Now you know why I call it the Tour of Terror

[cleolinda]

HOLY SHIT, Y'ALL. celticangel76 just sent me this link: Crowd Forces Cancellation of "Twilight" Movie Event in San Francisco.

A planned meet-and-greet for the star of teenaged vampire movie is cancelled after hundreds of fans stormed the entrance to the Stonestown Galleria Mall.

People started crowding the front of the mall at about 5:00 a.m. Monday for the chance to buy a t-shirt and get a wristband to meet Robert Pattinson who plays the character of Edward in the "Twilight" movie. That film, based on at least five popular books, is due to open in theaters later this month.

Organizers reportedly cancelled the event because of the crush of fans. Witnesses tell KRON 4's Yoli Aceves the large crowd overwhelmed a list organizers had set up to register fans to meet the actor.

More from ONTD:

Around 200 to 500 people were expected to line up this morning to buy a wristband when the mall opened, that would allow them back inside the mall at 6 p.m. for a t-shirt signing at the Hot Topic store. Thousands showed up.

"After I got trampled I got back up there, but it was really scary cause I couldn’t breathe, because everyone kept pushing,” said fan Erica Martin.

One girl reportedly had her nose broken as a result of being crushed up against the front doors to the mall. Another girl fainted because she was unable to breathe while being pressed by the crowd.

The line to get into the front of the mall stretched all the way around the block.

Live report linked here, in which the reporter mentions that the crowd is still not dispersing because they have hopes that the event will be un-canceled.

Y'all, I take it back. Do not go to one of these things. I cannot be responsible for getting y'all maimed or killed.


ETA: From robinmc: Eyewitness account at Perez Hilton. You know, part of me is like, "I kept telling y'all this would happen, bring your riot gear, and yet no one ever believes me," and another part keeps shouting "HOLY FUCKING SHIT" at my computer.

ETA 2: I don't know why this made me laugh really hard (I say that a lot, don't I? Let's just say that laughter is the way I express a number of emotions), but: photographic evidence of the cancelation. Maybe because the Edward poster has such a THIS IS WHY WE CAN'T HAVE NICE THINGS look about it?

ETA 3: Photos from the trenches.

Comments

[subluxate]

That is completely nuts. I fail to understand obsession of this level.

[hulamoth.livejournal.com]

mob mentality?

[madeline-may.livejournal.com]

Dude... did you read the interview with RPattz where a 7 year old girl asked him to bite her?

[aka-paloma.livejournal.com]

D: <--- I can't stop making that face in RL.

[eofs.livejournal.com]

Bloody hell! That's just... insane.

I try to only comment intelligently here, but I just can't find any more words.

[robinmc.livejournal.com]

I was reading PerezHilton earlier, and somebody sent in an eye-witness report. It sounds like it turned into a massive clusterfuck:

http://perezhilton.com/2008-11-10-twilights-robert-pattinson-ignites-massive-mayhem-in-san-fran

[anne-jumps.livejournal.com]

Oh crap, a friend of mine went to that today to get a signature for her sister.

[madeline-may.livejournal.com]

Suuuure... her "sister"...

[trillianastra.livejournal.com]

Duuuude... that's crazy....

also... "the movie, based on at least five popular books"?

a) is the movie going to be all five then? 'Cause, that might be cool...
b) AT LEAST? Whoever wrote that, I want to know where the AT LEAST came from.

(*mutters* so I can move forward with the "assassinate SMeyer" plot... *mutters*)

[clodia-risa.livejournal.com]

I think the person reporting who wrote "at least" has to be extremely tired of the series, and assumes that they're spawning offspring on their own by now, since the furor just won't die down.

[jennawaterford.livejournal.com]

Wow. How dumb do they have to be to have only expected 500 people for this? Clueless.

[lalumena.livejournal.com]

Holy cow sparkles. Yowch.

You can't hear me, but I am screaming...

[rosefox8.livejournal.com]

Oh my gods.
OH MY FUCKING GODS.

He's an actor. AN ACTOR. He's PLAYING a PART in a MOVIE -- a FICTIONAL CHARACTER. And people -- teenagers and adults alike -- are willing to kill and maim each other just to SEE him?! To see anything having to do with the books or the movie?!

Okay. That's it. I want off this planet. Humanity has freaked me out for the last time.

[k-joy.livejournal.com]

holy crap!!!

That is really scary! Thankfully [or not] nothing like that ever happens 'round here

[oohasparklie.livejournal.com]

LOL Teeneyboppers. Well, and TwiMoms.

Whoever thought public appearances would be good for this film needs to have their heads checked. The hysteria is way too big already without adding fuel to the fire, geez.

