In which the blogger reminds that evil is relative, and is always a good time

"I'd been waiting for the vampire for years when he walked into the bar.

Ever since vampires came out of the coffin (as they laughingly put it) four years ago, I'd hoped one would come to Bon Temps. We had all the other minorities in our little town -- why not the newest, the legally recognized undead? But rural northern Louisiana wasn't too tempting to vampires apparently; on the other hand, New Orleans was a real center for them -- the whole Anne Rice thing, right?

It's not that long a drive from Bon Temps to New Orleans, and everyone who came into the bar said if you threw a rock on a street corner you'd hit one. Though you'd better not.

But I was waiting for my own vampire."

I can't express how excited I am for the new HBO series Tru Blood. It's based on one of my favorite book series, Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire Mystery novels.

The recent invention by the Yakanomo Corporation of Japan of a synthetic blood substitute has brought about the Great Revelation, a night when vampires across the globe pirated the airwaves to officially announce their existence to the planet's population. The books, set in and around Bon Temps ("Good Times"), Louisiana, follow the adventures and exploits of Sookie Stackhouse, a small-town barmaid blessed/cursed with the natural gift of telepathy. Sookie has it rough as the most beautiful girl in her small town who everyone thinks is crazy because of her "disability". She's a virgin, if for no other reason than she finds it impossible to have a relationship when she can hear every thought that passes through her date's head.

The first book Dead Until Dark opens with Sookie expressing how badly she wants to meet a vampire. She gets her wish when Bill Compton, a Civil War soldier and Bon Temps' resident bloodsucker, sits in her section at Merlotte's Bar. Sookie quickly realizes she can't hear Bill's thoughts the way she can with others, and the two fall in quickly together.

Harris uses the convention of vampires "coming out" in the modern world, as well as setting her work in small town rural Louisiana to loosely explore themes of racism, homophobia, sexism, betrayal, sex, and the American class system. They make the reader think while being playful, fun, and fast-paced, all written in Sookie's first-person colloquial Louisiana accent.

The advertising for the show has been really impressive, if a little tongue-in-cheek. Really. Check these out. And, if any of you in Chicago has a TiVo and access to HBO, we might be able to work out a deal.