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I’m quite a newbie on the convention scene so this was my second convention and first Starfury convention. The first one had guests exclusively for True Blood, but seeing as this one had 2 guests advertised, Mariana Klaveno who plays Lorena and Allan Hyde who plays Godric, I thought it was worth going as a True Blood fan. The rest of the guests were mostly from Buffy and Angel. Mariana was one of 2 guest cancellations with a week to go, and the replacements were both from non True Blood shows so I was a bit disappointed! I needn’t have been, as Allan Hyde turned out to be one of the best True Blood guests I’ve seen, and by far the funniest guest talk I’ve seen!

Allan at the opening ceremony

The convention was held at the Thistle Hotel Heathrow, which is a tube ride and hopper bus ride from Heathrow terminals 1,2 & 3. Given its close proximity to the airport, there were quite a few foreigners attending. There were also quite a few Scandinavians who were there to see Allan, who is from Denmark. We first saw Allan in the opening ceremony on the Friday night where the guests were all introduced briefly on stage. This was his first UK convention!

As a gold ticket holder I got to meet all the guests in a sit down meet and greet afterwards that went on for several hours. I’d been to Copenhagen recently so I asked Allan about the abundance of all you can eat Herring buffets that seem prevalent in the restaurants over there. This led on to us talking about the Noma, recently voted the best restaurant in the world and near the docks in Copenhagen. He said it had a 90 day waiting limit to get a table!

After the meet and greet there was a Buffy themed party on the Friday night. I went as Captain Hammer from Dr Horrible’s sing a long blog. I saw several ladies dressed up in their Merlotte’s waitress outfits! Didn’t see much of the guests on Friday night, as the meet and greet had gone on quite late!

Jason as Andy Bellefleur and Allan

On the Saturday morning, I went for the photo shoot with Allan dressed as down and out Andy Bellefleur with the hula shirt and arm cast on. He thought the costume was quite funny! There were other ladies there dressed in True Blood costumes for their photo shoot with Allan. Everyone was quite excited!

Then in the afternoon he gave his first guest talk by himself. He was hilarious. He’s only just about to turn 21 and was telling us about hearing about the audition from a Danish agent while he was in his last few months of school. He recorded a tape which was sent to the USA and thought of it as a great audition experience. When he was told he had the part for Godric a few weeks later he said he had a difficult choice to make as it meant not finishing his final school exams. Even his headmaster said he would be foolish to turn down such a great opportunity to be on a mainstream US TV show!

He then went on to tell us about going to LA for filming for a couple of months. It was the first time he had been away from home living with his parents. He was amazed by room service and the fact he could fill his mini bar with lots of sugary drinks and foods that he didn’t get at home. Given he wasn’t of legal drinking age when he was over there; he said he didn’t get any alcoholic drinks in his mini bar! He loved the fact that his room was tidied up for him when he got back from a day’s filming!

He talked about where he got his inspiration to play Godric, who is several thousand years old. He said he got his mannerisms from watching old people, who are quite low key and quiet when they say what they are going to do.

A year or so later he went back went back to LA when the True Blood episodes with Godric were airing. He then went on to tell us about the hassles of getting a car to drive over in LA as he was so young they all cost a fortune. He got a Rio from 2003 which cost him 1800 dollars a month to rent! Man, was he ripped off so he said! He also talked about working with Alex Skarsgard who plays Eric. Some Swedish attendees commented on how strange his Swedish lines that Alex, who is Swedish, helped him to pronounce. Danish and Swedish are quite close languages but it is easy to say words in a Danish way rather than a Swedish way if you are Danish. Allan blamed this on the fact that the only Swedish people he spoke to were drunks who had crossed the bridge from Sweden to Copenhagen to take advantage of the relaxed Danish licensing laws! It was a great talk and so funny!

Group photo of all the guests

The autograph signing for gold ticket holders took place after the talks. There was a free photo for gold ticket holders featuring all of the guests that you could get signed and you could get one guest signature from each of them for free. I also paid to get Allan to sign my arm cast from the Andy Bellefleur costume I wore at the photo shoot earlier. He was the fifth cast member from True Blood to sign the cast!

Jason as Vampire Eddie

In the evening, I took part in my first cosplay parade. Buffy and Angel featured heavily in the 20 odd attendees that were taking part! I was dressed as Vampire Eddie complete with reclining chair. There was a lady playing Lorena with great blood tears makeup and another girl who played one of Marianne’s victims who had had their heart ripped out! There was a fake ripped open rib cage in her Merlotte’s waitress top and heart which was held in her hand. She came second in the competition! It was quite tricky doing the walk round the dance floor during the parade as I was sat in a chair. I ran on to the middle of the dance floor, sat down for a bit and then got up and ran off again. It was great fun!

There was a concert by a couple of the guests after that and then the Vampire Ball which saw lots more great costumes and ladies dressed up in Vampy dresses. I saw Allan a few times during the evening standing at the bar surrounded by a half semi circle of adoring True Blood lady fans. He was loving it!  All in all, it was a great convention and I’m really glad I went! Starfury are already selling tickets for Vampire Ball 2 next October. It’ll be interesting to see which guests they can get from True Blood!
 
 

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Jason Smith

I'm a true blood fan who is a big fan of conventions featuring actors from the show and love cosplaying as characters like Andy Bellefleur and Vampire Eddie.

@mrjasonsmith

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Latest posts by Jason Smith (see all)

• The Third Vampire Ball: True Blood’s Allan Hyde and Mariana Klaveno team up again - October 6, 2012
• The Vampire Ball: a fan experience with Allan Hyde - November 30, 2010

During this week hiatus of True Blood, in order to keep us all interested while we waited for the next episode, EW.com asked the show’s production designer, Suzuki Ingerslev, to answer some fan questions and to talk about the inspiration for some of the sets (and their hidden gems).

I was fascinated from beginning to end while reading this interview as it answered many questions I had about certain things you see on the True Blood sets.  For example, I have noticed that Jason always seems to have order-in pizza at his house and I’ve always wondered why we haven’t yet seen Lafayette’s bedroom. These and other interesting trivia is revealed in this very interesting and informative interview.  We have taken a few pieces for you to read below:

Welcome to the King of Mississippi's house. The house has 99 hand-carved Corinthian columns.

