Is Twilight the new Vampire Chronicles?

I remember discovering this series because the of the book cover, it really caught my eye... and now I've seen all this sites all over the web dedicated to talk about Twilight, by Stepehenie Meyers...

Don's spoil it for me, I'm certainly reading the series, but could you give me an idea on why are they becoming a phenomenon?

Is Twilight the new Vampire Chronicles? What's all the fuss about

Personally, Marisha, I don't think Twilight is the next anything, aside being a marketing success (those folks should give themselves a pat on the back). I'm about 3/4 through the first book...don't plan on reading the others... and I have to say my opinion has remained the same throughout. Bella is a moron teenager, Edward, while charming, is a bit off the deep end and the narration itself is so obnoxiously cruel to the English language it makes the eyes shake their pupils in disgust.