FORKS — Annette Root had no idea what was looming on her horizon when she first cracked open Twilight in July.
The woman — recently of Vancouver, Wash., and now co-owner of a Forks store with a Twilight theme — had heard about the best-selling series of books from an acquaintance, but wasn’t really sold on the idea of reading the teen vampire novels.
“I rolled my eyes — teens, romance, vampires, yeah right,” she said.
But once she started the first of the books, she devoured the whole series of four books, which have held top spots on the USA Today list of best-sellers for months.
And when a group of friends and family “kidnapped” her and took her to Forks on Sept. 7, she was enchanted.
The mother of five and her husband, Tim Root, now run Dazzled by Twilight, a store at 61 N. Forks Ave. built around the theme of the Twilight series.
The soft opening was on Nov. 1. A grand opening is planned on Saturday — the day after the movie “Twilight” is released.
Teen and adult fans of the series of four books — Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn — swarming to Forks to explore the sites where their heroes Bella and Edward thrive have created a whole new market.
Several Forks stores feature Twilight memorabilia, and the Forks Visitor Center also has some items.
But Dazzled by Twilight, which is open seven days a week, is the first store dedicated entirely to the phenomenon.
‘Do I dazzle you?’
The name refers to a passage in the book in which the handsome and enigmatic vampire Edward asks Bella, “Do I dazzle you?”
She replies, “Frequently.”
The series, by Arizona author Stephenie Meyer, details the love story between Bella, a mortal high school girl, and Edward, a vampire — who also attends high school — after Bella moves to rainy Forks to live with her dad, Charlie, the city police chief.
Annette Root said that both she and her husband were sold on the town as soon as they saw it.
“He loved it even more than me because he is a small-town boy,” she said.
Tim Root, who works as a chief financial officer for a chemical manufacturing company in Vancouver, is currently commuting with the couple’s oldest three children.
“Our oldest is in school still, so we wanted her to finish out the year,” he said.
Meanwhile the couple is figuring out how to juggle commuting with family time and opening a new store.
Overwhelming response
The response since they opened has been overwhelming, Tim Root said.
“We have depleted our stock twice now,” he said.
The store carries not only the books, licensed items — such as official posters and other book and movie memorabilia — but also items made by fans in honor of the series.
“We have a lot of consignment,” Annette said.
“That is because my heart really is with the fan-created projects.”
Those projects include jewelry and stickers. Some crafty fans have also said they will make quilts and other products based on the theme.
The store owners plan to create a Web site for the store at www.dazzledbytwilight.com. The Roots have reserved the site, but have yet to index their stock.
“It will be good for people who come by, and then later wish they had gotten something, or maybe if we are out of something when they are here,” Annette Root said.
“But we are going to work on that later.”
The store is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.
For more information, contact the store at 360-374-5101.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
