper logo big enough to cover a grown man's back.

In his new 3-D action film "Priest," Paul Bettany plays a laconic warrior with a cross tattooed on his face, a man who channels divine power to combat the vampire menace that terrorizes the citizens of a post-apocalyptic realm. But it's not entirely new territory for the English actor, whose resume includes "A Knight's Tale," "A Beautiful Mind" and "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. " In last year's "Legion," Bettany starred as an avenging archangel determined to protect the life of an infant as doomsday dawns, and in the blockbuster "The Da Vinci Code," he portrayed a murderous albino monk whose extreme faith demands he whip himself bloody to atone for his sins.

HBO's coming drama, "True Blood," is based on the Charlaine Harris series of books set in the backwoods of Louisiana, in a world where vampires and humans coexist but vampires are treated as outcasts. The series debuts Sept. 7. Asked if vampires carried an underlying message about gay rights, executive producer Alan Ball told reporters Thursday there's no hidden message. "I really don't look at the vampire as a metaphor for gays," he said. "For me, part of the fun of this whole series is that it's about vampires, so it's not that serious," he said.

When Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan set out to make vampires frightening again with their novel "The Strain," the writing partners had their work cut out for them. The scariest thing about the sexy, brooding bad boys that seemed to be everywhere in pop culture was just how much of their initial bite they'd lost. Under the right circumstances, you could even take one home to meet Mom. Del Toro and Hogan had a noble aim, and they certainly put their hearts into the endeavor. In "The Strain," the calculating monster known only as the Master embarks on the first phase of his plan to subjugate humanity, stowing away on a plane bound for JFK and infecting the passengers with a virus that turns them into mindless, hairless, crimson-eyed minions who feast on blood through fleshy stingers in their throats.

Vampire Lounge Where: 9856 Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills When: Noon-10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, noon-12:30 a.m. Friday and Saturday and 4-10 p.m. Sunday Price: No cover Info: http://www.vampire.com