Can you feel the cold in your bones yet? We're only a little more than a month away from the season four premiere of "The Vampire Diaries," and information about the premiere episode is starting to leak out, little by little. That's great news for those who are curious about the premiere, but not so great for those who want to get there spoiler-free... so, read on at your own risk you mortals.

The latest offerings from the series adapted from L. J. Smith's young adult novel's of the same name, include some cast photos, which are basically just eye candy to get us all riled up, and a couple of stills from the episode itself, which provide a little more context for where things might be going. One of the images features Elena locked up in a cage, looking rather grumpy about the situation. It seems that, as a baby-vamp, she's having a lot of trouble with her cravings and needs some bars to keep her from doing what she knows deep down she doesn't want to do.

Producer Julie Plec has even gotten in on the rumor-baiting fun. She promises that fans are in for a real treat this season.

"...as for what the future holds now that Elena is of the night. All these things she's experienced with Damon and Stefan will have different context for her as she's becoming this new person," said Plec.

"This circumstance, which is pretty horrific, is going to make them all care about each other even more deeply and argue even more intensely and fracture even more greatly and love as deeply as possible."

Season Four of "The Vampire Diaries" premieres October 11, 2012.