Set-Design Drool: True Blood

from morewaystowastetime blog

Are y'all watching True Blood on HBO? I can't get enough of this soapy, Southern-fried vampire series.

In fact, I'm a sucker -- so to speak -- for pretty much any well-done, intelligent vampire tale. Unlike seemingly half of the adult female population, though, I'm utterly immune to the supposed charms of the Twilight saga and its sparkling (non)bloodsuckers. I like my vampire fables complete with sex and blood, thank you very much. (As for what's behind our collective obsession with the undead, this recent New York Times article attempts to psychoanalyze the fang fixation.)

Anyway, there is plenty of sex and blood in Bon Temps, Louisiana -- the fictional setting for the show, which centers around clairvoyant barmaid Sookie Stackhouse; her 170-year-old vampire boyfriend, Bill Compton; Bill's newly undead "daughter," Jessica; shape-shifting roadhouse proprietor Sam; Sookie's formerly demon-possessed BFF, Tara; mysterious Maenad Maryann; vampire head honcho Eric and his tart-tongued sidekick, Pam; gay and fierce short-order cook, hustler, porn-site entrepreneur, and erstwhile drug dealer Lafayette; Sookie's dumb but sexy brother, Jason; and a collection of other odd -- and often oddly lovable -- characters.

Of course, being the design geek that I am, I'm nearly as fascinated by the physical spaces the show's characters inhabit as I am the steamy storylines they become entangled in. Let's take a little tour, shall we? (Warning: Mild spoilers ahead.)

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