Once the haunt of horror flicks and candy-hungry kids, Halloween now offers a red tinge for teens and adults. Dead sexy vampires on big and small screens make hearts pound. Stay in or go out, this holiday is now considered romantic.

Top spot on the hot viral vampire chart goes to Edward Cullen from the Twilight series of young adult novels by Stephenie Meyer.

In the Twilight books, Meyer's central characters are Bella Swan, an attractive but awkward teenager, and her mysterious classmate Edward Cullen - beautiful, somewhat chilly, and perpetually 17. The success of the first film last year ensures that it is a great Halloween rental this weekend.

The second film in the series, The Twilight Saga: New Moon, opening in theaters Nov. 20, introduces an Italian coven of bloodthirsty nobles to threaten Edward and Bella's relationship.

The romantic potential of introducing vampires to young ladies has intrigued the sexes for more than a century. The concept of the irresistible male vampire originated in Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897), repeatedly adapted for stage and screen and always a great video rental.

More recent vampires - Christopher Lee in the Hammer horror films, Gary Oldman as Dracula in the 1992 Francis Ford Coppola movie, and Wesley Snipes in the Blade trilogy - continue to effectively combine sex and terror. Kate Beckinsale's undead Selene in the Underworld movies breaks men's hearts.

The theme's eternal popularity also translates to the television screen, perfect for cuddling at home.

The HBO series True Blood, which just completed a second season, is based on the popular Southern vampire mysteries written by Charlaine Harris. Human barmaid Sookie (Anna Paquin) falls hard for vampire Bill (Stephen Moyer), a Civil War veteran living on in the 21st century. Powerful Viking vampire Eric (Alexander Skarsgard) completes the love triangle.

DVDS are fun for scary winter nights, but Philadelphia has vampire attractions of its own this Halloween weekend.

One of the most significant horror-related treasures is the Bram Stoker collection of notes and outlines for Dracula housed at the Rosenbach Museum & Library at 2008-2010 Delancey Place (215-732-1600, www.rosenbach.org). Literary fans can get up close and personal with the notes at 3 p.m. Sunday during a hands-on session titled "The Growth of Stoker's Dracula."

"The specific festival events change from year to year, but we always have parts of the notes on display and events where staff members talk about them," librarian Elizabeth Fuller said. "We actually pass around the real objects, so people can get a close-up look at them."

Is Dracula romantic? "I really think that came out of the 1930s movies," says Fuller. "In the book, he has some real animal characteristics - he smells like a corpse."

Filmgoers can view the first, very creepy adaptation of Stoker's book - 1922 German silent classic Nosferatu - at 11 tonight at the First Unitarian Church, 2125 Chestnut St. Providing the musical accompaniment will be noted classical organist T. Desiree Hines. Tickets are $10, or $5 for seniors and students, at www.traversetheater.tix.com, with proceeds to benefit the GLBT Arts Festival.

"The trick to accompanying a silent film is having the movie in front where I can see it," Hines said. "I improvise as organists used to do, and at the same time, I do standard pieces of organ repertoire, and that introduces new people to this music.

"In the last year, there has been a lot of interest in vampirism," she continues. "Vampires are becoming sultry - dare I say, sexy individuals – very alluring. So Halloween has become romanticized, but for some people it is a spiritual holiday."

Rutgers University in Camden will be staging a student production of Dracula this weekend and next at the Gordon Theater in the Fine Arts Complex on Third Street. Tickets are $10; 856-225-6176.

Other staged Halloween productions around town include a murder mystery, Murder in the Animal Kingdom, at the Ebenezer Maxwell Mansion, on Tulpehocken near Greene Street in Germantown. Tickets are $12; 215-438-1861, www.ebenezermaxwellmansion.org.

Through Nov. 7, Terror Behind the Walls at the Eastern State Penitentiary, 22d Street and Fairmount Avenue, will offer its annual major theatrical production with animatronic props, frightening noises, and actors in costume. The Infirmary section is new this year. Tickets are $10-$30; 888-763-6483, www.terrorbehindthewalls.com.

Watson Adventures' Haunted Philadelphia Scavenger Hunt begins near Washington Square and visits a variety of early ghosts, including Ben Franklin, tonight and tomorrow. Tickets are $22.50; www.watsonadventures.com or 877-946-4868.

Set sail on the Spirit of Philadelphia for a Halloween Costume Lunch Party Cruise boarding at 11 a.m. (adults $35.90, children $17.90) or a Monster Bash Moonlight Cruise at midnight ($30.90) on Saturday; www.spiritofphiladelphia.com or 866-455-3866.