In 1976...
The literary career of Anne Rice began with the publication of Interview
With the Vampire.
Left: Interview With the Vampire Cover 1976
With the publication of The Vampire Lestat in 1985, Interview With
the Vampire became the first of the Vampire Chronicles.
Right: Interview With the Vampire Cover 1977
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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.
Left: The Unholy Family on the back of the 1977 edition of Interview With the
Vampire
Interview With the Vampire: Claudia's Story on Amazon
Fun Factoid: 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").
Left: From Hell (2001) Image Courtesy IMDb
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New Tales of the Vampires
Although Pandora is the first of the two New Tales of the Vampires,
Marius is a central character.
Left: Pandora 1998
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.
Right: Queen of the Damned 2002
Although Vittorio the Vampire is the second of the two New Tales
of the Vampires, it was published within a year or two of the publication of The Vampire Armand.
Left: Vittorio the Vampire 1999
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The Vampire Companion
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.
Left: The Vampire Companion by Katherine Ramsland
In both the The Vampire Companion and The Witches Companion,
Katherine Ramsland included some sketches of what fictional locations in the two series' looked like. Using NightCafe's rendering
capabilities, Sketch-to-Image and additional text prompts for added details were used to gain a more realistic example of
what these locations might have looked like in "real life". Here are renders of some of the homes occupied by Louis and Lestat
in The Vampire Chronicles...
Right: Divisadero Street house in San Francisco where Louis was interviewed created
with NightCafe From Sketch on Pg. 100 In
The Vampire Companion by Katherine Ramsland
Left: Louis' Uptown New Orleans house created with NightCafe From Sketch on
Pg. 441 In
The Vampire Companion by Katherine Ramsland
As we wait for Season 3, we wait for what is hopefully a more thorough and
faithful adaptation of the second novel in the Vampire Chronicles series, The Vampire Lestat. In both the 1994
movie and Season 2 of the AMC series, we see Lestat inhabiting a ruin of a Garden District mansion in a time closer to our
own. Though it has been a while since I read The Vampire Lestat, it wouldn't be too terrible a spoiler to describe
its beginning. Lestat had gone beneath an old New Orleans house in 1929, where he basically remained until...1984. This
would be that house, I believe?
Fun factoid: Anne Rice based some of Lestat's stage presence as a rock star on Doors frontman Jim Morrison.
Right: Lestat's abandoned Garden District house created with NightCafe From Sketch
on Pg. 235 In
The Vampire Companion by Katherine Ramsland
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The Vampire Chronicles and the Mayfair
Witches
The three Vampire Chronicles/Mayfair Witches novels are:
Left: Merrick Vampire Chronicles Book 7 (2000)
With the publication of Merrick in 2000, the Mayfair Witches began to quietly
enter and integrate with the Vampire Chronicles.
More about Merrick at The Mayfair Library--The Books
Right: Blackwood Farm Vampire Chronicles Book 9 (2002)
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
Left: Blood Canticle Vampire Chronicles Book 10 (2003)
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
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From Page to Screen
Left: Interview With the Vampire German Poster (1994)
Interview With the Vampire has now been brought to the screen twice...three
times if you count Queen of the Damned (2002).
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.
Right: Queen of the Damned (2002)
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.
Left: Aaliyah~January 16, 1979~August 25, 2001
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.
Right: Interview With the Vampire (2022)
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
Left: Oak Alley Plantation Grounds, Courtesy: Luxury Lifestyle Magazine
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.
Right: 3D shell model of Oak Alley by the Parlor rendered with NightCafe From
2D SketchUp Image Export
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Lestat's Tomb
Left: Karstendiek Tomb, Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 New Orleans
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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