Two years before the present (what the viewer sees now), vampires "came out of the coffin" (a coined phrase of "coming out of the closet"). After the creation of fake blood (called Tru Blood), vampires are allowed to enter the open and interact with humans (which is called "mainstreaming") more often. They can only come out at night, however (unlike Twilight, vampires will burn to death, until they are a pile of ashes, if they step out into the sunlight). The show is mostly centered around Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin), a telepath, better known as a person who can hear the thoughts of others, and how her life changes after she meets vampire Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer).