Series of gothic horror novels by Anne Rice
The Vampire Chronicles is a series of gothic vampire novels and a media franchise, created by American writer Anne Rice, that revolves around the fictional character Lestat de Lioncourt, a French nobleman turned into a vampire in the 18th century.
Rice said in a 2008 interview that her vampires were a "metaphor for lost souls". The homoerotic overtones of "The Vampire Chronicles" are also well-documented. As of November 2008, "The Vampire Chronicles" had sold 80 million copies worldwide.
The first novel in the series, "Interview with the Vampire" (1976), was made into a 1994 film starring Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Antonio Banderas, Christian Slater and Kirsten Dunst. "The Queen of the Damned" (1988) was adapted into a 2002 film of the same name, starring Stuart Townsend and Aaliyah and using some material from 1985's "The Vampire Lestat". In May 2020, AMC acquired the rights to both "The Vampire Chronicles" and "Lives of the Mayfair Witches" for developing film and television projects. A television series, "Interview with the Vampire", premiered on AMC on October 2, 2022, starring Jacob Anderson and Sam Reid.
Books in the series.
Rice considered "Blood Canticle" a conclusion to the series and thought she would never write about Lestat again. In a 2008 interview with "Time", she called her vampires a "metaphor for lost souls", and noted that writing about them had been, to her, "a sort of search for God and a kind of grief for a lost faith." Her 1998 return to the Catholic Church after 38 years of atheism had prompted a change in the direction of her writing that resulted in her 2005 novel ' and its 2008 sequel '.
However, in the same interview, Rice said: "I have one more book that I would really like to write; and the book will have a definite Christian framework and it will concern the vampire Lestat; and it will be a story I think I need to tell. But it will have to be in a redemptive framework. It will have to be where Lestat is really wrestling with the existence of God in a very personal way." That same year she produced a YouTube video in which she told her readers that she had dismissed any intentions of writing any more books in "The Vampire Chronicles", calling the series "closed". Later, during a 2012 Q&amp;A in Toronto, Canada, an audience member asked Rice if she would bring any of her old characters back, to which she replied: "I'm not ruling it out. I think it's very possible. I mean, I feel completely open with a new confidence in myself about it. I want to hear what Lestat has to say." On March 10, 2014, Rice announced a new installment of "The Vampire Chronicles" titled "Prince Lestat", calling it the first of a new series. "Prince Lestat" was released on October 28, 2014. A sequel, "Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis", was released on November 29, 2016, followed by "Blood Communion: A Tale of Prince Lestat" on October 2, 2018.
Related series.
"Lives of the Mayfair Witches" series.
"The Vampire Chronicles" series have a few crossover novels with this series, making "Lives of the Mayfair Witches" part of the "Vampire Chronicles" universe:
Plot summary.
"Interview with the Vampire" (1976).
Louis de Pointe du Lac tells a young reporter the story of how he had been made a vampire in 18th-century New Orleans by Lestat de Lioncourt. In creating and sheltering the child vampire Claudia, Lestat and Louis had unknowingly set tragedy in motion.
"The Vampire Lestat" (1985).
This book chronicles Lestat's own origins, as he resurfaces in the modern world and attempts to find meaning by exposing himself to humanity in the guise of a rock star. This attracts the attention of the ancient vampire Marius de Romanus, and culminates in the accidental awakening of Akasha, the ancient Egyptian queen and first vampire, who has been immobile for millennia and safeguarded by Marius.
"The Queen of the Damned" (1988).
Lestat has awakened Akasha, the first of all vampires, who has in her thousands of years of immobility, contrived an idealized way to achieve world peace, by killing almost all males and destroying all other vampires. She is herself destroyed by the vampire witch Mekare, who has awakened and returned after 6,000 years to fulfill a promise to destroy Akasha at the moment she poses the greatest threat.
"The Tale of the Body Thief" (1992).
The novel finds Lestat haunted by his past and tiring of immortality. A thief switches bodies with him and runs off, and Lestat enlists David Talbot, leader of the Talamasca and one of his only remaining friends, to help him retrieve it.
"Memnoch the Devil" (1995).
Lestat meets the Devil, who calls himself Memnoch. He takes Lestat on a whirlwind tour of Heaven and Hell, and retells the entirety of history from his own point of view in an effort to convince Lestat to join him as God's adversary. In his journey, Memnoch claims he is not evil, but merely working for God by ushering lost souls into Heaven. Lestat is left in confusion, unable to decide whether or not to cast his lot with the Devil.
Subsequent novels.
Rice's "New Tales of the Vampires"—"Pandora" (1998) and "Vittorio the Vampire" (1999)—do not feature Lestat at all, instead telling the stories of the eponymous peripheral vampires, the Patrician Pandora from Rome in the 1st century B.C. and the 15th-century Italian nobleman Vittorio.
Armand tells his own life story in 1998's "The Vampire Armand", and Rice's "Mayfair Witches" series crosses over with "The Vampire Chronicles" in "Merrick" (2000) as Louis and David seek Merrick Mayfair's help in resurrecting Claudia's spirit. The origins of Marius are explored in 2001's "Blood and Gold", and "Blackwood Farm" (2002) tells the story of young Tarquin Blackwood as he enlists Lestat and Merrick to help him banish a spirit named Goblin. 2003's "Blood Canticle" intertwines the vampire, Blackwood and Mayfair storylines, and was intended by Rice to conclude the series.