[hulamoth.livejournal.com]

seriously. If there were people camped outside his apartment, how far a leap is it to mobs at "meet & greets"?

[door.livejournal.com]

Isn't this crazy? I'm a member of the _twatlight community, and we had twatlighters updating via text with all the shenanigans. This is very reminiscent of the Luke Perry mall tour back when 90210 was huge. You'd think SOMEONE would have learned a lesson after that mess.

[plazmah.livejournal.com]

reminiscent of the Luke Perry mall tour back when 90210 was huge

Man, I remember those days.

[bittercupojoe.livejournal.com]

The more I hear of this, the more it reminds me of the film In the Mouth of Madness, with the insane fans rioting over a series of books. Of course, the end result of that movie is that reality ruptures and lets other things through, all to the plan of the writer, so... yeah. Hopefully not.

[cleojones.livejournal.com]

That's one underrated horror gem. :)

[suaine.livejournal.com]

I think it might be that the books speak to the same demographic that enormous dumping sales speak to. I don't know who those people are, but they scare me!

[lunylucy.livejournal.com]

This makes me question my decision to go to the LA premiere of the movie O_o

[ambiguousreason.livejournal.com]

jfc, this is so out of control I can't even comprehend it. that's just... scary.

also, I just read the ONTD link upthread about the 7-year-old asking Rob to bite her, and also from that post: As part of his tortured take on Edward, Rob "never wanted Edward and Bella to touch." seriously, is it me or does he just keep getting more and more awesome?

[barrelgoddess.livejournal.com]

I wonder what it says about me that my first reaction to that is to wonder if he watches Pushing Daisies. XD;

[rufinia.livejournal.com]

Seriously, if we could harness the energy that teenyboppers put into this kind of shit, we'd solve the energy crisis. Serisouly.

[elysian-dreams.livejournal.com]

This is becoming so insane. Even my AOL newsfeed had a link with the title "Actor asked to bite 7-year-old fan?" (The question mark is the actual way it was written, I didn't add it) WTF, seriously???

Robert Pattinson is developing an odd following. E!'s Marc Malkin said a photo op for the actor turned downright creepy when a 7-year-old fan asked if he could bite her. Sounds like he's officially entered the 'Twilight' zone.

[cindyg.livejournal.com]

Sounds like he's officially entered the 'Twilight' zone.

::groan:: I am willing to be Rod Serling, bless him, turned over in his grave at that comment. But the whole shebang would make an interesting episode on that classic show, wouldn't it?

[madeline-may.livejournal.com]

Anyone notice that Rob Pattinson's disdainful attitude for the series is slowly turning into one of horror? I can all-too-easily imagine him begging profusely that the event be canceled. "Oh god, you guys, PLEASE cancel it, PLEASE, I CAN'T go out there, THEY GRAB AT MY NAUGHTY AREAS."

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Yeah... Mexico was when I noticed it. Specifically, the first picture, as he saw the crowd waiting for him in the airport, taken right before he was assaulted with a sombrero:

http://community.livejournal.com/ohnotheydidnt/29101075.html

[greedyskunk.livejournal.com]

So this is how the world ends?

If I didn't already have a story going for nanowrimo, I would explore that further.

[redcurrantbasil.livejournal.com]

I never imagined that sparkly vampires would herald the apocalypse.
Thank you for this utter madness Smeyer.

[sweetsyren.livejournal.com]

Holy crap!

The only place i've ever seen that happen is at gigs.

If it's starting to happen at malls I may never leave the house again.

(Also, hordes of beings pressed up against the glass of a mall trying to get at people inside? Dawn of the Dead. That's all i'm saying.)

[laurelin-kit.livejournal.com]

I feel like crying for poor RPattz. His life will never have any semblance of normalcy again.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

There was something he said in an interview I haven't posted yet--

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/2008/11/twilight-coun-7.html

"I used to love playing live at open mic nights. It'd be cathartic. I mean it was really key for me," he explained. Now that a few of his performances have been captured on YouTube, however, he's a lot less keen to take the stage. In fact, he's pretty sad about it. "I think, 'Wow, I just lost a huge chunk of my life.' "

[annlarimer.livejournal.com]

They were expecting 200-500 people?

MORONS!

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

For real. 6500 people showed up at Comic-Con and lined up for a mile. I don't know what these people were thinking.

[jdotmi.livejournal.com]

Oh my god... I just had the most horrid realization ever.

Twilight is the new Beatles. x_x

I'm gonna go die in a corner, now.

[anthraxpretzels.livejournal.com]

But Beatles actually played good music :[

[cupcakery.livejournal.com]

So Twilight fans = footie hooligans?