Your Guide to Anne Rice's 'Vampire Chronicles' Books, If You're Thirsty for More 'The Vampire Lestat'

If you're a fan of AMC's 'Immortal Universe,' you can consider these paranormal classics essential reading.

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Back in the ‘70s—way before Twilight and True Blood got a new generation hooked on stories of sexy, brooding blood-suckers—prolific author Anne Rice ignited a vampire fever with Interview with the Vampire, the first book in her Vampire Chronicles series. A dozen more novels—plus a few spinoffs and crossover stories—followed over the course of more than 40 years. And though the paranormal book series is definitively complete following Rice’s 2021 death, it’s proven itself just as immortal as its main characters, finding new life in recent years as a prestige drama TV series on AMC that’s earned widespread critical acclaim and been praised for its depiction of queer characters and racial tensions.

The long-awaited third season arrives this summer, with a name change from Interview with the Vampire to The Vampire Lestat as it shifts focus from the first book in the series to its sequel. Whether you want to catch up on the source material before diving into the show or you’ve already sunk your teeth in and need more Louis and Lestat, read on for a full guide to The Vampire Chronicles book series.

What is 'The Vampire Chronicles' book series about?

With the core collection spanning 13 lengthy books, The Vampire Chronicles series covers quite a bit of ground. At the center of it all is Lestat de Lioncourt, a French nobleman who was turned into a vampire in the 1700s. The series starts with Interview with the Vampire, as he tells the story of Louis de Pointe du Lac, whom he made into a vampire.

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We get Lestat’s autobiography in Book 2, The Vampire Lestat, culminating in his tenure as a rock star in the 1980s—the attention from which he’s hoping will reunite him with old friends and stir up some drama between humans and vampires. The next three books—The Queen of the Damned, The Tale of the Body Thief, and Memnoch the Devil—see Lestat fighting a major threat to the vampire community, grappling with his loneliness and lack of humanity, and coming into close contact with the devil.

Books 5 through 10 further build out Lestat’s world, both with and without him as a main character. We dive deep into the life stories of several familiar faces, including prominent vampires Marius and Armand, and see the universe expand to include characters from Rice’s witchy series, the Lives of the Mayfair Witches trilogy.

Though Rice initially meant for Lestat’s saga to end with the 10th Vampire Chronicles book, 2003’s Blood Canticle, she resurrected him once again a decade later. Between 2014 and 2018, she published three final books in the series: Prince Lestat, Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis, and Blood Communion: A Tale of Prince Lestat. The final installments begin as the vampire emerges from exile and attempts to calm widespread chaos by stepping up as leader of the vampire community.

sam reid and jacob anderson as lestat and louis wearing suits and white bowties in the 1700s timeline of interview with the vampire

Sam Reid and Jacob Anderson star as Lestat and Louis in AMC's Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire.

(Image credit: AMC)

Which books from 'The Vampire Chronicles' series have been adapted for the screen so far?

AMC’s critically adored TV series debuted in 2022 as Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire and kept that title for 2024's season 2 as well. Those initial 15 episodes bring to life the events of the first novel in The Vampire Chronicles, with Game of Thrones alum Jacob Anderson as Louis and Australian actor Sam Reid portraying Lestat.

Starting with the third season, which premiered on June 7, the show has been renamed Anne Rice’s The Vampire Lestat and will dig into the eponymous second book in Rice’s series. The new installment will reportedly also tie in The Queen of the Damned.

Sam Reid as Lestat De Lioncourt shirtless and on stage at a rock concert performing in front of a drum kit in The Vampire Lestat

Lestat emerges as a rock star in the 1980s-set The Vampire Lestat.

(Image credit: Sophie Giraud/AMC)

Meanwhile, AMC is also adapting Rice’s Lives of the Mayfair Witches trilogy, the titular characters of which feature heavily in the Vampire Chronicles books. Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches is now two seasons in, with a third currently in production. Both shows are part of AMC’s Immortal Universe based on Rice’s vast bibliography.

So far, the Immortal Universe also includes another series: Talamasca: The Secret Order, which debuted in fall 2025 and focuses on an organization that crops up in both the Vampire Chronicles and Mayfair Witches books and is tasked with investigating and monitoring supernatural communities.

It's still early days, but in 2025, AMC revealed that an adaptation of Memnoch the Devil is also in development at the network. Lestat is still the main character in the fifth novel of the series, though without The Vampire Lestat renewed for additional seasons, it's unclear whether the Book 5 adaptation will be another installment, a spinoff, or a new show entirely.

alexandra daddario opening a spellbook and sitting at a desk lamp in the mayfair witches

Alexandra Daddario stars as Rowan Fielding in AMC's The Mayfair Witches.

(Image credit: AMC)

Elsewhere, before The Vampire Chronicles got the prestige TV treatment, Interview with the Vampire was first brought to the screen as a 1994 film starring Tom Cruise as Lestat, Brad Pitt as Louis, and Kirsten Dunst as Claudia, a young girl-turned-vampire who becomes something of a daughter to the pair. (In the series, she's portrayed by Bailey Bass and Delainey Hayles.)

In 2002, a movie combining elements from both The Vampire Lestat and The Queen of the Damned—taking its title from the latter—premiered with Stuart Townsend as Lestat and Aaliyah as Akasha, the original vampire in Rice’s books.

How do I read 'The Vampire Chronicles' books in order?

Here are all 13 of Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles books, from 1976’s Interview with the Vampire to 2018’s Blood Communion: A Tale of Prince Lestat:

Are there any spinoffs to 'The Vampire Chronicles' series?

Yes! About halfway through writing The Vampire Chronicles series, in 1998 and 1999, Rice published two more books that further flesh out the universe but can stand alone and don’t directly impact the plot of the main series. This New Tales of the Vampire series comprises Pandora and Vittorio, the Vampire. Pandora tells the story of the titular vampire, who has known Marius for centuries and crops up as a side character in Lestat’s 1980s timeline. Vittorio, the Vampire, meanwhile, is an autobiography of yet another centuries-old vampire. His story, however, doesn't crossover with the main characters of The Vampire Chronicles books.

And, while technically not direct spinoffs of the Vampire Chronicles books, Rice’s three Lives of the Mayfair Witches novels do take place in the same universe as and star characters that feature heavily in the vampire-focused series. They include 1990’s The Witching Hour, 1993’s Lasher, and 1994’s Taltos.

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Andrea Park
Andrea Park

Andrea Park is a freelance writer for Marie Claire, where she writes mainly about pop culture, drawing on her lifelong obsessions with consuming every book, movie, and TV show she can get her hands on. Andrea is based in Chicago and graduated from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism and Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. Her byline has also appeared in W, Glamour, Teen Vogue, PEOPLE, and more.