Visiting the Twilight Saga Museum in Forks, Washington

In honor of next week’s release of Midnight Sun, I want to share my history with Twilight and my recent trip to Forever Twilight, the Twilight Saga Museum in Forks, Washington. My husband and I visited Forks in early March 2020, right before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the world. I’m so grateful we had that opportunity, and I encourage any Twihards to travel to Forks when the pandemic ends.

Discovering the Twilight Saga

I have a confession to make. Like many women my age, I adored the Twilight Saga in high school. My friend Jaime introduced me to the books during our freshman year. Jaime didn’t talk about books much, so when she couldn’t stop raving about this new vampire romance series, I knew I had to read it. She let me borrow her well-worn paperback during homeroom. Three chapters later, I joined, and would faithfully remain on, #TeamEdward.

Over the next few years, I devoured all the Twilight books and eagerly watched the first movie in theaters. Twice. But as I got older and Twilight became too “juvenile,” my passion dwindled. I turned to other vampires for my schoolgirl daydreams, namely the Sookie Stackhouse series and its HBO adaptation True Blood. #TeamEricForever

No matter when or how we outgrow our teenage obsessions, a part of them remains with us. After all, they help shape our values and personalities at a key time in our lives. So, when my husband received the opportunity to give a lecture at Peninsula College in Forks, Washington, the home of Bella Swan and the Cullens, I had to go with him. I owed it to 15-year-old Kate.

The Pilgrimage to Forks

As Daniel and I drove along Highway 101, I couldn’t help envisioning the opening of the Twilight movie. The road wound through snow-capped mountains and past giant evergreen trees. Being a Kansas native, I’d never been to the Pacific Northwest, and the nature captivated me. My favorite part of the drive was Lake Crescent. The water is so clear that the mountains reflect off it as though it’s a mirror. The photos cannot do it justice.

When we arrived in Forks, Daniel and I drove through town to get our bearings. As a country girl, I felt right at home. The local businesses and restaurants sit mostly along the main street, and there’s only one stoplight. People stroll along the sidewalks, and big trucks rumble down the road. If it weren’t for the Twilight souvenir shops and the mountains, we could have been in Kansas.

After refueling at a diner, we headed to the Twilight Saga museum. Inside, we met Gaye and Marcia, two of the volunteers who run the museum. If you think you know a serious Twihard, wait until you meet these ladies. They both know everything about the books and movies, every detail about the museum’s artifacts, and have even been to Volterra, Italy, where the Volturi reside.

Gaye, especially, lives and breathes Twilight. She left behind a successful veterinary career to help run the Twilight Saga museum. At the Twilight film auctions, she spent over $10,000 of her own money to purchase artifacts for the museum. And they’re proudly on display to this day, along with some of her rare editions of the Twilight books. Most importantly, Gaye and Marcia are both #TeamEdward too.

The Forever Twilight Collection

Although the Twilight Saga museum consists of one room, it’s crammed full of artifacts. During my private tour, Gaye and Marcia showed me dozens of copies of the Twilight books from all around the world, original movie scripts, cast costumes from all five movies, fan-made t-shirt quilts, and so much more. Two of my favorite pieces were Jacob’s wolf (the cardboard werewolf used during filming before CGI is added) and the original Renesmee doll (loving called Chuckesmee). Apparently, the filmmakers were going to use this doll instead of a real actress, but the actors hated it and found it creepy.

They’re not the only ones. According to Gaye, the Renesmee doll used to be positioned next to Jacob’s wolf. Every night, Gaye and Marica would leave the wolf with its head upright and the doll standing straight in her case. When they returned in the morning, the wolf’s head would be lowered to the doll, and the doll would be leaning against her case, as though trying to touch the wolf. After a few weeks of this, Gaye placed the Renesmee doll on the other side of the museum. Neither prop has moved overnight since.

If you travel to Forks, Washington, be sure to stop by Forever Twilight to ask Gaye and Marcia for more fun stories. Admission is 100% free, and a visit is the perfect way to refresh yourself on the Twilight Saga (if it’s been a while, as it had for me) and learn more about the books and movies. Then, you’ll be ready to head to the Forks Visitors Center and take your Twilight Saga Self Tour. You can read about my experience with the tour here.

If you love paranormal fantasy books and movies, you’ll like my writing too. Join Kate’s Coven to read The Witch, an exclusive short story about a witch who must save Salem from the devil. You’ll also receive updates on my upcoming paranormal/urban fantasy series.