They might still be allergic to schoolbooks, but it seems Irish teens have been bitten by the reading bug. And the spread of the pastime among reluctant young readers here is all thanks to vampire phenomenon Twilight, according to the country's top bookstore chain.

Bosses at Easons spent the summer staving off school-goers with a ravenous thirst for Stephenie Meyer's bloodsucker saga, ahead of the big screen release of New Moon this weekend. And they say even the trendiest teens here have been transformed into born-again bookworms by the goth-lit hit, which has sold a dizzying 70 million copies worldwide.

Dubbed 'Twerds' -- that's 'Twilight Nerds' to the uninitiated -- children as young as 10 are downing mobiles, abandoning iPods and tearing themselves away from the telly in favour of an early night curled up with Edward Cullen and company. Meanwhile, expect your local cinema to look more like a Twilight convention from Friday, as fans flock to the second instalment in the series.

One such ticket-clutching Twerd is Junior Cert student Aoife Dempsey from Birr, Co Offaly, who admits that she was addicted from the moment she sank her teeth into the fangtastic tome.

"My aunty got me the book after someone she works with said their niece had loved it," says Aoife (14). "I was hooked from the very first page. After I finished it, I couldn't wait to get the next one.

"Now I've read all four books about six times each and have probably watched the movie at least three times. I've been to all the book launches and if Stephenie Meyer or any of the stars are doing an interview, I always watch.

"I look at the movie trailers online and check to see what other fans are saying. And if I see something to do with Twilight in the shops, I usually have to get it -- unless I already have it.

"I don't mind being called a 'Twerd'; it makes you feel like you're part of something. It links the Irish fans to all the other fans in the world and to the books."

While critics decried the tale of forbidden lust between schoolgirl Bella Swan and vampire Edward Cullen as too racy for underage readers, Easons' Children's Book Buyer David O'Callaghan applauded the ultra-modern love story for luring technophile kids back to the humble printed word.

"Goth-lit is truly gripping the nation," he says. "Children's books have grown in sales by 17pc so far this year and most of that can be attributed to Stephenie Meyer and her Twilight saga.

"When we launched the fourth book in the series, Breaking Dawn, fans travelled from all over the country to be among the first to pick up a copy. And with the upcoming movie, sales of all the Twilight books has reached unprecedented levels.

"But Irish goth-lit authors such as Darren Shan, Sarah Rees Brennan and Celine Kiernan are also doing phenomenally well at the moment. Twilight fans are desperate for more in this genre.

"It's even more exciting than when Harry Potter books started flying off the shelves."

With themes of death, darkness and doomed love, Twilight seems a world away from the innocent wizardry of Hogwarts, talking animals of Narnia or madcap chocolate factory -- the likes of which previously ruled children's classics. Like J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter, however, it's not just moody tweens who are feasting on the angst-filled franchise.

"There's definitely been a swing towards the 'dark side' in children's and teen fiction in the last few years," David O'Callaghan agrees. "The books that fall into this category combine elements of horror, romance and the supernatural.

'But while teenage Twerds certainly kick-started the movement in Ireland," he adds, "adult readers are joining in as well. We've seen the average reader age spiral upwards. Twilight is especially popular among female customers in the 25-35 age bracket. There's even a website called Twilightmoms.com for grown women who are just as obsessed as their daughters!"

Twi-hard fan Aoife reckons the recent vampire explosion taps perfectly into the psyche of teens bored by books such as Harry Potter but not yet ready to raid their parents' pulp.

"Twilight is much more suited to my age group," she says. "It's darker and goes deeper into teenage relationships.

"Even though it's set in America, I think Irish teenagers can relate to it. We're all going through the same things. It's set in the real world -- Bella is a quiet, ordinary girl -- but still makes you want to believe all the mythological stuff about vampires. I don't find it gory at all."

And contrary to what you might think, Aoife says her similarly besotted classmates don't just spend all their time swooning over chisel-jawed stars Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner, who plays Bella's best friend (and werewolf) Jacob.

"Pretty much everyone at school is into it," she says. "Some of us have read the book so many times that we sit around and read into it a bit more, like 'Edward is too possessive' in this bit or 'Jacob is too pushy' in Eclipse [Meyer's third novel]. I just love the characters and the writing -- it's teenage language."

And it may make book buffs recoil in terror, but Twilighter Aoife thinks Stephenie Meyer could be the modern day Shakespeare.

"Twilight comes up all the time in English class," she reveals. "We're studying Romeo and Juliet for the Junior Cert, and while it's not as extreme, there are loads of similarities to Twilight. Most of us would rather study Twilight than Shakespeare, though! Bella and Edward are definitely more relevant to me and my friends than Romeo and Juliet."

- Deirdre Reynolds

Irish Independent