The King of Mississippi’s Mansion: Ingerslev and her art director took a little side trip to Natchez, Mississippi last year, and found Longwood, a National Historic Landmark and the largest remaining octagonal home in the U.S., which she was told had never been filmed before for TV or features. “The interior was never completed. After the Civil War, they walked away from it,” she says. “But we just needed it for the exterior, because there’s nothing like it in the whole world. So we convinced our producers, begged and begged, and they let us go down there and shoot it.” As for the interiors, they were created from scratch after studying the furniture, chandeliers, and wallpapers in plantation homes. “The wallpaper in the King’s dining room is completely Mississippi wallpaper,” she says. “It’s got the river, it’s got Spanish moss and alligators. It’s really amazing that we found that in a wallpaper book.” Click here to read more about the Longwood mansion in our previous article written by special reporter for The Vault Lisafemmeacadienne .

When it came time to acquire Bill’s much-storied bed, Ingerslev admits she felt some pressure to find one that would live up to those expectations. ”That kind of a bed is probably $20-, $30-, $40-, $50,000. Our producers wouldn’t have liked that,” she says. They settled on a rental from Warner Bros., which was probably used in a lot of old studio films. Another decision that required some thought: How to decorate the table. “At first, we were like, ‘Let’s get all this great silver,’ and then we realized we couldn’t use silverware in there because vampires can’t touch silver. So we ended up going with a gold flatware. We used a lot of glass displays and crystal. Waterford was kind enough to loan us some pieces because apparently, they’re fans of the show.”

Lou Pine’s: The wolf-related signage in the bar — e.g. Howl and Red Wolf beer — is an obvious homage to what lies beneath in its werewolf patrons, but for a more subtle clue, check out the table lights. When they couldn’t find any they liked, the prop master got an idea: “They look like normal lights, but they’re actually silver doggie bowls and cheap plastic domes,” Ingerslev says.

Lafayette’s home: “Basically, we started with a leopard carpet and some foiled wallpapers that we found in an in-stock book here in the office. It’s not often that you get to combine those two anymore,” she says. “Also, there was a book called Bachelor Pads that we used as a resource.” They wanted to incorporate religion into Lafayette’s life. “He’s not just a one deity man, he goes to different deities, so we represented all of them,” he says. His home is a location right now, but eventually, if they get to build that set, we may finally get to see his bedroom in all its glory. ”You only see little glimpses of it. We have a feather boa in there, and some kind of crazy art, more foiled wallpaper. We would love to go to town on that. His little boudoir. That would be a fun one.”

Sookie’s house: The heart of the set, in more ways than one. Two readers asked how Sookie managed to clean up the blood that’s been spilled there with a mop. “My theory is that Bill should be helping her because if he can do everything at vampire speed, he’d have everything cleaned up in like half an hour, right? The blood, luckily, has landed basically on the wooden floors, and I do believe you could clean that up. One of the recent episodes, she’s scrubbing the carpet with the blood, and I don’t know how well that’s gonna come out,” she admits, chuckling. “But it’s true with all our things. We spent a lot of time on the pilot. The house was so delicate and beautiful and represented grandma. And then you get into the series, and everything’s about destroying, and fighting, and impaling people. and imploding. And it’s like, Ohmygod, this is one of a kind furniture. Grandma’s house is still in a state of disrepair after Maryann was there. It used to be so cute and quaint. We’ve actually had people visit the set and cry in there and say it reminded them of their of grandparents’ house, and now it’s like this mud and mess. I hate it. I’m sick of it,” she continues. “When we first did it, our construction guy Mike Wells’ mother-in-law passed away, and her daughter donated a lot of her dishes and crotchet items like little pill bottle tops, and Kleenex box and toilet paper covers, and all that stuff. Everybody in the crew has donated stuff, so it feels like everybody’s family has something in there. Lois Smith [who played Gran] has pictures in there of when she was younger. Even Alan Ball has pictures of his family in there. You walk in there, and it does have that homey feeling, and I understand why people maybe cried or it feels like a time gone by.”

To read the rest of this fascinating glimpse of the inspiration behind the True Blood sets, click here.

There is more to True Blood then meets the eye and often scenes require a closer look after we have recovered from the first shock and awe to really understand what we just saw. Black and white don’t exist in “Bon Temps”, only various shades of grey and the controversial Bill and Lorena scene that the True Blood team presented to us in “It Hurts Me Too” is without a doubt one of those scenes that spark discussion because there was so much going on in just a few short minutes.

The season 2 flashback scenes of Bill and his maker Lorena left us wondering what their relationship was really like. Bill is a young vampire, turned against his will and suffering unimaginable under the burden of his fading humanity and the loss of his beloved wife and children. He had no other teacher and companion than his maker Lorena to whom he was bound by blood and simply because she was the only one he had left in the world. Although Lorena obviously lacks any leadership skills I do see a certain similarity between her and Armand from “Interview with the vampire”. Armand tells struggling vampire Louis: “We must be beautiful, powerful and without regret.” Louis declines Armand’s invitation to stay with him, Bill unfortunately did not have that choice and sees the last remains of his humanity slowly stripped away from him by his maker who fully enjoys being a vampire and who has no respect what so ever for human life.

Considering the enormous differences between Bill and Lorena it is no surprise that their scenes together are so powerful and filled with a great contrast of motivations and emotions. Although they come from completely different places in both vampires, remarkably, emotions seem to be the only thing Bill and Lorena do have in common. Having feelings is considered a great weakness in vampire society, but both vampires let their emotions decide where their feet will take them. In Bill’s case it is not an easy path and has led to the violent outburst we witnessed in “It Hurts Me Too”.

What do we see exactly in that scene? Bill is about to retire for the day, Lorena comes to his room. He tells her that he will never love her; she kisses him and from that moment on it becomes violent. Bill throws her on the bed, tears off some of her clothing while screaming that he will never love her and penetrates her forcefully. Lorena is obviously turned on and groans in pleasure; Bill grabs her head and turns it 180° breaking her neck while he keeps thrusting. Blood drips from her mouth as she says: “Oh William, I so love you.” Bill screams in agony.

