By Rolling Stone 
 
 The following is an excerpt of an article from the September 2, 2010 issue of Rolling Stone. This issue is available tomorrow on newsstands, and Friday, August 20th online via Rolling Stone's premium subscription plan. 
 
 Check out more sexy — and bloody — photos of the True Blood stars. 
 
 The idea of celibate vampires is ridiculous, True Blood creator Alan Ball says. "To me, vampires are sex," he says. "I don't get a vampire story about abstinence. I'm 53. I don't care about high school students. I find them irritating and uninformed." On his show, every available orifice is used for intercourse: gay, straight, between humans and supernatural beings, and supernatural being on supernatural being, whether he be werewolf, dog or an enormous Minotaur-looking being called a maenad. None of the sex is quite as good as vampire sex, though, which can happen at the astonishing rhythm of 120 bpm while simultaneously devouring one's neck and making your eyes roll back into your head. Says Stephen Moyer — who plays Bill Compton, the undead Southern Civil War Veteran — "If we go from a base level, vampires create a hole in the neck where there wasn't one before. It's a de-virginization — breaking the hymen, creating blood and then drinking the virginal blood. And there's something sharp, the fang, which is probing and penetrating and moving into it. So that's pretty sexy. I think that makes vampires attractive." He laughs a little. "Plus, Robert Pattinson is just hot, right?" 
 
 
 
 Photos: Getting Naked on the Cover of Rolling Stone. 
 
 To read Vanessa Grigoriadis' story in full and read about why sex is the centerpiece of the show, Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer’s on-set romance and how Alexander Skarsgard channels his inner evil, you must be a subscriber to All Access. Already a subscriber? Starting Friday, August 20th, continue on to The Archives . Not a member and want to learn more? Go to our All Access benefits page . 
 
 Photos: See the Sexy Stars of TV on the cover of Rolling Stone. 

 'True Blood' serves up a lot of blood. And sex. And bloody sex. And if you happen to enjoy these things, it's likely you're tuning in to HBO's mega-hit Southern vampire saga every Sunday night for a fix. But this season -- the dirtiest yet! -- has us asking , has it gone too far In the same pushing-the-undead-envelope spirit, the stars of the show "grace" the cover of this month's Rolling Stone , and the bloody, flesh-baring image has everyone talking.Rolling Stone interviewed show creator Alan Ball for cover story 'The Joy of Vampire Sex,' and he takes a few jabs at a certain popular rival vampire phenom, the 'Twilight' saga. "The idea of celibate vampires is ridiculous," Ball says. "To me, vampires are sex. I don't get a vampire story about abstinence. I'm 53. I don't care about high school students. I find them irritating and uninformed."
– This week Rolling Stone puts three True Blood stars on its cover—stark naked and streaked in blood. In a preview of the sure-to-be-buzzed-about cover story, creator Alan Ball says his show, unlike other vampire franchises (ahem, Twilight), is all about sex. "The idea of celibate vampires is ridiculous. To me, vampires are sex," he says. "I don't get a vampire story about abstinence." Actor Stephen Moyer (that's him on the right) takes it even further: "Vampires create a hole in the neck where there wasn't one before. It's a de-virginization," he tells Rolling Stone. "And there's something sharp, the fang, which is probing and penetrating and moving into it. So that's pretty sexy. I think that makes vampires attractive." Yeah, we got it, thanks. Click here for more on what Ball thinks of any high-school-student viewers.