To me, there’s almost nothing better than curling up with a good book on a lazy Saturday afternoon and my most recent obsession is the smash-hit Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. Technically young-adult novels and “vampire fiction,” the series transcends labels and has found mass appeal across all age groups, genders, and even political persuasions. And next Friday, the Hollywood version of the first book hits the theaters.

More than the movie is making the young actors stars, it is making the sleepy Washington town where the books are set a popular tourist destination. This is probably because the backdrop is so distinct and fully realized in the books that you can’t help but long to visit this mysterious--and very real--place.

Forks, Washington boasts a bustling population of 3,120 and until recently was dependent upon the timber industry and a small trickle of tourists seeking Olympic National Park solitude to make ends meet.

But today, the Convention and Visitors Bureau’s website is slick, features a slideshow of “points of interest” from the book, and even offers narrated Twilight tours of the town. In fact, tourism is officially booming in Forks, according to a recent USA Today article, with the daily average now estimated to be 90 people a day. And even the locals are getting in on the fun. Mom-and-pop restaurants offer themed food like the “Bella burger” and the town has established an official Stephenie Meyer day on the birthday of the main character. How better to celebrate than with a Bella Swan look-alike contest?

Though the whole thing sounds wacky to me, I’ll admit I’m also a little tempted. I’ve visited Oscar Wilde’s grave at the Pere-Lachaise cemetery in Paris, I’ve seen the “Driving Miss Daisy” house in Atlanta, and I've wandered the Armstrong Browning Library in Waco, Texas to admire the personal effects of Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

Granted, I was visiting all of these cities for other reasons and only made a quick literary pilgrimage on the side, but I must say, Forks does look lovely and it’s hard not to root for this little town reborn…nurtured with a writer’s ink and vampire blood.