Reading back what I just wrote I am like WTF!? Kudos to Bill’s creativity though for inventing a new Kama sutra position that will be known as “Twisted Bamboo”.

But how much does this twisted sex scene really have to do with sex? Not all that much in my opinion. In several interviews Alan Ball has said that they might as will hang a sign in the writers’ room that says: “It’s the emotions, stupid!” And it’s the emotions that rule this scene, all the rest is a mere expression of all the bottled up feelings that led to this explosive turn in the relationship between Bill and Lorena.

Good-Ole-Bill has left the grey bathrobe behind in Hotel Carmilla where he was more than happy to just cuddle with Sookie and he has been replaced by Bad-Ass-Bill who, tormented to the bone, desperately tries to find a way out of the lose-lose situation that he has been maneuvered in by king Russell. But in the end Lorena is (again) fully to blame for this situation, it was she who recommended Bill to the king and pointed out to him how important Sookie is to Bill. As a reward for Bill’s cooperation obtained by threatening Sookie’s life, she planned on forcing Bill to watch while she killed his human lover. Bill sees no other way out to protect Sookie and himself then to renounce his queen and pledge loyalty to the king of Mississippi.

If he didn’t understand Lorena’s lesson the first time about how vampires only bring suffering to the humans they love, I can assure you that he got the message this time, loud and clear. The circle is complete: again he is stripped from whatever humanity he has left and again he loses the woman he loves and it is again all because of Lorena. Lorena who claims to love Bill, but wouldn’t recognize love if she got staked by it.

The picture season 2 painted of Bill made us almost forget that he is not human, but vampire. There is light in him, but also great darkness just beneath the surface and Lorena has the capacity to bring out the darkest darkness in him.

I wasn’t surprised when the word “rape” was mentioned in the reactions to this particular scene. But a violent sexual act isn’t automatically rape. The definition of rape is: forcing another person to submit to sexual acts without his/her consent. Lorena wasn’t forced; she initiated it and accepted everything that Bill dished out to her. Don’t forget that she is physically much stronger than Bill and could easily have snapped his neck or turned any of his body parts 180° around had she chosen to do so. Except for the re-adjustment of her neck, her body wasn’t violated. To me it felt, even though it was Bill acting out, that his body was violated and I doubt that he will ever feel clean again.

So why did he do it? Pure and total frustration, anger, complete disgust and loathing and a “pinch” of hate towards Lorena and him as well to complete the cocktail. That is the recipe that sent him over the edge and made him lose all reason and self control.

Bill obviously did not enjoy the act itself. So how come he was physically capable of penetration? Well, vampires are very sexual beings and get easily aroused for various reasons, violence being one of them. He was probably thinking: “If this is what you want, this is what you’ll get, you bleep bleep!”
To underline that this scene has very little to do with sex, there is hardly any nudity: no bare breasts or butt. The lack of naked skin symbolizes the detachment: Bill has no interest in her breasts, lust is not the catalyst of his arousal and he doesn’t remove his clothing to avoid the intimacy of skin against skin. He cannot bear to look at her face and after hitting her over the head with a plasma TV and burning her to crispy bacon, he turns her face away from him as the cherry on the cake of her humiliation. The contrast with his tender, passionate love making with Sookie couldn’t possibly be any bigger.

And that brings us to Sookie, the woman he loves and would give his undead life for. Saying that he cheated on her with Lorena is simplifying the situation to black and white again. I don’t see it as a betrayal towards Sookie. Firstly because this act had nothing to do with love or sex, secondly because Bill doesn’t consider himself to be Sookie’s any longer, she is lost to him. She just doesn’t know it yet.

Written by Kellmeister

Move over, Bill, Eric, and Sam.  There’s a new supe in town in the upcoming season of True Blood, and he’s a Werewolf by the name of Alcide Herveaux.  We’ve been lucky to have seen a few teaser pictures of Alcide, played by Joe Manganiello, and I for one, am curious as to how Alan Ball will portray the wolves this season.

Joe Manganiello

If you haven’t read Charlaine Harris’ books, I don’t want to delve into her depictions of werewolves for you.  But, I decided to look into the history of the werewolf, and whether this year turns into the ‘Year of the Werewolf’ or not, I thought I’d flesh out the legends just a bit.  Perhaps by the end of Season 3, I’ll be convinced to convert to ‘Team Alcide.’

The term werewolf, or lycanthrope, means man-wolf, with the more popular definition referring to a man who transforms into a wolf at the time of a full moon, due to a curse, or being bitten by another werewolf.  According to Greek mythology, Lycaon, a king of Arcadia, was turned into a wolf as punishment for serving his own son as a meal to the visiting god, Zeus, in order to disprove the god’s divinity.

According to legend, you could become a werewolf in one of several ways.  Removing one’s clothing and putting on a belt made of wolf skin, or an entire animal skin, was one way, or having the body being rubbed with a magic salve was another.  One could also drink rain water from a footprint of an existing werewolf or from enchanted streams, fall under a curse, perform certain rituals, or even worship the devil.  According to modern horror films and stories, you can be bitten or scratched by another werewolf and be transformed, but that is a rare finding in legends, unlike the case in vampirism. An exception to making a pact with the devil can be found in 1692, in Livonia, when an 80-year old man named Thiess, swore that he and other werewolves were acting as the Hounds of God, going to fight the Devil himself, in order to protect crops from he and his minions.

The origin of the werewolf isn’t easy to pinpoint. Many legends say that the Vikings brought werewolf folklore over to the Native Americans, while some evidence suggests that the legend of the werewolf originated in ancient Persia, in the time of the Stone Age.  There has been much speculation that werewolf and vampire legends may have been used to explain serial killings in less logical times.  Prior to the twentieth century, wolf attacks were an occasional, yet widespread occurrence in Europe, leading many to believe that as the most feared predator, they were projected into the legend of the shape shifting werewolf.

