KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa. – There are times when the limitations of the printed word come into focus, like when there is a need to convey how it sounded when Robert Pattinson, who stars as the vampire heartthrob Edward Cullen in the forthcoming movie “Twilight,” stepped onto a riser at the King of Prussia Mall outside Philadelphia last week in front of more than 1,000 mostly teenage girls.

In collective pitch, frequency and volume the sound would make a shuttle launching seem demure, a Jack White guitar solo retiring, a jackhammer somehow soothing. To reach into history, it may have approached Beatles-at-Shea-Stadium loud, replete with the weeping, swooning and self-hugging, and only the ambient flutter of cell-phone cameras and furious texting by way of modern update. All of it was arrayed over a mostly unknown British actor who plays a character in a movie that wasn’t released until today.

“What is with all the screaming?” Pattinson asked when he came out. He absently ran his hand through his hair. Pandemonium ensued. He tugged at his white T-shirt in response, ever so nervously. Oh, boy. Then he laughed good-naturedly at the absurdity of it all. The smile was just a bit too much. A girl in a “Team Edward” shirt fell into the arms of her friend. “I can’t stand it!” she said.

Along with other members of the “Twilight” cast, Pattinson is touring stores of Hot Topic, a retail chain that mines the sweet spot between teenagers and pop culture, in malls across the country this month. It’s not so much to gin up interest in the film but to feed the monster it has already become. Fans arrived outside the mall the night before to get a ticket. The first 500 would receive a quick autograph on a poster and the rest a chance to see Pattinson make a brief appearance.

And when he did, the crowd didn’t see an actor. They saw Edward Cullen, the perfect boyfriend who just happens to live on blood.

“Twilight” comes to movie theaters with a long and profitable backstory in print: four novels by Stephenie Meyer, 34, and 17 million copies sold. The books take place in cloudy Forks, where the Cullens, a group of sun-shirking vampires, live among humans but do not prey on them, drinking animal blood instead. Bella Swan, a shy, bookish young woman, is drawn to one of them, Edward, even after she comes to understand the danger. A proffered apple on hands of pale flesh, on the cover of the first book, which was Meyer’s writing debut, suggests the chaste urgency of their love, and Edward becomes Bella’s protector after another, less well-behaved vampire, James, takes aim at her tender neck.

So you have your against-the-odds teen love, your woman in peril, your vampires and your cult following, but “Twilight” frenzy still has the capacity to shock. On Nov. 10, there was a huge crush outside a mall near San Francisco, and a girl ended up with a broken nose. When Pattinson appeared at the Apple store in SoHo the week before, one young fan asked him to bite her.

“The connection that I am an actor playing this character is sort of skipped,” he said, laughing during an interview before the throng was admitted to the Hot Topic store in King of Prussia. “They are in denial. They think I am Edward Cullen.” Pattinson, 22, said he had no idea what to make of his situation, about to meet thousands of teenage girls – and many of their mothers – who were flat-out in love with him.

“It is bizarre,” he said. “People come from three states away and walk up to you trembling. I feel that I am at a disadvantage here because I can’t provide this mystical thing that they came for in the two seconds we have.”

No one was complaining. Laci Turfitt, 14, had arrived the day before with her mother, Shirley Turfitt, 48, and sat outside all night, sustained in part by thoughts of meeting Pattinson, along with the pizza and hot chocolate provided by Hot Topic.

“It’s a love story with romance and mystery,” the elder Turfitt, of Telford, Pa., said. “The seduction of the series is hard to pass up.” Up and down the velvet-rope line were little girls, moms, goth teenagers, mall rats and even the occasional emo boy. Each had a brief moment with Pattinson, who sat at a table and quickly signed posters before they were trundled off. Turfitt at least had a bit of a moment when she finally made it to the front of the line: “You are adorable.” Her daughter, like many of the young women in line, could barely mumble hello because she was so overwhelmed.

Alena Marsh, 19, from Lancaster, Pa., managed to show Pattinson a tattoo above her ear of a small apple and the word “lamb,” which is Edward’s nickname for Bella. Afterward she leaned on a kiosk outside the store, tears streaming down her face as other fans rushed to her. “He was this close,” she said as they squealed. “Close enough to bite my neck.”

ACTOR ROBERT PATTINSON

Birth: May 13, 1986, in London

School: Attended Harrodian private school, London

Acting: He plays artist Salvador Dali in the forthcoming film “Little Ashes.” But he’s best known for his role as the ill-fated teen wizard Cedric Diggory in “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” and “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.”

Preparation: The London native didn’t talk to anyone for a while to create the character’s feeling of isolation.

Favorite actor: Jack Nicholson

Music: Pattinson plays guitar and piano, and one of his sisters, Lizzy, plays in a rock band. Despite some initial reluctance, Pattinson allowed one of his songs to be used on the “Twilight” soundtrack, the breathy, pensive “Never Think.”

Chicago Tribune

‘TWILIGHT’ tidbits

 • Some fans initially protested the casting of Robert Pattinson, a relative unknown, as Edward. Who did the hard-core fans want? Tom Welling (“Smallville”) and James Franco (“Pineapple Express”), for instance.

 • Author Stephenie Meyer is a mother of three and a practicing Mormon whose faith finds its way into the series. There’s passion, but no sex before marriage.

 • Director Catherine Hardwicke is well-practiced on the theme of teen love (and hormones); previous credits include “Thirteen” and “The Lords of Dogtown.”

 • The soundtrack for “Twilight,” including songs by Linkin Park and Paramore, debuted on top of the Billboard 200, becoming the third No. 1 soundtrack this year (“Juno,” “Mamma Mia!”).

Chicago Tribune