“Interview with the Vampire” treats its vampires as mourners rather than monsters: Louis recounts his life to a reporter, and what lingers is loneliness and lost faith, above all in the scenes with the child vampire Claudia. Some readers find the prose lush to the point of excess and the going slow. Best for those who want gothic atmosphere and melancholy, not a brisk horror plot.

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About the book

Interview with the Vampire is a gothic horror and vampire novel by American author Anne Rice, published in 1976. It was her debut novel. Based on a short story Rice wrote around 1968, the novel centers on vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac, who tells the story of his life to a reporter. Rice composed the novel shortly after the death of her young daughter Michele, who served as an inspiration for the child-vampire character Claudia.

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Reading order · The Vampire Chronicles

Full order & progress →

7.07.58.0

1976198519881992199519982000200120022003201420162018

7.07.58.0

1976198519881992199519982000200120022003201420162018

Score per volume13 volumes on a timeline, 1976 to 2018 · Best-rated volume: The Vampire Lestat

Where the score comes from

The sources average 7.6 across 1,205 ratings. With that many, the reader vote carries 89% of the weight and the score stays at 7.6 — the Horror average of 7.5 barely moves it.