Robert Pattinson, star of the vampire saga “Twilight” and “Noon Moon,” has brought a different meaning to the color red this Christmas season.

This past holiday season was over-saturated with all things Twilight, due in large part to the release and success of the film adaptation of the first novel in Stephenie Meyer’s insanely popular teen vampire saga. Nonetheless, if I had a reason to correspond with the movie’s star vamp, Robert Pattinson, I’d be conflicted as to whether I should send Christmas cards or condolence cards.

Twilight is the, ahem, love story of 104-year old vampire, Edward Cullen, and 17-year old high school girl, Bella Swan. The story, which apparently came to Meyer in a dream, has been deemed “the next Harry Potter” by some. Do you hear that? It’s the sound of a million J.K. Rowling fans hissing.

In my opinion, Twilight has nothing in common with the far superior Potter series – except Pattinson, who portrays tragic figure Cedric Diggory in the fourth Potter film, The Goblet of Fire. If we are to believe anything we read in the press, he had no idea what he was getting himself into when he signed on to play the lion that falls in love with the lamb (Excuse me while I gag!). As a result of the staggering fame he has fallen into, everything from the length of his hair to his showering habits (or lack of them) is dissected in gossip magazines around the world. Fans are selling badly-Photoshopped Christmas cards featuring the brooding actor in a Santa hat, and paparazzi are stalking the poor guy en route to the airport to fly home for the holidays! If we are to believe him, he just wants to be a musician – but he can’t even sing at bars anymore because he’ll be recognized. He consoles himself by saying the most smart-alecky things he can think of in interviews – including calling Stephenie Meyer mad and accusing her of being convinced that she is Bella Swan. Once you’ve read the books, you see that he’s probably right, and you can’t help but like the guy.

Book stores and teen hotspots succumbed to vampire mania for the Christmas season, with displays and merchandise available for all who wished to have the sparkly-est of holidays. Several months have passed, however, and Pattinson and the rest of the cast are already hard at work on the sequel to Twilight, New Moon. Recognizing a cash cow when they see one, the film company behind the series is cranking the movies out as quickly as they can, lest their teenage audience age beyond caring. While the quality of these films is questionable, one thing is for sure – the cast, as well as Stephenie Meyer, can count on at least a couple more of the most prosperous Christmases they could ever wish for. I’m pretty sure that Summit Entertainment will send a nice bonus in Pattinson’s next Christmas card, smart-aleck remarks and all!