The Vampire Lestat

The book opens with Lestat coming out of the ground in the 1980s after a decades long sleep, awakened by a Rock and Roll band named "Satan's night out." He reveals he is a vampire to them, but they think he is joking, as in this universe Interview with the Vampire has been published as a novel. He then decides to become a rock star and reveal vampires to humans. But first, he decides to write an autobiography, which makes up the majority of the rest of the book.

His in-universe autobiography opens with him, an impoverished noble in the 18th century Auvergne countryside, killing a pack of wolves. His mother tells him she is dying soon after, and encourages him to see Nicolas de Lenfent, a violinist who has been to Paris. He does so, and they become lovers. They escape to Paris to become actors, gaining a job at a theater. Lestat is kidnapped and bitten by the reclusive elder vampire Magnus, who kills himself that night but leaves Lestat with a castle and a vast fortune. Lestat abandons Nicolas for fear of causing him harm and shuns his loved ones. Instead, he showers them with gifts and riches from his newfound wealth as a means to compensate for his new hermetic lifestyle. Lestat's mother, Gabrielle, dying of consumption, arrives to see him. In order to save her, Lestat transforms her into a vampire. The pair run afoul of the Children of Darkness, a coven of devil-worshipping vampires led by Armand, who attack them and kidnaps 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 relationship. Severely depressed, Nicolas later commits suicide by throwing himself into a ceremonial bonfire. Armand "shows" Lestat the history of how he was made by the vampire Marius de Romanus. Compelled by the idea of Marius, Lestat leaves messages carved into rock in numerous places while traveling with Gabrielle, hoping 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 the progenitors of all vampires—Those Who Must Be Kept—Akasha and Enkil. Marius leaves on a short outing and gives a warning to Lestat not to see them without him. But Lestat feels compelled to do so, and takes Nicolas's old violin and plays for the King and Queen, awakening them. Akasha feeds from Lestat as Lestat feeds from her. Enkil, furious and jealous, attacks and nearly kills Lestat. He is saved by Marius and sent away on the advice of Marius to live one "human" lifetime.

The next section of the book is Interview from Lestat's perspective. He recounts his love for Louis and remorse at turning Claudia into a vampire. He also gives conflicting accounts, saying he only ever drank from evildoers. After Louis and Claudia attack and leave him, he goes to Armand for blood to heal his wounds. Armand refuses, though, and makes him testify against Claudia and later pushes him out of a tower window to stop him from seeing Louis. Lestat returns to New Orleans, and gives another conflicting account of the end of Interview, saying he never spoke with Louis, only Armand. He wastes away only drinking from animals for several years, before going to sleep in the earth.

The book returns to the present, with Lestat being a famous rockstar. He gets several threats from other vampires but dismisses them and has a concert. On the eve of it, Louis finds him and they share a forgiving and romantic reunion. He proceeds with the concert, with Louis waiting backstage. After, they attempt to drive back to their hideout, but several vampires attack them and their car gets lit on fire. Gabrielle appears with another, and drives them back. It is then revealed that Lestat's concert has awakened Akasha, and the book ends on a cliffhanger as he feels her next to him.

The Vampire Lestat was released on October 31, 1985.[1] 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.[2][3] 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'."[4]

The Vampire Lestat debuted at No. 9 on The New York Times Best Seller list,[19] spending a total of six weeks on the list.[20] 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."[4] 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"[1] Reviewing the audiobook adaptation, AudioFile wrote that "the plot twists are difficult to follow at times".[15]

Dave Langford reviewed The Vampire Lestat for White Dwarf #86, and stated that "[Rice is] audacious enough to propound an acceptable 'origin story' for vampirism, and to move from dark old Egyptian mysteries to the extremes of twentieth-century Dionysian ecstasy as Lestat gives his first live rock performance. Nice one."[21]

• Anne Rice at IMDb