Lestat's Parlor

Cover Art for Interview With the Vampire: Claudia's Story

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

The Unholy Family 1977

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

Fun Factoid: From Hell (2001)

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

The Vampire Chronicles

Vampire Chronicles Book 1 (1976)

Vampire Chronicles Book 2 (1985)

Vampire Chronicles Book 3 (1988)

Vampire Chronicles Book 4 (1992)

Vampire Chronicles Book 5 (1995)

Vampire Chronicles Book 6 (1999)

Vampire Chronicles Book 7 (2000)

Vampire Chronicles Book 8 (2001)

Vampire Chronicles Book 9 (2002)

Vampire Chronicles Book 10 (2003)

Vampire Chronicles Book 11 (2000)

Vampire Chronicles Book 12 (2000)

Vampire Chronicles Book 13 (2000)

New Tales of the Vampires

Pandora (1998)

Although Pandora is the first of the two New Tales of the Vampires, Marius is a central character.

Left: Pandora

The character Pandora also appeared in the Vampire Chronicles' The Queen of the Damned, published in 1988. In the 2002 film adaptation, she was played by Claudia Black.

Left: Claudia Black (left) as Pandora in Queen of the Damned

Vittorio the Vampire (1999)

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

The Vampire Companion by Katherine Ramsland

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.

San Francisco Victorian

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

Uptown New Orleans

Left: Louis' Uptown New Orleans house created with NightCafe From Sketch on Pg. 441 in The Vampire Companion by Katherine Ramsland

Lestat's Garden District Ruin

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.

Above Right: Lestat's abandoned Garden District house created with NightCafe From Sketch on Pg. 235 in The Vampire Companion by Katherine Ramsland

The Vampire Chronicles and the Mayfair Witches

The three Vampire Chronicles/Mayfair Witches novels are:

Vampire Chronicles Book 7 (2000)

Merrick (2000)

With the publication of Merrick in 2000, the Mayfair Witches began to quietly enter and integrate with the Vampire Chronicles.

More about Merrick on The Lives of the Mayfair Witches Novels

Blackwood Farm (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 on The Lives of the Mayfair Witches Novels

Vampire Chronicles Book 9 (2002)

Vampire Chronicles Book 10 (2003)

Blood Canticle (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 on The Lives of the Mayfair Witches Novels

From Page to Screen

Interview With the Vampire 1994

Left: Interview With the Vampire (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.

Queen of the Damned 2002

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.

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.

For the 2022 AMC Series...

Click on Lestat's townhouse door:

Architectural Deaducation

Oak Alley Plantation Grounds, Courtesy: Luxury Lifestyle Magazine

Oak Alley Plantation

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

Karstendiek Tomb, Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 New Orleans

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 here:

The Mayfair Tomb

To learn more:

Lafayette Cemetery #1 In New Orleans--Free Tours By Foot

Photos: Karstendiek Family tomb celebration--NOLA.com

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

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