The first recorded Werewolf sighting took place around the countryside of a German town Cologne and Bedburg in 1591.  A small group of people had cornered a large wolf and set their dogs upon it. They started to pierce it with sharp sticks and spears.  Surprisingly the ferocious wolf did not run away or tried to protect itself, rather it stood up and turned out to be a middle-aged man- he was Peter Stubbe from the same village.  He admitted to having practiced sorcery since a young age, and believing that he had obtained a magic belt from the Devil, allowing him to turn into a wolf.  He massacred victims for over twenty years, and was tortured during his execution, in order to make the punishment fit the crime.

Many medical conditions have been used by researchers to explain modern day werewolf sightings, such as porphyria, an illness which exhibits symptoms such as photosensitivity, reddish teeth, and psychosis.  Another illness is hypertrichosis, a condition in which the victim suffers from excessive hair growth.  Some researchers even offered rabies as a possibility, since it was a transmittable disease, via biting.

If you recall, during Sookie’s first conversation with Bill after saving him from the drainers, she mentions that she ‘thought silver only affected werewolves, at least that’s what you always see in the movies.’  In fact, this vulnerability was not common in stories until the 19^th century and beyond.  They also are thought to suffer an aversion to wolfsbane, rye, or mistletoe.  Unlike vampires, they are not affected by crucifixes or holy water, though, according to our resident Vampire Bill, our vamps are also not affected by either of those religious artifacts.

According to legend, the werewolf has certain vampiric connections. In Medieval Europe, it was believed that some people executed as werewolves should be cremated, in order to prevent them from returning from the dead as vampires.  Greeks would destroy werewolf corpses to keep them from returning to life as vampires in the form of werewolves, which would roam battlefields, feeding on dying soldiers.  Some European countries even believed that those who died in mortal sin came back to life as vampiric wolves, but would return to a human corpse form at daylight, and could only be destroyed by decapitation.  Serbian legend indicates that the werewolf and vampire is one collective creature, Balkan culture and mythology shows werewolves to be vampiric witches, and Haitian werewolves were believed to spread their lycanthropy purposefully, much like vampires themselves.

Grey wolves will portray the werewolves on True Blood

As the twentieth century rolled around, the werewolf began to become more prominent in American popular media and culture.  Werewolf of London, 1935, was the first film to portray the werewolf as anthropomorphic, though Lon Chaney’s portrayal of the supernatural creature in the 1941 film, The Wolf Man, was the first to really capture the public’s imagination.  In later films and literature, the werewolf is larger, more powerful, and prone to a painful transformation.   The werewolves of The Howling, 1981, are the first in the modern horror genre- merciless, cunning, and will kill people regardless of their moral character.

Whether you find the werewolf in film, literature, music, or television, one can see the legend of the werewolf has had a large impact on the media in this modern day and age, and may have even been around longer than vampire folklore.  Will the werewolf Alcide overshadow the likes of our vampires in True Blood this year?  I for one can’t wait to find out; June 13 can’t get here fast enough.

Sources:  Wikipedia.com, Wikifur.com, Alam25.tripod.com, Ilovewerewolves.com

If you want to be a guest writer for The Vault drop us a line at thevault@trueblood-online.com

Special reporter for The Vault Lisafemmeacadienne drove up to Natchez, MS to the Longwood House to get the scoop on the filming there for True Blood. “Fangbangers” Production Company filmed at historic Longwood during the nighttime last Sunday and Monday, April 11th and 12th. It was done in secrecy, until the Natchez Democrat newspaper ran the story on Tuesday, the 13th.

Driveway to Longwood

A stand-in rode a horse up the driveway to the front entrance. Many of the oak trees here are at least 150 years old.

As you may have read in the previous article on the Vault, construction began in 1860, but then the war started, so only the basement, which is actually the first floor, was completed.

The style of the octagon-shaped house is called “oriental villa,” complete with a Byzantine dome. Much of the furniture are the originals, belonging to the first lady of the house, Julia, who lived there until she died at the age of 75. The 10,000 square foot home is made from 750,000 bricks, which were made on the property. It is constructed for cross ventilation for the summer heat, with high doorways and pocket sliding doors on the balconies.

Welcome to the King of Mississippi's house. The house has 99 hand-carved Corinthian columns.

Byzantine dome on top of house.

Front entrance- the black railings were removed for filming, and plants were added.

Foyer scene filmed here; set designers added a chandelier, curtains, plants, and frosted the glass. A casting call was made for "6 vampire guards" who were involved in the filming.

Unfinished interior, "first" floor. (It's really the second level.)

Back of the house, view from the porch.

On the front lawn.

Front lawn, different view.

Pond on the grounds.

Side of house; the first floor is called the "basement", although technically, it's not underground. It is surrounded by a 5 foot-tall wall of brick, which helps to keep it cooler in the summer months.

Landmark Plaque

The tour guides, Gay and Lynn were so friendly, and made me feel very welcome there. Gay asked me many questions about True Blood, and I found myself explaining the series to the entire tour group! They told me about how nice everyone on the production crew was; one crew member would even help her (the tour guide) up and down the front stairs because the safety railings had been removed. Set designers Catherine Smith and Macie Vener transformed the house through the use of props, such as old furniture, curtains, frosted glass, and potted plants. The production company also employed locals from the Baton Rouge area to assist in the setup.

True Blood is supposed to return to the house, and the Natchez area, for filming in the future.

Thanks to Billsbabe “lisafemmeacadienne” for this wonderful article about the 28th Regiment.

The 28th Louisiana Regiment is not mentioned in the history texts, but it had a very important role in the Civil War in Louisiana, thanks to Colonel Henry Gray of Bienville Parish, and Lieutenant General Richard Taylor (son of President Zachary Taylor).

In the True Blood storyline, the character William T. Compton served in this particular regiment, so I put together some information for the fans. The history of these volunteers has been reconstructed through journal entries and the few military documents that survived the chaos of the final days of the war.

The 28th consisted of ten independent companies from different parishes, which were organized and trained in Monroe by Colonel Gray.

