‘Interview with the Vampire’: How it Differs from the Book (and Why I Loved it Anyhow)

As a die-hard Anne Rice fan, I must acknowledge that AMC’s new Interview with the Vampire series obviously changes some of the book’s context. However— I loved it anyhow. Why? Because the spirit of the work is still there, and cannot be ignored. Let me explain in my review of Interview with the Vampire (2022), here:

New Orleans, Queer Love Stories, and Vampiric Musings: Why IWTV Still Speaks to the Soul

When I first read Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire (and all subsequent books from there on, all 13 of them) in 2020, I was enchanted. I had never adored a book series more, save Tolkien’s works. Rice, in her works, had tapped into something golden. Something true. Something raw. Something— human, through the lens of inhuman subjects: vampires.

To say Rice’s Vampire Chronicles are simply vampire stories would be a folly— they’re no Twilight, lacking substance— they’re human stories, discussing life, love, and the pursuit of pleasure, purity, and everything in between in a world that is but (in Lestat’s words) “a Savage Garden.” And now, though the TV series differs in many aspects, the core of that story, those themes, remains. So I adored it anyhow.

The decision by the casting directors to make Louis a black man in New Orleans was one made with great care, and great responsibility, for one. The care and nuance with which the writers crafted Louis’ experience as a black (and homosexual) man in New Orleans was incredibly well done, and well expounded upon— it added depth to his character that, with other changes to the story, he would’ve lacked. This was a choice that was, like I said, made with great care— and it plays heavily and effectively therein.

Lestat is on point. He’s not been changed, really, at all— and not to spoil anything, but there are MANY Easter Eggs here in that Lestat drops that book readers surely will love and appreciate—

But, most of all? The queer love story is there. The genuine LOVE story between Lestat and Louis is not only subtext— but context. Lestat and Louis fall deeply, truly, in love in this series, as they did in the books— and that is no mistake. Anne Rice wrote these characters as men who fell in love despite the era; despite religious ideology; despite it all— and she immortalized them, with all the raw, visceral nuances of “love” in the modern world— and she nailed it, as I believe the show did, too.

Yes, things are changed— timeline, Daniel being older, etc— but the core is there, and I cannot wait for more. The core of a queer love story, of the misfit wanderers, of those who wonder “why?” at the Savage Garden that is this world are there— with beautiful, eternal New Orleans as its forever stunning backdrop.

Please watch this series, but more importantly, please read these books; they changed my life, as I’m sure they will yours, as well.

Xoxo, MM.