Table of Contents
The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series
Title Page
Copyright Page
Acknowledgments
Introduction
PART ONE - “I USED TO HATE VAMPIRES, UNTIL I GOT TO KNOW ONE”: VAMPIRE-HUMAN ETHICS
One - TO TURN OR NOT TO TURN
Bill and Sookie, Sitting in a Coffin, K-i-s-s-i-n-g
Show Some Respect
Read. My. Lips.
Look Before You Leap
Don’t Force It
Exceptions to the Rule?
NOTES
Two - DRESSING UP AND PLAYING HUMAN
Play to Learn, Play to Live
Thresholds and Invitations
Rules: What It Means to Be “Mine”
The Goals of Play
Play Changes the Player
NOTES
Three - PETS, CATTLE, AND HIGHER LIFE FORMS ON TRUE BLOOD
And Justice for All—Human Beings?
How Much Is a Vampire Worth?
Vampires as Higher Life Forms
Human Pets and Cattle
Our Civic Duty
NOTES
PART TWO - “LIFE-CHALLENGED INDIVIDUALS”: THE POLITICS OF BEING DEAD
Four - SIGNED IN BLOOD
We’re Here. We’re Dead. Get Over It.
This American “Un-Life”
A Vampire’s Right to Life?
The Great Fanged Menace
Vampires Were People, Too
On Coffins and Contracts
NOTES
Five - “HONEY, IF WE CAN’T KILL PEOPLE, WHAT’S THE POINT OF BEING A VAMPIRE?”
Vamp and Camp: Does Out of the Coffin = Out of the Closet?
It’s Utterly Feudal: Reconciling Vampire Politics and Liberalism
What Is It Like to Be a Vampire?
Don’t Sign Me Up for the Fellowship of the Sun—Just Yet!
NOTES
Six - UN-TRUE BLOOD
Past and Present
A New Twist on an Old Narrative
Coming Out of the Coffin
The Blood Is the Life
Vampires as Ideal Consumers
The Politics of Artificiality
NOTES
PART THREE - “THEIR VERY BLOOD IS SEDUCTIVE”: EROS, SEXUALITY, AND GENDER
Seven - COMING OUT OF THE COFFIN AND COMING OUT OF THE CLOSET
“Vampires Are an Unnatural Abomination”
We’re Here, We’re Vampire ... Get Used to It!
Sex and Feeding, Penis and Fangs
Don’t Eat Your Date, Jessica!
Deserving of Equal Rights under the Law
NOTES
Eight - “I AM SOOKIE, HEAR ME ROAR!”
Incendiary Identities
Supernatural Sex
Vocational Values
More Questions than Answers
NOTES
Nine - SOOKIE, SIGMUND, AND THE EDIBLE COMPLEX
The Edible Complex
Bon Temps and Its Discontents
Nothing New under the Moon
Sookie’s and Sigmund’s Gift
Love at First Bite
NOTES
PART FOUR - “I AM ACTUALLY OLDER THAN YOUR JESUS”: NATURAL, SUPERNATURAL, AND DIVINE
Ten - LET THE BON TEMPS ROLL
Of Scapegoats, Sausages, and “Eggs”
The Dionysian Pack Mentality
Scapegoats We Can Sink Our Teeth Into
The God Who Comes Forgives
NOTES
Eleven - ARE VAMPIRES UNNATURAL?
Viruses, Predation, and Evolution
“A Purpose for Everything That God Creates”
Like Lions Who Want to Caress Antelopes
The Problem with Purpose
Supes Aren’t Natural-They’ re Super-Natural!
Unnatural Is Not Automatically Wrong
NOTES
Twelve - DOES GOD HATE FANGS?
Doing Bad Things with Good Gifts
“Through the Virtue of Demons”
“We Vampires Aren’t Minions of the Devil”
NOTES
PART FIVE - “OUR EXISTENCE IS INSANITY”: THE METAPHYSICS OF SUPERNATURAL BEINGS
Thirteen - A VAMPIRE’S HEART HAS ITS REASONS THAT SCIENTIFIC NATURALISM CAN’T UNDERSTAND
Disenchanted Vampires
Animating the Dead
The Heart of the Matter
Blood Ties and Freedom
NOTES
Fourteen - KEEPING SECRETS FROM SOOKIE
What’s It Like to Hear a Dog-Whistle?
Hunting the Elusive Quale
A Slow Day at Merlotte’s
The Final Nail in the Coffin
NOTES
Fifteen - VAMPIRES, WEREWOLVES, AND SHAPESHIFTERS
Becoming a Vamp: “Vampires Are Not Supposed to Say ‘Uh-Oh.’”
The Bodily Theory: “You’re Alive!”... “Well, Technically, No”
Memory: “What Animates You No Longer Animates Me”
Psychological Continuity: “I Hate Using the Number Keys to Type”
Werewolves and Shapeshifters: “Life Is Just Getting Too Weird Too Fast”
Many Parts to a Single Story: “My Life Sucks!”
NOTES
PART SIX - “TALKING ABOUT YOUR FEELINGS IS A MANLY THING TO DO”: SUPERNATURAL LIFE LESSONS FROM SEASON THREE
Sixteen - Hiding the Light
Deadly Differences and Being Differently Dead
Valuing Difference—Dead or Alive
A Treasure to Be Protected
NOTES
Seventeen - Arlene’s Dilemma
“We Had Sex. Didn’t We?”
“You Know I Like Kids, Arlene. Donuts, Too.”
“The Only Way to Be Sure That Rene Will Never Pass His Sickness On”
“Two Sovereign Masters”
Consequences and Crystal Balls
Stay Tuned
NOTES
Eighteen - Confucius Comes to Bon Temps
Your Parents’ Fuckin’ Problems Are Your Fuckin’ Problems
Teach Your Children Well!
Doing Wrong in Order to Do Right
More Than Blood
Walking the Line between Tommy and Sam
NOTES
CONTRIBUTORS
INDEX