These volunteers joined with a deeply ingrained sense of southern honor, which dictated that they protect their homes and families from the encroaching Union armies. Some of the volunteers were former slaves, eager to defend their freedom. Both of these reasons kept these soldiers from leaving the regiments, even when conditions became unbearable. Early in the war, the 28th Regiment faced terrible sickness; at one point, 2/3 of the men were sick with malaria, yellow fever, and cholera due to living in the swamps along the railroad where they were stationed, yet they refused to abandon their regiment.

After a year of service, the men finally saw action at Camp Bisland (pronounced biz-lend) / Bayou Teche (pronounced bye-yoo-tesh) when the Yankee gunboat, the Diana, ventured too far into the Atchafalaya, (pronounced ah-chaff-ah-lie-yah) which is a network of rivers that branch off of the Mississippi River. A division of the 28th, on reconnaissance, spotted the gunboat and alerted Gray. As the boat pushed further up the channel, a Confederate ambush was lying in wait for them. This began the 28th’s involvement in repelling the Union’s Red River Campaign.

The Union army had three goals at the start of the Red River Campaign in Louisiana: to destroy the Confederate Army commanded by Taylor, thus controlling Shreveport, Louisiana; to control the Red River to the north and occupy east Texas; and to confiscate as much as a hundred thousand bales of cotton from the plantations along the Red River.

“The Confederates sprang the ambush on the ship and for three hours poured volley after volley of rifle and cannon fire into it. To the men penned up in the Diana it was a nightmarish hell. The decks were slippery with blood, and the groans of the wounded drifted through the darkened, smoke-filled ship. The roar of the Rebel guns, the splat of minie balls against the sides of the ship, and the crash of artillery shells splintering the decks helped create an unforgettable scene.

The Diana’s commander, after seeing one crewman after another fall to the deck from the Rebels accurate fire, finally raised the white flag. The Confederates then removed the 150 sailors, 30 of whom were dead or seriously wounded, and took over the vessel. The Winn Parish men of Company K moved the ship up the Teche to help cover Camp Bisland.”

To break the stronghold at Camp Bisland, the Union forces tried to send 12,000 Union troops by boat to land north of the area, and another 4,000 to land to the south, trapping the Confederate forces in the middle. When the 28th discovered this plan, the Rebel soldiers were split into two groups; one to prevent the northern landing, one to prevent the southern. On a third front, the Winn Parish soldiers of Company K stayed on the Diana to fight the Union directly on Bayou Teche.

The Union army boats beat the Confederates to the landing sites, and bombarded the Rebel forces and the Diana for two days. The Diana was severely damaged, and had to retreat for repairs. However, each time the Union forces tried to land on the banks of the Bayou, they were successfully repelled by the 28th on the southern end. On the northern end, Union forces made landfall and began their march south. The 28th had no choice but to engage the forces at Irish Bend, where they surprised the Union army with their ferocity and determination. With only a 1,000 men, they charged.

“The screaming Rebels came bursting out of a strip of woods they had been hiding in and ran across a muddy cane field towards the startled Yankees. The forward enemy regiments, taking cover in shallow ditches, tried to make a stand, but were soon outflanked and caught in a terrible crossfire. The Federals later recalled that the Louisiana men used “buck and ball,” a type of musket round that included one rifle ball and three buckshot. This was a deadly load at close range, proven by the fact that the 159th New York Regiment, that faced the 28th, lost 115 men our of a total of 375 in the fight!”

Several battles ensued over many days, and eventually the 28th retreated northward as the Union army pursued them. Colonel Arthur W. Hyatt, a member of the 28th’s Brigade, described the forced march in his journal:

“A regular race from the enemy. Feet sore, dust intolerable . . . . When we halt ‘ we squat ourselves down, no matter where–in the sand, in the mud, anywhere–and our only hope is that the halt will last fifteen minutes. At night you fall down too tired to be careful of selections, and go to sleep . . . without taking off clothes, shoes or cap…”

The 28th made it to the Rebel stronghold in Alexandria, and the Union forces ceased pursuit. After a few months, they were able to return to Bayou Teche/ Camp Bisland. They were called upon as reinforcements for various skirmishes in southeast and south central Louisiana. They also helped to successfully capture 400 Union soldiers at Bayou Fordoche near Morganza.

Finally, the men were called back to the Monroe area to help protect a shipment of arms. On the way there, they crossed the Red River at Pineville (near Alexandria) in December, and were immediately hit by foul weather, as described by Felix Poche (pronounced po-shay), a member of Gray’s staff:

“The thunder roared, lightening struck all around us and immense pines … fell by the hundreds… I learned several persons had been hurt.
Soon the ground was covered with water . . . The wagons . . . were unable to pass. . .Thus those poor soldiers were drenched to the skin, shivering with cold, starving and dog tired after a march of fifteen miles, having nothing with which to cover themselves, and spent a miserable night near to the fire, as best they could.

Conditions did not improve at dawn. The supply wagons could not pass over the flooded roads, so the 28th had to endure growling stomachs until the train pulled into camp 24 hours later.

As the army marched through Winn Parish, occasional shrieks of joy could be heard as a bystanding woman recognized a son or husband in the muddy, shuffling crowd of soldiers that were strung out five miles on’ the Winnfield to Vernon road. In some instances, tearful pleading would get one of the 28th’s soldiers an overnight pass to spend some time with the family he had not seen for nearly two years. These scenes were repeated as the regiment continued the march to Monroe.

Christmas Day was spent marching on to the Ouachita River (pronounced wah-chi-tah), which was crossed on the 27th under a cold, winter sky. It is not difficult to understand why more men died from sickness during the Civil War than from battle, when they had to live under such harsh conditions as the 28th did in the winter of 1863-64. Poche entered in his journal on Dec. 31 the following: “The weather was extreme, in the morning it rained and later it snowed,’ and the ground froze. One can well understand the misery and suffering of our poor soldiers without tents, and practically no fire…”

Hyatt’s New Year’s Day entry adds to the description. “The ponds frozen and the boys sliding on ice . . . The ground too cold to lie down. Pitiable at night to see them nodding around campfires with only one blanket. This is soldiering, this is.”

The regiment did not get to the arms shipment in time; all the marching had been in vain. They retreated to the Rebel stronghold in Pineville.

