True Blood behind the scenes: Sookie and Bill take on the heat of Louisiana

BATON ROUGE, La. – Sookie Stackhouse and her brother Jason are returning from Dallas to the tiny Louisiana town of Bon Temps. But something is wrong: Newspapers drift in the steamy air; fruit stands and flower stalls are overturned; graffiti assaults signs and a courthouse statue; and trash and clothes litter streets and lawns.

A force of nature? Or something brewed by Maryann, the dark, mysterious newcomer in HBO's hit vampire drama, "True Blood"?

Cast and crew of the show, based on Charlaine Harris' best-selling Sookie Stackhouse stories, were in Louisiana to soak up the antebellum atmosphere of Clinton, a community of 2,000 people, 30 miles north of Baton Rouge. Main Street and the town's courthouse, surrounded by sprawling, moss-covered oak trees, were perfect as backdrops for the tale of vampires living among humans, thanks to the invention of mass-produced synthetic blood.

The sticky heat, mossy greenery, white columned houses and slow-moving lifestyle also added to the allure, and gave a dimension and authenticity to the series that can only be captured here.

"The moment you step off the plane, you feel you're in the world of the show," said "True Blood" writer Alexander Woo. "You don't have to imagine you're there."

read on