I’m proud to say that The Vault reported about this phenomenon way before NPR decided to discuss it, and we wrote about it here. But this past week on NPR’s, “All Things Considered”, Robert Siegel did a show entitled “For Love of Do-Good Vampires: A Bloody Book List”, which discusses how very different vampires are today, during this current craze, from the past. Below are a few snippets from the transcript of that program and the audio file from their site. As you can see from the bits I’ve gathered here, they also highlight the books by Charlaine Harris in which True Blood is based.
Robert Siegel, the host says: “For decades Americans have been fascinated with vampires on TV, the big screen and in books. They’re enjoying a particular resurgence these days, thanks to the HBO series “True Blood” and the wildly popular “Twilight” books and movies. But look closely and you’ll notice that our vampires now are very different from, say, the vampires of the 1980s or even the 1990s. That’s because they reflect who we are as a culture and have changed with us over the years. So, what is it about the spirit of the times that’s making bloodsuckers so popular these days? NPR’s Margot Adler has read 75 vampire novels in the last seven months, and she was ready to take this one on.”
One of the books Margot Adler read was Charlaine Harris’ Sookie Stackhouse, Dead Until Dark, book 1 of the series and here’s what she had to say about it.
5-13.The Sookie Stackhouse Novels
by Charlaine Harris
There are nine of these so far, starting with Dead Until Dark and ending with Dead and Gone, and more are coming. They take place in northern Louisiana; much of the action plays out in two bars, Merlotte’s and Fangtasia. The books are the basis for the HBO series True Blood. In this alternate world of today, the Japanese have developed a synthetic form of blood, and vampires can “come out of the coffin” and live among humans. Sookie Stackhouse is a mind-reading waitress who falls in love with Bill Compton, a vampire who was turned after the Civil War.
In the audio from this interview below you can hear how True Blood’s Bill Compton talks about his “humanity” and he discusses how different life is going to be for his new vampire daughter, Jessica as opposed to when he was turned. HBO’s True Blood turns in part on the character of Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer), another morally upright vampire, who’s in a relationship with the human Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin). As in Vampire Diaries, Bill is constantly being pressured by his vampire brethren to embrace his gory appetite.
and read the entire transcript of this fascinating look at the whole vampire craze and why we are so fascinated by clicking here.
This is quite a good article. The audio lasts about 5 minutes and is very informative. It is great to hear Bill Compton! Oh, Mick St. John also makes an appearance!
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