Alan Ball’s “True Blood,” which premieres on HBO on Sunday, offers a different view of vampires than the one we are used to.

The dark creatures are not portrayed as a threat to human kind anymore, but rather as outcasts who try to integrate in the society.

Now that a Japanese substitute for blood exists, the vampires in the small town of Bon Temps, Louisiana, do not need to feed on human blood to survive. So they finally are able to come out publicly, even if only at night. But even though they do not represent a danger anymore, humans still despise, fear and hate them. Erm, like they do with their own race, actually.

The 12-episode series shows us vampires who buy synthetic blood at convenience stores and fight for their rights, struggling to be accepted in the human world. Funny, intense, sex-filled and violent, the series attracts you from the very first episode.

“True Blood” is based on Charlaine Harris novels, and Sookie Stackhouse, the book’s heroine, is gracefully played by Anna Paquin.

Sookie is a waitress at the local restaurant, but a special one: she has the ability to hear what other people are thinking. As most of the thoughts are from men and regard things that they would like to do to her, Sookie has a tendency to be cynical. Besides this, she probably is the most open-minded and tolerant person in Bon Temps, who is very curious about vampires rather than rejecting them, like everybody else. Even though she seems very innocent and naïve, Sookie is also witty, as well as very courageous when necessary. So, curious as she is, Sookie is more than delighted when the vampire that goes by the common name of Bill (Stephen Moyer) stops by the restaurant where she works, and she has the opportunity to help him out of a jam.

Other characters that are admirably well played in the series are Sookie's dumb womanizing brother, played by Ryan Kwanten, her funny best friend impersonated by Rutina Wesley, her love struck boss played by Sam Trammell and a gay and very proud cook portrayed by Nelsen Ellis.

The tone of the series is darkly amusing, which likens it to Ball’s other hit series “Six Feet Under.” The sources of amusement are more or less witty and more or less subtle. For example, there’s a tabloid headline that reads: “Angelina Adopts Vampire Baby”…

As Harris’ books are filled with mysteries, so is the series. Although the vampires do not threaten the human kind anymore, there still exists a sexually obsessed someone who kills sex-loving women in Bon Temps; and Sookie will have to use her special mind-reading powers to find out whether the killer is a human or a vampire.

Sex is one of the film’s main topics, as everybody in the small Louisiana town has sex on their minds. And, as it turns out that a drop of vampire blood has a strong aphrodisiac effect on humans, and everybody is obsessed with sex, the poor vampires are in danger of being hunted for the miracle substance running through their veins.