In 1976...
The literary career of Anne Rice began with the publication of Interview With the Vampire
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The Vampire Chronicles
With the publication of The Vampire Lestat in 1985, Interview With the Vampire became
the first of the Vampire Chronicles.
The Vampire Chronicles are shown here in order from Book 1 to Book 13. Claudia's Story is at the end, but is
a graphic novel of the events involving Claudia from Interview With the Vampire.
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Interview With the Vampire: Claudia's Story
In 2012, 36 years after the publication of Interview With the Vampire in 1976, a graphic
novel that focused on the perspective of Claudia, the child vampire, was published. The adaptation and artwork were done
by Ashley Marie Witter in cooperation with Anne Rice.
Interview With the Vampire: Claudia's Story is based upon the events of the 1976 novel that Claudia appeared in. This part
of the story is told from the perspective of Claudia rather than Louis or Lestat.
If you use the link below to go to the listing page on Amazon.com, you will be able to see some examples of the graphics.
Rather than a novel with illustrations, a graphic novel tells the story using images with thought and speech bubbles.
Interview With the Vampire: Claudia's Story on Amazon
One famous example of a graphic novel is the one upon which the 2001 film directed by the Hughes
Brothers, From Hell, is based upon. The film is a retelling of the investigation into the murders committed by Jack
the Ripper in 1888.
The graphic novel of the same name by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell is what the film is based upon (some argue "loosely").
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New Tales of the Vampires
The character Pandora also appeared in the Vampire Chronicles' Queen of the Damned,
published in 1988. In the 2002 film adaptation, she was played by Claudia Black.
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The Vampire Chronicles and the Mayfair
Witches
As with the Lives of the Mayfair Witches, a companion to the Vampire Chronicles
was compiled and written by Katherine Ramsland in cooperation with Anne Rice.
However, neither The Vampire Companion nor The Witches' Companion include the three novels in the Vampire
Chronicles that include the Mayfair Witches.
You may click on the book above for more information about it on Amazon.com.
The three Vampire Chronicles/Mayfair Witches novels are:
With the publication of Merrick in 2000, the Mayfair Witches began to quietly enter and
integrate with the Vampire Chronicles.
Merrick is Book 7 of the Vampire Chronicles.
More about Merrick at The Mayfair Library--The Books
Book 9 of the Vampire Chronicles, Blackwood Farm introduced the Vampire Chronicles
directly to the Mayfair Witches of First Street.
More about Blackwood Farm at The Mayfair Library--The Books
Book 10 of the Vampire Chronicles, Blood Canticle, seems to have also been the conclusion
of the Lives of the Mayfair Witches.
More about Blood Canticle at The Mayfair Library--The Books
For fans of the Vampire Chronicles who might not be as familiar with Anne Rice's Lives
of the Mayfair Witches series, I've included samples of the Kindle Editions of the novels on Amazon.com.
These can be found on The Mayfair Library-The Books.
To purchase a copy of either the print or Kindle Edition of any of the books, you will able to go directly to the book listing
on Amazon.com from that page of the Parlor.
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From Page to Screen
Interview With the Vampire has now been brought to the screen twice...three times if you
count Queen of the Damned
When the film Interview With the Vampire was released in 1994 (which I did see in the theater...more
than once...), Lasher had been published the year before, and Taltos was just being published. The first of
the three Vampire Chronicles/Mayfair Witches novels, Merrick, would not be published until six years later.
When Merrick was published in 2000, the film Queen of the Damned, according to Wikipedia,
was filming. The film seemed to cram as much as it could from The Vampire Lestat into the story line. Some kind of
back story explaining who Akasha was and how she and Lestat had crossed paths with one another to begin with is understandable.
Reactions to Queen of the Damned tend to be a mixed bag, but one thing is certain: the soundtrack seems to have held
up well over time.
There is one thing in Queen of the Damned I was thrilled to see from the novel that stands out the most to me. That
incredible family tree! I've always wondered if it would be possible to create graphics based upon that family tree and adapt
it to show the snarling, twisting, tangling branches of the Mayfair family tree. When I saw the opening credits of the AMC
series, it reminded me of the family tree in this film.
Queen of the Damned is also known for something much more tragic: the death of singer and actress Aaliyah, who played
Akasha, in a plane crash in 2001. She was only 22 years old.
For commentary and more on AMC's Interview With the Vampire, please go to this new page
of the Parlor:
Interview With the Vampire 2022
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Architectural Deaducation
Here is an interesting factoid.
The plantation house used in 1994's Interview With the Vampire as that of Louis de Pointe du Lac is Oak Alley Plantation
in Vacherie, Louisiana.
It was also the inspiration for the Talamasca's Louisiana Motherhouse, which appears in both the Vampire Chronicles
and the Lives of the Mayfair Witches.
With that, let's have a look at Lestat's New Orleans...
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Lestat's Tomb
The Karstendiek tomb in Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 in New Orleans is allegedly the tomb Anne Rice
modeled Lestat's tomb on. It's been cleaned up and painted, but did you know this tomb is actually made of cast iron?
Not much is known about which members of the Karstendiek family are entombed here. Well, so far, nothing is known about that,
specifically. The listing on Find a Grave simply says "Unknown" in the name, birth and death dates or nothing at all. The
tomb was restored after a fundraiser by Save our Cemeteries and the Anne Rice Vampire Lestat fan club in the form of a secondline
on October 27, 2016.
And it's October 27--seven years later that I am adding this to the Parlor...
What is known is the tomb was constructed for Otto Karstendiek. He was apparently a pretty colorful character in life. Two
of his descendants came to New Orleans for the secondline. They were reportedly astonished that their ancestor's tomb had
inspired Lestat's tomb. Although they did not know who was in the Karstendiek tomb, they hoped the restoration would help
answer that question.
This tomb also resembles to some extent the drawing of the Mayfair tomb in The Witches' Companion. The features of
it are more Greek Revival and/or Italianate, but the basic structure, is quite similar. I am currently working on a 3D model
of the Mayfair tomb, and some of the progress can be seen on this page of the Parlor:
The Mayfair Witches In 3D--The Mayfair Tomb
To learn more:
Lafayette Cemetery #1 In New Orleans--Free Tours By Foot
Photos: Karstendiek Family tomb celebration--NOLA.com
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Little Drinks Around the Parlor
For more information and tidbits on vampires in the Parlor, click the links below:
Lost Souls: Witches, Ghosts, Vampires & Mayfair Religion
Special: Vampires and the Ocean State
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