When the Yankees started their three-pronged Red River Campaign, Fort de Russey, just below Alexandria, fell to the Union army. The 28th began retreating north, and made their last stand in a field southeast of Mansfield called Pleasant Hill, along with the 18th and the Consolidated Crescents Regiments. There were 9,000 Confederates to stop 30,000 Union soldiers.

It was a slaughter. They were literally fighting an uphill battle on a steep slope, exposed every time they made a forward advance. The Union army would cut them down every time they stood up to shoot or run. One Major, W.F. Blackman, tried to lead the charge by grabbing the Confederate flag and riding up the hill. His soldiers bravely followed, many taken down by the accurate fire of the Union soldiers. They were able to scatter the Union soldiers with their advance and take the hill, but at the terrible price of 800 Confederate soldiers losing their lives.

This began a series of battles and retreats, with the Union on the defensive. They would try to rest, and the 28th would attack, again and again. The final battle for the 28th was at Yellow Bayou, when both sides ran out of ammo, and began hand-to-hand combat. This time, Union numbers prevailed, and the 28th had to retreat as far north as Arkansas.

Military organization started to fall apart, and soldiers began slipping away in the night to return home as they realized the war was lost. When surrender terms were accepted on May 26, 1865, many went to Shreveport or Monroe to be pardoned for their role in the war and pick up what was left of their lives and homes.

Bibliography

• Moneyhon, Carl and Roberts, Bobby; Portraits of Conflict – A Photographic History of Louisiana in the Civil War, Univ. of Arkansas Press, 1990, pgs. 157-158, 184, 267-271.
• Bergeron Jr., Arthur W., Guide to Louisiana Confederate Military Units 1861-1865, Louisiana State University Press, 1989, pgs. 138-139.
• Spedale, W.A., Battle of Baton Rouge 1862, Land and Land Publishing, Baton Rouge, LA ,1985, drawing pg. 19.
• http://www.penandsaber.com/grays28th/Jones28th.html (quotes from this site in bold type)
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_River_Campaign
• Photo of William T. Compton, “True Blood”, HBO

What will the Bellefleur home look like in Season 3? Will it be Greek or Gothic Revival style, Victorian, or French Creole? Here is a sampling of each.  Please note that French Creole architecture is mostly found in southeast Louisiana. The fictional town of Bon Temps is located in north central Louisiana.

The Plantations of St. Francisville

“English Plantation Land” / “Spanish West Florida”

West Feliciana Parish

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_parishes_in_Louisiana

THE COTTAGE

It was built by Civil War Captain, Congressman and Judge Thomas Butler in 1824. Visitors to the house included such notables as Jefferson Davis, Henry Clay, Zachary Taylor, and the Marquis de Lafayette. Andrew Jackson slept here after the Battle of New Orleans on his way to Natchez.

Life, after the beginning of the Civil War, changed forever. The Union Army took over the Cottage and removed everything that could be found of value, from horses to furniture to jewelry to even the clothing of the children. The troops occupied the plantation and held the family prisoner.

After the troops left, the family abandoned the house and it was taken over and used as a hospital for Union soldiers with yellow fever. In the years that followed, this is probably what saved it from being destroyed by vandals. Many had died from the disease in the house and were buried on the grounds…. the fear that the sickness lingered kept many people away. Rumors of ghosts kept the house empty for many years to come, until it was restored in the 1920′s.

Cottage Plantation house, built with Doric columns
Courtesy of Lagniappe Tours, Foundation for Historical Louisiana

Sources: http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/louisiana/cot.htm
http://www.cottageplantation.com/
http://www.prairieghosts.com/cottplan.html

ROSEDOWN

Daniel Turnbull (1799–1861) and his wife Martha (1809–1896) began construction on the main house at Rosedown, supposedly named for a play they saw on their honeymoon to the East Coast and Europe. The 1835 Federal-Greek revival style great house, complete with Grecian style wings, is at the head of a 660-foot long oak alley. Eighteen acres of ornamental pleasure gardens illustrate a combination of the Baroque style and the winding paths of the picturesque tradition.

Most of the flowering plants are the original ones transplanted in 1835, lovingly tended to for 175 years. The fragrance of the flowers, when in bloom, is said to travel for a mile or more.

View of Rosedown Plantation gardens
Photo from National Historic Landmarks collection
http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/louisiana/ros.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosedown_Plantation

GREENWOOD

It’s an enormous Greek Revival temple set deep in the Feliciana Woods. It was originally constructed in 1834 by Daniel and Martha Turnbull.

Greenwood is not one of the more exciting plantation homes, but it does possess a surreal, majestic beauty. It is the stereotypical plantation home, complete with original antiques. It is believed to be haunted, and is listed on many paranormal websites.  The movies “North and South, Book 1 & 2″ and “Louisiana” were filmed here.

Photo Credit: Kunio Owaki                                                                      “North and South, Book 1″

http://www.greenwoodplantation.com/history.html
http://www.paranormalknowledge.com/articles/rosedown-plilsantation.html

AUDUBON-OAKLEY

Built in 1813, it was the forest home and employment of naturalist John James Audubon and his pupil Eliza Pirrie. Audubon’s stay at Oakley lasted only four months, but he painted 32 of his famous bird pictures here and developed a love for the beautiful West Feliciana Parish. Audubon returned at a later date to join his wife, then teaching there, and his son. He wrote, “Numerous pupils desired lessons in music, French and drawing…the dancing speculation fetched two thousand dollars; and with this capital and my wife’s savings I was now able to foresee a successful issue to my great ornithological work.” This work was later to become Audubon’s famous Birds of America.

This is a lovely, shaded area to spend a day; some of Audubon’s original artwork is on display, and the entire area is a bird paradise with a multitude of birdhouses. The nature trails on the property are clear, shaded pathways, and there are picnic tables under the large magnolia trees for a scenic lunch.

http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/louisiana/OKL.HTM

http://audubon1821.com/
http://stfrancisvillefestivals.com/monthly_articles/mar2009/images/woodpecker_oakley.jpg

CATALPA

Catalpa Plantation is one of numerous late Victorian cottages found across Louisiana, significant for the beautiful gardens that surround it. The oak trees lining the grounds were planted in 1814, and Catalpa’s oak alley is thought to be the only one in Louisiana which has an elliptical shape. Primarily a cotton plantation in the antebellum period, Catalpa’s grounds were devastated during the Civil War, and the plantation house burned. Mr. Fort, the owner, died during the Civil War. In 1885, his son, William J. Fort, rebuilt Catalpa and it is this house that still stands.

