Day 13: True Blood

True Blood is SO not me. The whole Buffy and Angel thing passed me by completely, along with the more recent Moonlight. I guess I just prefer my vampires fangsty, not angsty, thank you very much. That's why I was shocked - shocked like I'd suffered a stake to the heart - when I read the first of Charlaine Harris's "Sookie Stackhouse Vampire Mysteries" on holiday and, er, loved it. Ahem.

Now there's a new TV series adaptation and, until recently, I still found myself conflicted about whether I'd like it or not. Even though it was made for HBO. And even though it came from Six Feet Under's creator Alan Ball. That was before I saw the show's opening credits on YouTube (because it hasn't made it to the UK yet) and, although I know it's like judging a book by its cover, I have to say I'm well and truly psyched about it. And I always did quite like the original book cover, anyway.

True Blood's opening credits, set to Jace Everett's "Bad Things", are a Southern-fried flickerbook of mundane-made-macabre imagery. They're gothic, gospel-infused and darkly sexy, with only the wittiest hints of the vampire theme, from strawberry-stained lips to a sign reading "GOD HATES FANGS". Uber-cool and, if you're a fan of the books, probably not what you expected at all.

So, yes, today's Sham Shocktober film isn't actually a film. Sorry. We'll get back to the cinematic stuff tomorrow, promise. In the meantime, if you've seen True Blood and it bites, be sure to let me know I'm just a sucker for the hype.