Sunday, October 05, 2008

I'm Obsessed With Vampires, Y'all


I've never really been a huge vampire "fan" or whatever you want to call it. I mean, I saw "Interview with a Vampire" and Bram Stoker's "Dracula" when they were released, and enjoyed them, and I loved "Blade". But I just never really have been obsessed about vampires, or really all that interested in them, until now.

It all started with those "Twilight" books. And the only reason I started reading them in the first place is because I wanted to know what all of the hub-bub was about (that, along with being unemployed...had a lot of time on my hands). I stayed out of the "Harry Potter" mania, but this time, I wanted to be "in" with the in-crowd of literary fans. So I read "Twilight". AND the next two installments (I still have to read the fourth one.)

THEN...HBO has decided to begin a new series, called "TrueBlood". The commercial went a little like this..."From the creator of "Six Feet Under" comes a new series about..." blah blah blah. It didn't matter to me what the new series was about, if it was from Alan Ball, I was going to tune it. I was a GIANT fan of "Six Feet Under" -- I loved the quirkyness and I fell in love with the characters. So you know I was all over watching "TrueBlood".

I'd be lying if I said that this whole Vampire Craze I'm experiencing as something I just stumbled upon. Shannon was the one who first watched "TrueBlood" and told me I HAD to watch it. She even CAME OVER my house one day and we watched the first 3 episodes -- I think she came over just to make sure I'd watch it. Now, I'm hooked on the show. The main premise of the show is that vampires have "come out of the casket" so to speak, and are trying to go mainstream. The main characters are Sookie (played by Anna Paquin) and Bill (the Vampire), who are beginning a relationship even though they are in a very small Louisiana town that doesn't look too favorable on this "mixed" relationship. Of course, the story is much more involved and complicated than I am describing, but if you are interested, and have HBO, check it on On Demand. Especially if you are even a little bit interested in vampires.

"TrueBlood" is based on a series of novels written by Charlaine Harris, the first one being "Dead After Dark" -- with the tagline being "A Southern Vampire Story". I read it after discovering the TV show, and now I am in the middle of the third installment. Alan Ball's (I just said "balls" hee hee) interpretation is pretty close to the books, but he does put his spin on it. Which keeps it interesting for me because there's not a whole lotta of suspense now that I know what is going to happen.

I also think one of the reasons my obsession has hit new heights this week is that I caught up on the episode I miss this past Sunday. As if there wasn't enough sex in the first 6 episodes...this one is exploding with it. And if you never thought vampires were sexy with a capital "SEX"...you need to watch "TrueBlood". The vampires are portrayed as very sexual and sensual beings (and not all together a creepy way) -- it's quite an interesting spin on the whole "I vant to suck your blooood" stereotype. Yeah, suck my blood and then some -- indeed. Damn. Being a member of the undead never looked so hot.

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