Catalpa Plantation House, surrounded by large oak trees
Courtesy of Lagniappe Tours, Foundation for Historical Louisiana
http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/louisiana/cat.htm

Butler-Greenwood

Begun in the 1790′s by members of the same family that still occupies it today, Butler Greenwood Plantation exemplifies the early cultural influences of this unique corner of Louisiana. The earliest settlers in the Feliciana parishes, like the family at Butler Greenwood, were Anglo-Saxons and came down from the East Coast soon after the American Revolution.  From the wilderness they carved great plantations on grants of land offered by the Spanish crown, for this area was not part of the 1803 Louisiana Purchase from France, instead remaining with Spanish West Florida until 1810. The area continues to exhibit strong evidence of English traditions and culture.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/
http://www.butlergreenwood.com/history.html

THE MYRTLES, a.k.a “The Dark Lady”

Called “America’s Most Haunted House”, it was built in 1794 by General David Bradford, and was called Laurel Grove at the time. General Bradford lived there alone for several years, until being pardoned for his role in the Whiskey Rebellion in 1799.

When I visited several years ago, I took the haunted tour. My favorite story was of the ladies of the house taking in an injured Confederate soldier during the Civil War, (“It’s one of OUR boys!”) nursing him back to health, and then hanging him when they found out he had run away from the regiment. His ghost supposedly haunts the main house.

There are many such stories that you can hear on the tour of this home, including the Creole mistress Chloe who poisoned the family in revenge, a grand piano that plays itself, a bizarre portrait, and a spooky mirror. I personally can certify it as the creepiest place I have ever visited! (See the hauntedamericatours.com site below for photos of various phenomenon.)

Courtesy of Lagniappe Tours, Foundation for Historical Louisiana Is this Chloe?
Sources: http://www.myrtlesplantation.com/
http://www.nps.gov/history/nR/travel/louisiana/myr.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myrtles_Plantation
http://www.hauntedamericatours.com/ghosts/MyrtlesPlantation.php

French-Creole Plantation Country

Oak Alley

Sometime in the early 1700′s, a settler claimed land from an original royal grant for his dwelling and defined its entrance with an alley of live oaks in two rows leading to the river. Native to the area, they thrived and by 1722, when the early Capuchin Fathers arrived at St. Jacques de Cabahanoce to establish the settlement of St. James Parish, the young trees had already attained a stature which hinted at the magnificence that was to be theirs.

Interview with a Vampire
The film featured Oak Alley as Louis’ home place. Some graveyard scenes and the loading dock scenes were filmed here as well in October 1993.

Other filming here includes: Beyoncé’s “Déjà Vu” Music Video and “B’Day” CD – June 2006, “Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte” with Bette Davis, “Days of Our Lives” – August 1984, “Ghost Hunters” – August 2008, “Primary Colors” with John Travolta -1998, “The Long Hot Summer” – August 1985, and “Midnight Bayou” (based on the Nora Roberts bestseller) – October 2008.

http://oakalleyplantation.com/

St. Charles Parish
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_parishes_in_Louisiana

Destrehan Plantation

Jean Noël Destrehan descended from a long line of noble French families and purchased the property that became Destrehan Plantation from his father-in-law’s estate in 1787. During Jean Noël’s lifetime, he was a cornerstone of Louisiana History. Jean Noël helped shape the economic situation of the South when he and his brother-in-law, Etienne de Bore, perfected the granulation of sugar. Jean Noël was active in the political arena all his life and was well respected for his fairness and intelligence. He and his wife Céleste had 14 children.

Within the walls of Destrehan Plantation, there is a climate controlled room displaying an original document signed by Thomas Jefferson. The document dated 1804, assigns four men, one of whom is Jean Noël Destrehan, to the Orleans Territorial Council. This document is considered one of the most important in Louisiana history and is known as the “Jefferson Document.”

One precedent established from this Council that continues today is the sub-dividing of Louisiana into parishes as opposed to counties, as in the rest of the nation.

Destrehan Plantation is an excellent example of the French Creole architectural style
Photograph from the National Historic Landmarks collection
http://destrehanplantation.org/

I hope that I have given you a small glimpse into the many beautiful, historic homes of Louisiana. So, what type of home do you think the Bellefleurs will have? My guess would be late Victorian style, similar to Catalpa or Butler-Greenwood, which is prevalent around the area of “Bon Temps.”

Thanks for reading!

-Lisafemmeacadienne

Billsbabe, Lisafemmeacadienne has written an account of what it was like in Bill Compton’s time in Louisiana.  Since we may be having some flashbacks from the post-Civil War period in Season 3, she thought some background would be helpful in order to better understand this time in Louisiana’s history. Thanks for this look into Louisiana’s past, Lisa!

Lavish ball gowns adorning doe-eyed maidens, fanning themselves on a sweltering Louisiana night, waiting for a dance with a suitor as minstrels play a lively waltz. Couples strolling arm in arm along a meandering bayou as the wind gently blows the Spanish moss draped from the ancient oaks…

The Antebellum period: a romanticized view of Louisiana before the Civil War. Everything changed when Louisiana seceded from the Union in 1861, and brought the War of Northern Aggression to Louisiana’s rivers and bayous.

After the Civil War came Reconstruction. It was a time of division, poverty, disease, starvation, and death. The phrase “brother against brother” held true during this time, as families divided over allegiances to the Union (The US Government) or “The Cause” (State’s Rights).

After the men were released from the Louisiana Regiments, they made their way home. Some did not make it due to lack of transportation, (horses were rare after the war, having been stolen, eaten, or confiscated,) disease, or injury. Oftentimes, these men were desperate for food, comfort, and shelter, and simply took what they needed to survive. Widows would try to coax the men to stay as they passed through; the amount of young, able-bodied men in Louisiana had significantly decreased, and a woman without the protection of a man was extremely vulnerable to the whims of passers-by.

