Dead Until Dark

Paige Boston
Dead Until Dark
by Charlaine Harris
pg 206

The cover art of my book is relatively simple, but with some underlying complexities. The only colors used on the cover are shades of white, red, and black. The picture depicts a pale white person, but only their face, from nose to neck. The person is licking their lips as a small trickle of blood runs from the corner of their mouth. The tip of a fang is just barely visible next to otherwise normal looking teeth. From the picture, it is easy to tell that the book is about vampires, but upon reading further in the book, other meanings come to light. The person on the cover looks like a normal human wearing bright red lipstick at first, but upon closer inspection is revealed to be a vampire with blood smeared across their lips. This hints that the vampires in the book try to appear normal to human beings, in a practice referred to as "mainstreaming". Thought they attempt to blend in with humans, eventually their true nature comes out through their not so normal life styles.