The fourth season of the television series True Blood contains 12 episodes, bringing the series total to 48. The season premiered on June 26, 2011. Though the storyline picks up twelve and a half months after the events of season three; the season still begins immediately after final scene of "Evil Is Going On". It is loosely based on the fourth novel in The Southern Vampire Mysteries series, Dead to the World.

Dead to the World is the fourth book in Charlaine Harris's series The Southern Vampire Mysteries, released in 2004. In Dead to the World, Sookie aids vampires Eric and Pam in their struggle against a coven of witches seeking to take over control of their area, and takes care of Eric after the witches erase his memory.