Horror Book Annotation

Synopsis: 

Louis is a 200 year old vampire talking to a mortal reporter (referred to as the boy) about his life in a rundown motel.  He was a plantation owner in Louisiana until in 1791, he was turned into a vampire by Lestat de Lioncourt.  They lived there at his plantation until the slaves started becoming suspicious that they weren’t human and wanted to kill them.  Then the pair moved to a residency in New Orleans. Louis doesn’t want to kill humans but instead he feeds on animals to keep himself alive.  He dislikes how Lestat enjoys hunting and killing humans.  Louis wants to know more about the origins of the vampires but Lestat doesn’t disclose a lot of information on the subject to him.  He tells Lestat that he is leaving him.  Lestat decided to make a child vampire for him.  She is a young child and her name is Claudia.  Well, decades pass and Louis grows to love her.  She shows no remorse in killing like Lestat.  She is a grown woman trapped in a child’s body and starts to ask questions such as who made her.  She finds out that Louis fed on her but Lestat killed her and made her a vampire.  She hates him for it.  They make a plan to kill him but will they succeed?  Will Louis ever reconcile his feeling about being a vampire and killing humans?  Will Louis find out more information about vampires?  Please read this book to find out.

Characteristics of Horror:

Evoking a strong emotional response from the reader-   The entire book is emotional because Louis is telling his story and it is full of remorse, sadness, and pain.  He is so melancholy. 

Monsters of some kind frame the stories, along with supernatural and paranormal phenomena.  Graphic violence.  Vampires are can be considered with ‘monsters’ or supernatural beings.  The dead of Louis when he was becoming a vampire was descriptive as well as all of the killings.

Endings are unresolved.  The reporter referred to as ‘boy’ wants to be turned into a vampire but Louis refuses to do so but Lestat might be granting his request.

Language is rich in adjectives and description- Yes, the entire book is filled with descriptive language so that the reader and see and feel what the author is trying to convey with her words.  It is just a beautifully written book. 

Protagonists are often haunted, shattered individuals. Antagonists are always sinister and often monsters in some form, whether real or imaginary.  Louis is the haunted protagonist and Lestat is the sinister character. 

Unexpected appearances and attacks,…- There are quite a few ‘unexpected appearances’ in this novel like when Lestat shows up twice after supposedly being dead.  In addition, the killing of Claudia and Madeline with the sun was a surprise.  I should mention killing Lestat the first time was unexpected as well.

Read-A-Likes:

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

A Flame in Byzantium by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

 

 Interview with a Vampire

By Anne Rice