No Sparkling Vamps Here!!!

I am eagerly awaiting the final episode of the 3rd season of my favourite television show ‘True Blood’. Will Russell Edgington, Vampire King of Mississippi, survive his forced meeting with the sun? For that matter, what will become of Eric? The vampire who shackled himself to Russell to mete out his punishment, potentially at his own demise? When will Sookie finally see the light about Bill and his shady intentions? Will Jason ever really use more than 1/4 of his brain? How will Lafayette’s story unfold? What about Tara? Will she and Sam (the shape shifter/bar owner) finally find love together? Hopefully all these questions will be answered in the season finale.





Oh, I am not just tossing out random names here. Walk with me as I delve into this superbly casted variation on Charlaine Harris’s, Sookie Stackhouse book series. While not all of the people previously mentioned are central characters in the show, they are all essential to the hugely popular series as they each play a role in making the show the success it has become. They are its life's blood, if you will. Although Charlaine’s books are set in the early part of the last decade, a lot of her central themes are definitely relevant to our current times. Alan Ball, creator of the television series, is a cinematic genius,  who wields his talents superbly, and seemingly effortlessly. I was half way through the 2nd season before I had the chance to read any of the books, but that did not detract in any way from my utter enjoyment in my True Blood experience.




Charlaine Harris definitely hit the jackpot as the reigning author in this genre with her simply written series, which still manages to lead the way in a market that is currently flooded with all things vampire. Her books however, stand out in that she does not seek to glamorize the ‘afterlife’ of the immortal beings. But rather, she chooses to humanize them, equating them to mortals with similar desires and problems. They yearn for love, for acceptance in a world that’s anything but tolerant. Her vamps deal with many similar issues that everyday people deal with on a normal basis. In some ways her books pay tribute to the Civil Rights’ movement with the struggle of the non-human races to find a place in society. A society so wrapped up in fear of anything different, that it resorts to inhumane acts to preserve their way of life, that they feel is being threatened. Her books bring a sense of legitimacy to the myth that when one is immortal life is perfect. No sparkling vamps here!!