Viewers are sucked in by 'Vampire Diaries'

The vampires on "Twilight" aren't the only ones teen girls are flocking to see these days. "The Vampire Diaries" has become the biggest hit The CW has produced since the network signed on in 2006.

If there's a vampire fad, this show certainly seems to have hooked into it. "Diaries" wins its Thursday 7-8 p.m., time slot among females 12-34, beating everything on ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox in The CW's target demographic.

"Don't forget. Young women love horror films," said CW Entertainment president Dawn Ostroff.

And "Diaries" star Nina Dobrev (who plays Elena Gilbert) insists that the current vampire craze is "not really a fad."

"It's timeless," she said. "Vampires don't die. They're always around. They're eternal. And it just seems like right now, people are really responding."

"The mythology behind vampires has never really gone away," agreed Ian Somerhalder, who plays bad-boy vampire Damon Salvatore. "It was always there. Now you have this market for it because I think they're fun. They're powerful. They're sexy. They're dangerous. They're beautiful. There's something that draws you to them.

"I don't know who can explain it, but it's here. And it's here for a while."

All the way back to "Dark Shadows" in the 1960s, vampires have developed cult followings on TV. Not all the shows have been successful. Just last year, "Moonlight" failed to find an audience.

But right now there are two hit vampire shows on TV— "Diaries" and HBO's "True Blood."

So what's making vampires so popular today?

"Everything is cyclical," said "Diaries" executive producer Kevin Williamson. "Who knows? I mean, when I think of 'The Lost Boys,' I still get all excited. And I think of 'Near Dark.' I have great, fond memories of that. I hope maybe we're building that for this generation."

With both the "Twilight" movies and "The Vampire Diaries," the fan base is largely pre-teen girls, teen girls and 20-something women. Which begs the question — what do they find so attractive about guys with fangs who want to suck their blood?

"There's something about the non-human of it all that allows these characters to do things we can't do," Somerhalder said. "And there's a lot of escapism in that."

"I think it's the mystery," said Katerina Graham, who plays Bonnie Bennett.

"There is something about a man who lurks in the dark," said Dobrev.

"And bites you," Williamson interjected.

"It's a good thing," said Paul Wesley, who plays vampire Stefan Salvatore.

Well, it can be. Much like Edward in "Twilight," Stefan is a vampire who loves a human teenager, Elena. And, just as Edward would do anything to protect Bella, Stefan would do anything to protect Elena.