"True Blood" will return to the small screen with people dying. U.S. cable channel HBO is still mum on what's in store this coming sixth season, but various reports claim that the show has gotten to the point where "people are starting to die."

When its fifth season ended last year, Bill (Stephen Moyer) faced "true death" after drinking Lilith's blood in front of Sookie (Anna Paquin) and Eric (Alexander Skarsgard), only to come back as a more powerful vampire.

As the next season continues, fans fear the rumours saying Eric is going to be killed off. While there's no official word from the show, Joe Manganiello, who plays full-blooded werewolf Alcide Herveaux in the series, said that it's a possibility.

"We're going to the point in the season now where people are starting to die," the 36-year-old actor told TVLine. "The table reads are starting to get smaller, and I'm sure they will continue to do that."

The website also pointed out that the title of the 7th episode in the season is "The Funeral," which can be deemed as validation of the report.

There's going to be some challenge in line for Alcide as well, as Manganiello revealed that the producers wanted to get things racier with him.

But if there's one thing that's sure this upcoming season is that the odds of him being with Sookie are close to nil, at least for now, since the show previously announced that Sookie is going to have a new love interest.

Rob Kazinsky has been cast as a series regular on the show, in which he will play a charismatic fairy named Ben, who will assist Sookie in investigating the death of her parents, and which will ultimately lead to a romantic connection between them.

Season 6 of "True Blood" will return with just 10 episodes instead of the usual 12 in June.