1. A Trend That Doesn't Suck: Vampires Invading Our Books, Films, TV?
Twilight, True Blood and other reasons why the summer of 2008 bites

"In pop culture, vampires are like cockroaches," says Eric Nuzum, author of The Dead Travel Fast: Stalking Vampires From Nosferatu to Count Chocula. "They've always been around, and once you notice them, they're everywhere." Indeed, Nuzum's book comes out in paperback a month after August's Breaking Dawn, the latest novel from the bloodsucker series Twilight. Tim Burton is reportedly adapting TV's Dark Shadows, with Johnny Depp rumored to star. And to promote the upcoming drama True Blood, HBO.com now advertises Tru Blood, a "synthetic blood nourishment beverage." That's good news for Nuzum, who once drank his own blood for research purposes — and promptly threw up. "It tasted like a tire iron," he says. "And then it tasted like 'I'm an idiot.' "

Illustration: Gluekit