The Vampire Lestat is a vampire novel by American writer Anne Rice, the second in her Vampire Chronicles, following Interview with the Vampire. The story is told from the point of view of the vampire Lestat de Lioncourt as narrator, while Interview is narrated by Louis de Pointe du Lac. Several events in the two books appear to contradict each other, allowing the reader to decide which version of events they believe to be accurate.
Plot summary
Set in the late 18th century to the late 1980s, the story follows the 200-year-long life of the vampire Lestat de Lioncourt, and his rise from humble beginnings as impoverished nobility in the countryside of the Auvergne, to the cosmopolitan city ofParis, to becoming transformed by the Dark Gift into a vampire. After escaping his family and running off to Paris with his lover and confidante Nicolas de Lenfent, Lestat is kidnapped and bitten by the reclusive elder vampire Magnus, who kills himself that night but leaves Lestat with a tower fortress and a vast fortune. Lestat abandons Nicolas for fear of causing him harm and shuns contact with his loved ones. Instead, he decides to shower them with gifts and riches from his newfound wealth as a means to compensate his departure from their lives. Lestat's mother, Gabrielle, arrives to say goodbye to him, herself dying of consumption. In order to save her, Lestat transforms her into a vampire as well. The pair run afoul of the Children of Darkness, an ancient coven of devil-worshipping vampires led by Armand, who attack them and kidnap Nicolas to punish them for breaking vampire law. Lestat and Gabrielle rescue Nicolas. After a heated debate with Armand, Lestat causes the coven to dissolve by denouncing the old ways and encouraging the cultists to modernize. Lestat later turns Nicolas into a vampire, but the transformation drives him mad, and his resentment of Lestat quickly destroys their friendship. Severely depressed, Nicolas later commits suicide by exposing himself to the sun. Armand "shows" Lestat the history of how he was made by the powerful vampire Marius de Romanus. Compelled by the idea of Marius, Lestat leaves markings carved into rock in numerous places while traveling with Gabrielle, hoping that one day, Marius will see them and find Lestat. Whilst in Egypt, abandoned by Gabrielle, Lestat sleeps in the ground after being burned by the sun. He is recovered by Marius and is taken to his secret Mediterranean island. There, Marius shares his past with Lestat, and shows him Those Who Must Be Kept, Akasha and Enkil, who are the progenitors of all vampires. Once Marius has given his warning to Lestat not to go see them again, and leaves on a short outing, Lestat takes Nicolas's old violin and plays for the King and Queen, awakening them. Akasha feeds from Lestat as Lestat feeds from her. Then, Enkil, furious at the intrusion, attacks and nearly kills Lestat, who is saved by Marius and then sent away.
Publication
The Vampire Lestat was released on October 31, 1985. Told from the point of view of Lestat, who was previously introduced in Interview with the Vampire, the novel explores the titular vampire's backstory. The Vampire Lestat also reinforces and expands upon Rice's vampire mythology, and 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'."
Adaptations
''Anne Rice's The Vampire Lestat''
The Vampire Lestat was adapted into a comic and released as a 12-part miniseries by Innovation Comics in 1990 and 1991. The comic, which was formally titled Anne Rice's The Vampire Lestat and featured Daerick Gross and Mike Okamoto as lead artists, had a script adapted from the novel by Rice and Faye Perozich. In 1991 the entire series was published as a graphic novel by Ballantine.
''Queen of the Damned''
Parts of The Vampire Lestat and The Queen of the Damned were loosely adapted into the 2002 film, Queen of the Damned. The film was seen to be a critical failure, and disappointed some viewers. Rice herself has dismissed the film. On her Facebook page, any time the subject is brought up, she repeatedly comments that The Queen of the Damned film is not something she can understand or embrace, that she encouraged them not to do the film and that it hurt her to see her work "mutilated" the way it was.
''Lestat: The Musical''
The novel formed the basis for the short-lived 2006 Broadway showLestat. The musical, which was composed by Elton John and Bernie Taupin and written by Linda Woolverton, had a pre-Broadway tryout in California in late 2005 and ran for a total of 33 previews and 39 official performances at the Palace Theater in New York.
Future
In November 2016, Rice announced on Facebook that the rights to her novels were reverted back to her despite earlier plans for other adaptations. Rice said that she and her son Christopher would be developing and executive producing a potential television series based on the novels. In April 2017, they teamed up with Paramount Television and Anonymous Content to develop a series. As of early 2018, Bryan Fuller was involved with the creation of a potential TV series based on the novels. On July 17, 2018, it was announced that the series was in development at streaming service Hulu and that Fuller had departed the production. As of December 2019, Hulu's rights had expired and Rice was shopping a package including all film and TV rights to the series. In May 2020, it was announced that AMC had acquired the rights to The Vampire Chronicles and Lives of the Mayfair Witches for developing film and television projects. Anne and Christopher Rice will serve as executive producers on any projects developed.
Audiobooks
There have been three audiobook adaptations of The Vampire Lestat: a 1989 abridged version narrated by Michael York; a 1994 unabridged version narrated by Frank Muller; and a 2011 unabridged version narrated by Simon Vance.
Critical reception
The Vampire Lestat debuted at No. 9 on The New York TimesBest Seller list, spending a total of six weeks on the list. The New York Times critic Michiko Kakutani found Rice's vampire mythology "more compelling than the rest of the novel", and wrote, "While Lestat's not an unlikable vampire... it's hard to take his dilemmas all that seriously." Kirkus Reviews wrote that "Rice dots Lestat's tale with some marvelous chillers... vampire bonanza in appropriate dark, humid, spider-web narrative—Rice's specialty" Reviewing the audiobook adaptation, AudioFile wrote that "the plot twists are difficult to follow at times".
