The Vampire Diaries

The Vampire Diaries Complete First Season ... Love Sucks

Warner Bros have sent us the Season 1 box set of the Vampire Diaries.  This pleases me very much because we somehow managed to miss this entire series when it was on the TV and Ella and I both really wanted to see it.  I'm pretty fond of the vampire genre.  True Blood was awesome.  However the Twilight trilogy left me utterly cold.  So I was really interested in finding out which side of the blood-sucking fence the Vampire Diaries would fall on.

Vampire Diaries is a brooding supernatural drama based on the love triangle between Elena and two vampire brothers Stefan and Damon.  They are all beautiful people making it very easy on the eye.

Elena returns to Mystic Falls High School after the death of her parents in a car crash .  Her troubled brother Jeremy causes her problems as she tries to salvage what is left of her family.  When she meets mysterious new boy Stefan she feels he empathizes with her problems and is touched by his attention, not realising he is actually a vampire battling the urge to suck her blood!  Damon is his enigmatic, dangerous brother who shows up to wreak havoc on the town and claim Elena for himself (and carry out a few bloody murders in the process).  To add to the complications, Elena is a double of a girl that the brothers both  loved 150 years ago.  That love triangle did not turn out well!

The really interesting thing about the Vampire Diaries is the way that Damon and Stefan are portrayed.  On the surface it appears that one is good and one is evil, but as the plot progresses we see a more human side to Damon as he fights to win the mortal soul of Elena.  It is great to see Ian Somerhalder in a bad boy role and he seems to relish the scene stealing lines, the arrogance, instability and intensity of his character.  Stefan played by Paul Wesley, is the opposite of his brother and their turbulent relationship and back story is the highlight of this show.

With building tension as the series progresses, every episode pieces together the puzzle of the plot.  The series is gritty and quite dark with scenes of bloody violence, but it has romance and humour too.  It is much more 'grown-up' than the sparkly Twilight films and is quite intelligent with a good plot and complex characters.  It is easy to watch with plenty of eye candy to keep everyone happy.  In fact Ella tells me that fans actually engage in online arguments as to who should be romantically involved with who...and it gets quite heated!

We are enjoying our foray into Season One of this series which is based on the books by L.J.Smith.  We have a lot of catching up to do as the series is now on season 4...but we are definitely hooked!

I love getting hold of a DVD box set of a good TV show and indulging in a marathon viewing session.  If you missed out on The Vampire Diaries it's definitely worth buying.  It has five discs and includes all 22 episodes.

The Vampire Diaries Season One  DVD box set is available to buy from Amazon and other good retailers.

Everything You Need For a Spooky Halloween with Clintons

The nights are drawing in and the witching hour is nearly upon us...Halloween is coming!!  If, like us, you celebrate Halloween and have parties planned, you will be looking for spooky costumes, decorations and accessories.  How about checking out the range at Clintons Cards, both instore or online.  With a host of Buy One get One Half Price deals you'll find some  great offers.

I was sent a selection of Halloween goodies to take a look at.  We received a Pumpkin Sky Lantern, Flashing Fangs and a Tube of Fake Blood.

For £4.99 for 2, these huge sky lanterns will create real excitement at any Halloween party....just take care with them.  They have been mistakenly identified as UFO sightings or have set neighbourhood trees alight!!!

The Vampire Blood is just 99p!  A really easy accessory to give you the whole vampire vibe.  True Blood, Twilight or The Vampire Diaries?  Whoever your favourite bloodsucker is, you can play the part with a trickle of this from the corner of your mouth.  All Halloween make-up is buy one, get one half price!

The Flashing Fangs flash through a series of colours.  They will certainly light up the room.  For £2.49 they are a real fun gadget for Halloween!

How about these fabulous goblets...they are just £1.99 each!  Buy one and get a second half price.  You can buy them for the whole family to sip their witch's brew!

With adult costumes from £9.99 and kids' costumes from just £4.99, you can kit yourself out as a witch, a skeleton or even Jason from Friday 13th!  There are also fun accessories, decorations and even personalised Halloween cards!

To see the whole range check out the website at www.clintoncards.co.uk/halloween