They re creepy and they're kooky; mysterious and spooky... the Fisher family. The 21st century's answer toThe Addams Family, Six Feet Under, created by Oscar-winning screenwriter Alan Ball(American Beauty), is another whopping success for HBO. The Fisher family owns Fisher and Sons Funeral Home and resides above this dysfunction junction. Nate (Peter Krause) is the laid-back older son, who never managed to grow up, and David (Michael G. Hall), his uptight, closeted brother, is old beyond his years. Claire (Lauren Ambrose), the resentful youngest child, struggles with every teenage anxiety imaginable. Presiding over this brood is troubled matriarch Ruth Fisher, played by Frances Conroy. "There was a period when I was an adolescent where someone dropped dead every six months in my family," says Ball. "There is nothing like death to inject a dose of surrealness into life. I feel like all three Fisher kids are facets of myself. And then there ore episodes when I totally feel like I am Ruth." Also in the superb ensemble cast are Freddy Rodriguez as Federico, the boy-wonder embalmer; Rachel Griffiths as Brenda, Nate's girlfriend; and Richard Jenkins as dear dead Dad, who makes frequent appearances. Winner of two Golden Globes, the show begins its second season this month. "I spent the entire first season waiting for someone to tap me on the shoulder," says Ball. "Working for HBO is heaven."