"Prince Lestat" (2014) rejoins the remaining vampires a decade later as Lestat faces pressure to lead them. "Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis" (2016) and "Blood Communion" (2018) continued this new narrative thread.
Mythology.
In her review of "The Vampire Lestat" (1985) "The New York Times" critic Michiko Kakutani noted, "We learn lots of 'facts' about vampires and vampire culture. We learn that they cry tears of blood, that they're capable of reading other people's minds, that they can be destroyed by fire and sunlight. We learn that 'no vampire may ever destroy another vampire, except that the coven master has the power of life and death over all of his flock'; and we learn that 'no vampire shall ever reveal his true nature to a mortal and allow that mortal to live'." Through "The Tale of The Body Thief" and "Memnoch The Devil", the cosmology of the series expands into exploration of broader supernatural themes and realms, particularly of Heaven and Hell, and also into exploration of apex supernatural entities like angels, the devil, and God Himself. Memnoch also acknowledges that many other types of earthbound supernatural creatures exist aside from the vampires, which leaves open connections to Rice's Taltos and werewolf stories.
Backstory.
Rice chronicles the origins of her vampires in "The Vampire Lestat" and "The Queen of the Damned".
The first vampires appeared in Ancient Egypt, their origin connected to spirits which existed before Earth. Mekare and Maharet, twin witches living on Mount Carmel, were able to speak to the mischievous and bloodthirsty shade Amel. Amel grew to love Mekare, becoming her familiar. In time, soldiers sent by Akasha, Queen of Egypt, burned their village and captured the two witches. Coveting their knowledge and power, the Queen imprisoned and tortured the witches for some time; this infuriated the spirit of Amel, who began to haunt Akasha's villages and her nobles.
In time, as Akasha's own treacherous noblemen conspired against her and instigated both her murder and that of her husband, King Enkil, the spirit of Amel infused into her body as she lay dying. The shade's power and bloodlust roused her from death – reborn as the first immortal. After siring her spouse as well, Akasha and Enkil became known as the Divine Parents. To punish the twins for standing against her, the Queen had Maharet's eyes torn out and Mekare's tongue severed. Before they were to be executed, the steward Khayman sired them both out of pity.
Together they formed the First Brood and stood against the Divine Parents and their followers, the Queen's Blood. Overwhelmed and captured, the twins were separated and sent into exile; Maharet to familiar lands in the Red Sea, and Mekare to uncharted waters out towards the west. After two millennia, the Queen and King went mute and catatonic. They were maintained like statues by elders and priests under the impression that if Akasha – the host of Amel, the Sacred Core – died, all vampires would die with her. As the Common Era arrived, most undead forgot.
As years passed, the story of the Divine Parents were maintained by a few elders who barely believed it themselves. Despite this, many of the self-made blood gods – vampires from Akasha's earlier progeny – remained entombed in hollowed-out trees or brick cells where they starved. Early in the Common Era, the elder who was entrusted to keep the Parents abandoned Akasha and Enkil in the desert to wait for the sun to rise and consume them. While they remained unharmed, young vampires everywhere were destroyed by fire and even mighty elders were badly burned.
Following this, the fledgling Marius – a gifted Roman scholar – went to Egypt and retrieved the Divine Parents, making them his sacred responsibility as the new keeper. Over the course of nearly two millennia, they came to be known in legends as Marius and Those Who Must Be Kept. At some point in time, Maharet returned to her village on Mount Carmel in the guise of a distant family member. She returned periodically over the course of many centuries to keep a record of her descendants, all the way down to Jesse Reeves – one of the last of the Great Family.
Characteristics.
Rice's vampires differ in many ways from their traditional counterparts such as Dracula. They are unaffected by crucifixes, garlic, a stake through the heart, or holy water. Ancient immortals are almost completely unaffected by the sun. The key trait of Rice's vampires is that they are unusually emotional and sensual, prone to aesthetic thinking. This lends well to artistic pursuits such as painting, writing, and singing; all of which are refined by their eidetic memory and heightened beauty.
Beyond their refined physical features, Rice's vampires are unique in that their appearance is more statue-like than human. Their pupils are luminous while in the dark and their nails appear more like glass. Being undead, their skin is likewise pallid as well as unusually smooth. Additionally, upon being sired, the vampire's body is essentially frozen in the state in which it died. Their hair and nails cease to grow; if they are cut, they will quickly grow back. The undead also possess no bodily fluids other than blood, as they are purged following death.
While virtually all other internal bodily functions expire, Rice's vampires still possess a noticeable heartbeat – albeit considerably slower than that of a living heart. This ensures normal blood circulation and also synchronizes with that of their fledglings while turning them. When vampires enter a state of hibernation, their hearts cease to beat and they enter into a desiccated state in which their bodies become skeletal and dry from lack of blood flow. Blood starvation may also trigger this. Removing their heart from their bodies will also kill them.
Despite these differences, Rice's undead do share some similarities with mainstream vampire fiction. They are supernaturally strong and can move faster than the eye can see. Their senses are heightened and they will heal from any injury short of beheading and even reattach limbs. The act of feeding is highly sexualized in Rice's novels. Vampires both crave and need blood to sustain their unlife. While they can feed on animals, human blood is more nourishing. As they age, they're able to resist the urge more to the point where elders feed only for pleasure.
As with most vampire fiction, all of the undead were originally human. To