Reconstruction was a very violent time, more so than during the war itself. Families divided over loyalties to the Union or to the Confederacy, and it was common to see public hatred and prejudice from both sides that would erupt suddenly, often with deadly results. Riots would occur with very little warning; for example, many by-standers were killed at the Cabildo Riots in New Orleans. The military and local police did what they could, but it was a very volatile, chaotic time in Louisiana’s history.

As part of Louisiana’s lot for successfully repelling the Union army during the war, food stores and crops were confiscated after the war for troop use, making food scarce and diets monotonous. Hot sauce was created in Louisiana due to the bland diets the survivors faced from lack of crops and livestock that were decimated in the war. The South was the breadbasket of the United States at that time, and with that depletion, the entire country was suffering from shortages, so no post-war aid was available. After slavery was abolished, there were simply not enough workers to maintain the giant plantations, and no money to pay workers.

The lack of proper diet also brought a resurgence of disease in the area from the suppressed immune systems of Louisianans, almost doubling the current mortality rate. Epidemics, such as the dreaded Yellow Fever, became more prevalent in the state, closing down entire towns and stranding barges of supplies on the Mississippi River, the main transportation route in Louisiana. Shreveport was all but abandoned from August to December, 1873 as people fled to adjoining areas to escape the scourge. Trains that finally arrived, loaded with relief supplies, were unable to come into Shreveport due to the quarantine, and many people died from lack of medicine.

Reconstruction was a dark time in Louisiana’s history, but even facing war time conditions, the people persevered, making the state a unique center of culture and commerce for the United States. Mardi Gras made a comeback during this period, as well as theatre, music and dance halls, giving a distraction from the bleak conditions.

The Treme area of New Orleans gave birth to some of the most iconic music, such as the stereotypical marching brass band playing “When the Saints Go Marchin’ In”.

These distractions evolved into modern-day jazz, American theatre, and the Mardi Gras celebrations that we continue to enjoy today.

If you have any other Louisiana topics that pertain to “True Blood” that you would like to read about, please post in the comments section, and I will do my best to put something together for you.
Thanks!

Lisafemmeacadienne

Bibliography

Our Louisiana Legacy, Dethloff, Henry C., Steck-Vaughn Company, Austin, TX, copyright 1980, pp. 48-52.
Source

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Billsbabe, “Lisafemmeacadienne” has read a vampire novel called, Forever Kiss, by Angela Knight, and written a review that she has graciously shared with us. Since there seems to be an insatiable desire for all things vampire these days, we thought that during the True Blood hiatus, reviews of vampire books might interest our visitors. The following is Lisa’s review. Thanks Lisa!

One of my favorite authors has written an intriguing vampire tale that weaves the supernatural, hot sex, romance and action into one story. If you’re yearning for an erotic vampire tale, The Forever Kiss by Angela Knight is the book for you.

Valerie Chase has been having dreams for years of her Cowboy, a Texas Ranger from the Wild West, who seduces her in her dreams. Only this cowboy, Cade McKinnon, is very real, and is a vampire who has been watching her for years after he rescued her from an ancient vampire named Ridgemont. Ridgemont killed her parents when she was a child, and is controlling her and Cade like chess pieces for his own sadistic amusement.

Valerie is special; she is Kith, meaning she has telepathic and empathic powers. Only Kith can be successfully changed into vampires in this story. Cade must convince Valerie to be changed so that they can combine their powers to defeat Ridgemont and break free of his hold, culminating in the final battle of the book that has a surprising twist.

And the sex? There are some seriously hot sex scenes in this steamy tale! Sex on the back of a Lexus, on a horse, in a hot tub, and the list goes on. As an added bonus, when she is changed into a vampire, they discover that they can feel the others’ desires and emotions during sex. What could be hotter than that?

This sexy, entertaining tale will keep you enthralled from start to finish. The author’s descriptions will stimulate your imagination and energize your libido, as well as feed your need for escapism and romance. Enjoy!

If you want to review vampire literature for The Vault, contact us at thevault@trueblood-online.com

Everybody’s talking about vampires these days.  Those that aren’t enamored by them, like I am, are always asking me, “What’s the fascination”?  Those doing the asking are not fans of the latest TV shows and movies that include vamps and don’t realize that vampires aren’t what they used to be.

Since Halloween is less than a week away, and our children are about to go out in their costumes and we head to Halloween parties where some of us will even be dressing up as our favorite vampire hero or heroine, it seemed like a good time to think about this recent change in the perception of vampires.  With all of this talk, it got me thinking, how has the image of the vampire really changed?  Most of what I know about vampires I got by reading books or watching films and TV, but I guess that would have to be since vampires only exist in these created worlds.

I have never been a huge vampire fan before experiencing True Blood, although I admit to watching Dark Shadows with Barnabus Collins and loving the campy soap opera. However, recently, with films like Twilight and TV shows like Vampire Diaries and most importantly, our favorite TV show, HBO’s True Blood, I have a new attitude about these blood suckers then when I grew up.  This started me wondering about the history of vampires and how this transformation has taken place.  And, although I must acknowledge the written word is probably the geneses for this transformation from monster to love interest, especially with Ann Rice’s, Interview With a Vampire and Charlaine Harris’, Sookie Stackhouse Mysteries,  I’m more of a “visual” thinker, so I decided to focus here mainly on how vampires have transformed in films and TV.

Vampires have quite a history going back to ancient times in folklore.  They began appearing in literature in the 1720’s. The German poem “The Vampire” was among the first, published in 1748 by Heinrich August Ossenfelder.

The Vampyre, written by John William Polidori in 1819, was a short story in New Monthly Magazine, and it was the first to take the folk-tale vampire and make him a suave operator who preyed on aristocrats.

However, since Bram Stoker unleashed “Dracula” in 1897, vampires have long been a part of the world’s pop-culture scene and this character epitomizes our impression of what a vampire is.  All we know about him is that he is one who possesses and was only interested in victimizing those who are human in order to drink their blood.

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