When "True Blood" first premiered on HBO last year, it already had quite an eager and excited audience. Perhaps it was the viral ads that HBO kept running, or the vampire-mania that was beginning to get attention again, but at least some of it had to do with its strong, vocal presence at the San Diego Comic Con. Thousands of people saw huge posters all over the con advertising the show and got a few first looks, so this year at a comic con it was like the cast was coming home to an inbuilt fanbase. Almost every major actor on the show appeared at the panel, and Ballroom 20, one of the largest rooms at the convention center, was completely packed with screaming adoring fans wanting to see more of this wickedly entertaining vampire tale.

The panel wasn't the only thing on the menu for fans either, since the marketing crew for the show has always been rather impressive. At comic con the fans were invited to two nightly parties where they could come meet other "True Blood" fanatics and party together. There was excellent complimentary food, drinks, free shot glasses and fake vampire teeth, and on Saturday the visitors were given a first taste of the official drink Tru Blood which was announced in the panel by Alan Ball. This tasty drink is actually more like an orange-y soda, but it looks like blood and comes in the nifty bottle looking identical to what we see weekly on the show itself. If comic con goers weren't fans of the show before, they certainly started to consider giving it a try after being given the royal treatment!

The "True Blood" panel included the majority of the cast: Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, Rutina Wesley, Michelle Forbes, Alexander Skarsgard, Nelsan Ellis, Sam Trammell, and Deborah Ann Woll. On top of this, series creator and producer Alan Ball was there to answer questions, as was the writer of the original novels Charlaine Harris.

The first announcement was a presentation of the drink Tru Blood (go here for ordering information), and then they showed clips of the final few episodes of season two. As expected, it looks like a lot of insane stuff is going to happen to everyone's favorite supernatural characters, especially between Sam and Maryann and the burgeoning love triangle of Sookie, Eric, and Bill.

A great many of the questions (and fan screams) were directed toward Alexander Skarsgard about his handsome, mysterious vampire character Eric. The rest of the cast did not seem to begrudge their Swedish cast mate his attention, and Alexander seemed very glad to see more character development for Eric this season. Charlaine Harris announced that she signed a contract for three more Sookie Stackhouse novels, which means that the show can continue pretty much as long as HBO allows it to. Ball also talked a little bit about season three and how werewolves will officially be introduced (yay!).

So what is ahead for "True Blood?" Possibly Sookie waking up in bed next to a certain blonde vampire, Sam getting even more abuse shoved onto him, Jessica making as much trouble as she can, and Lafayette being part of Eric's future plans.

Clearly this is a cast that enjoys what they do and who they play. It was one of the warmest and most energetic panels of the day, and the respect that "True Blood" shows the comic con will only mean it gains the eternal loyalty of the attendees. The actors took part in autograph sessions and some showed up at the Entertainment Weekly/SyFy party later that night, ready to have a good time and enjoy the con for themselves!

See more photos of True Blood here!

Image © Home Box Office

Story by Chelsea 'Dee' Doyle
Starpulse contributing writer

Follow Chelsea on twitter at http://twitter.com/mustbethursday.

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