Nightlight: A Parody of Twilight by The Harvard Lampoon

Nightlight: A Parody of Twilight by The Harvard Lampoon
Buy Nightlight: A Parody of Twilight by The Harvard Lampoon at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Humour
Reviewer: Karen Inskip-Hayward
Summary: A fun parody of Twilight that will be enjoyed by the original's fans and critics alike!
Buy? Maybe	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 154	Date: November 2009
Publisher: Constable
ISBN: 978-1849013338
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Most people will have heard of the worldwide phenomenon that is Twilight. The books by Stephenie Meyer and the film have made a legend of the romance between vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson plays the movie role) and teenage schoolgirl Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart).

Of course, for some people, it's all a bit too much. The hype has made the plot seem rather cliched, they are bored of hearing tabloid reports of every sneeze Robert Pattinson makes (even if they are very pretty sneezes indeed!) and critics argue the vampire angle has all been done before and better.

Even those of us who are fans of both the book and film (I'm standing up waving here!) can understand the need to poke fun at it all somewhat, so The Harvard Lampoon's Nightlight parody is a welcome publication.

In their version, Belle Goose moves to Switchblade in Oregon and meets Edwart Mullen, believing him to be a vampire and therefore irresistible. The novel - or novella? It's only 154 pages long – follows their story from Belle moving in with his father, as the original Twilight does. Of course, things don't turn out to be quite the same as the original!

It is written in a style which is easy to read. It isn't often laugh-out-loud funny, but definitely raises plenty of giggles throughout. It is cleverly written and although it deviates from the Twilight plot more than I had expected, it is still possible to follow the main threads of the original and enjoy the differences.

I enjoyed the trip round the Mullen's house and the parody of the piano sequence, also the shopping trip with Belle's girlfriends is fun too. I did miss the baseball match though and wasn't quite sure why it was omitted, as surely it would have been easy enough to parody this.

Edwart is a strange character in Nightlight – rather dull and ordinary – but I guess this is intended, to contrast with the beautiful-stunning-gorgeous-handsome Edward in the original novel. I felt Edwart wasn't as well defined and developed as Belle's character though.

Belle is still weird and awkward, but both are exaggerated in the parody. Much is made of Belle's clumsiness, so it often becomes rather slapstick. She walks into anywhere, falls over and causes chaos. This is a running joke, but does become slightly tiresome by the end of it.

It doesn't take long to read Nightlight at all. I read it in a couple of days, but you could easily finish it in a couple of hours, so I'm not sure whether I would say it was worth the cover price of £6.99. But I would recommend you get this out of the library, as it will raise a titter or two.

I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to The Bookbag.

If this book appeals then you might also enjoy The New Vampire's Handbook by The Vampire Miles Proctor.

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You can read more book reviews or buy Nightlight: A Parody of Twilight by The Harvard Lampoon at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy Nightlight: A Parody of Twilight by The Harvard Lampoon at Amazon.com.

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Darren Hart said:

Hi,

I read your review of NIGHTLIGHT, and after reading the book, I agree with much of what you said -- although I would have given it 2-stars. I was hoping for more laugh-out-loud material, but it just wasn't there. And I was put off by the detour the book took away from the original TWILIGHT. With the exception of a few moments, I was disappointed with NIGHTLIGHT.

However, I have also read TWILITE: A PARODY by Stephen Jenner, and that book was much funnier (laugh out loud meter was pretty high) - 4 1/2 stars (out of 5) in my opinion. Have you also seen this book? I did not see that you had reviewed it, but I think your readers would appreciate hearing your opinion about TWILITE.

Thank you for your reviews, and I look forward to reading more.

Best regards, Darren

Sue said:

We haven't seen that one, Darren - we'll have to look out for it.