Dead Until Dark, published in 2001, is the first novel in Charlaine Harris' series The Southern Vampire Mysteries.

At some point in the recent past, Sookie tells us, the invention of synthetic blood, called Tru Blood, has made it unnecessary for vampires to feed on humans for sustenance, thus allowing the world's previously underground vampire community to reveal its existence to humans.

Also relevant to plot development is the fact that vampire blood accelerates healing, increases strength, improves the libido, and makes the person who drinks it better-looking.

In a 2009 review for Bookseller, Celia Leary described Dead Until Dark as "candyfloss – fun for a second, but not filling", lamenting that the book fell flat compared to the TV series.

[2] She wrote, "The characters are very two dimensional, the plot was pretty obvious, and for a book set in the south of America it had a real lack of diversity.