Vampire lore gets a new twist in a series of southern gothic tales set in present day - a hybrid of horror, romance, mystery and humor. The novels are gentle in tone but are clearly intent on offering a fresh take on a well traveled genre.
For the last few years Charlaine Harris has written the Southern Vampire series. Dead Until Dark is the first novel. Each novel in the series concerns Sookie Stackhouse, a cocktail waitress in rural Bon Temps, Louisiana, who has a unique gift, telepathy. She struggles to block out everyone’s thoughts. Not only is it a strain at work, it does little to help her love life.
Unique to the novels is the existence of vampires in our society. Vampires are a new minority since the creation of synthetic blood and they need not hide anymore, since previously having to feed on the general public. Vampires have legal status and are allowed to coexist. However, this doesn’t mean that everyone is in agreement. There are no vampires in Bon Temps until Bill comes to town after inheriting a home. Yes, Bill the vampire, who has been one since the Civil War. Sookie saves him one night from thugs after he leaves the bar she works at. Bill’s sudden appearance in small town Bon Temps also coincides with the recent murders of several young women.
Sookie and Bill begin a relationship that, to say the least, is complicated since Sookie has allied herself with an inhuman species. Young women are killed around town. Coworkers point to Bill. An underground clique of vampires still drinks human blood, from vampire groupies and Goth types, and still serves as a threat to human beings. Sookie and Bill attempt to learn who is killing the young women in order to protect Bill.
Let’s be clear: this is not Anne Rice. It’s more fun than poetic. Imagine if James Lee Burke had decided to write a vampire murder mystery. It is a twist on the predictable vampire tale and Harris has created her own mythology for the vampires. They are a deviation of humans; they are not victims of a virus. Humor is also a continuing element in each story. When Sookie introduces vampire Bill to her grandmother she suggests that he speak to her Civil War group since he was an actual participant.
Harris, a native of the Mississippi Delta and has been writing for over twenty years and is adept at creating local color and realistic characters. In writing the series she wondered who would be likely to spend time with a vampire. She settled on Sookie, an outcast. It didn’t take long to write the novel and at first Dead Until Dark was a tough sell to publishers. Harris had faith in the story and two years later the book finally sold. There are two other titles in the series and more are expected to follow. The fourth novel, Dead to the World, was recently released in hardcover.
Enjoy.
- Brian Tucker
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