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Anne Rice: How to read the overarching universe of the Vampire Chronicles, Mayfair Witches, and more in order

Step into the Immortal Universe of Anne Rice.

Interview with a Vampire
Image credit: AMC Networks
Trent Cannon avatar
How to by Trent Cannon Contributor
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In the world of gothic romance literature, there aren’t any names bigger than Anne Rice. Throughout her life, she wrote eight fiction series, plus several stand-alone novels, and even recorded her life story in memoir form. Few authors have achieved the success that Anne Rice had at the time of her death in December 2021.

Born Howard Allen Frances O’Brien – her mother thought it would give her an edge in life if she shared her father’s name – in 1941, Anne Rice’s books have sold more than 100 million copies around the world, making her one of the most successful authors of the last 100 years. But with so many different series and novels published, it can be tough to know where to start reading them.

Whether you want to focus on a single series or read them all as they were published, here is everything you need to know to read Anne Rice’s books in order.

How to read theAnne Rice books in release order

Interview with a Vampire
Image credit: Warner Bros.

Starting with 1976’s Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice published more than three dozen books in her lifetime. These are spread across several different series, often with several decades between each release. Because of these long gaps, it can be easier to read the books in the order they were published, as her writing style naturally changed slowly over time.

Here is every Anne Rice book, in publication order.

  • October 4, 1948 (1965) – This is a short story that appeared in Transfer magazine
  • Nicholas and Jean (1966) – This is a short story that appeared in Transfer magazine
  • Interview with the Vampire (1976) – The first book in The Vampire Chronicles series
  • The Feast of All Saints (1979)
  • The art of the Vampire at Its Peak in the Year 1876, or, Armand’s Lesson (1979) – This is a short story that appeared in Playboy magazine
  • Cry to Heaven (1982)
  • The Claiming of Sleeping
  • Beauty (1983) – The first book in the Sleeping Beauty Quartet
  • Beauty’s Punishment (1984) – The second book in the Sleeping Beauty Quartet
  • The Master of Rampling Gate (1984) – This is a short story that appeared in Redbook magazine
  • Exit to Eden (1985) – Published as Anne Rampling
  • Beauty’s Release (1985) – The third book in the Sleeping Beauty Quartet
  • The Vampire Lestat (1985) – The second book in The Vampire Chronicles series
  • Belinda (1986) – Published as Anne Rampling
  • The Queen of the Damned (1988) – The third book in The Vampire Chronicles series
  • The Mummy or Ramses the Damned (1989) – The first book in the Order of Ramses the Damned series
  • The Witching Hour (1990) – The first book in the Lives of the Mayfair Witches series
  • The Tale of the Body Thief (1992) – The fourth book in The Vampire Chronicles series
  • Lasher (1993) – The second book in the Lives of the Mayfair Witches series
  • Taltos (1994) – The third book in the Lives of the Mayfair Witches series
  • Memnoch the Devil (1995) – The fifth book in the Vampire Chronicles series
  • Servant of the Bones (1996)
  • Violin (1997)
  • Pandora (1998) – The first book in the New Tales of the Vampires series
  • The Vampire Armand (1998) – The sixth book in The Vampire Chronicles series
  • Vittorio the Vampire (1999) – The second book in the New Tales of the Vampires series
  • Merrick (2000) – The seventh book in The Vampire Chronicles series
  • Blood and Gold (2001) – The eighth book in The Vampire Chronicles series
  • Blackwood Farm (2002) – The ninth book in The Vampire Chronicles series
  • Blood Canticle (2003) – The tenth book in The Vampire Chronicles series
  • Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt (2005)
  • Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana (2008)
  • Called Out of Darkness: A Spiritual Confession (2008) – This is Anne Rice’s memoir about her life and her return to her Catholic faith
  • Angel Time (2009) – The first book in The Songs of the Seraphim series
  • Of Love & Evil (2010) – The second book in The Songs of the Seraphim series
  • The Wolf Gift (2012) – The first book in the Wolf Gift Chronicles series
  • The Wolves of Mid-Winter (2013) – The second book in the Wolf Gift Chronicles series
  • Prince Lestat (2014) – The eleventh book in The Vampire Chronicles series
  • Beauty’s Kingdom (2015) – The fourth book in the Sleeping Beauty Quartet
  • Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis (2016) – The twelfth book in The Vampire Chronicles series
  • Ramses the Damned: The Passion of Cleopatra (2017) – The second book in the Ramses the Damned series (with Christopher Rice)
  • Blood Communion: A Tale of Prince Lestat (2018) – The thirteenth in The Vampire Chronicles series
  • The Reign of Osiris (2022) – The third book in the Ramses the Damned series (with Christopher Rice)

How to read Anne Rice’s books in series order

Most of Anne Rice’s novels take place within a series, with each series taking place in a distinct world. If you would rather read each series from start to finish before moving on to the next one, we’d recommend beginning your journey with The Vampire Chronicles. It is the longest and most iconic of Anne Rice’s worlds. The list below also includes the New Tales of the Vampires and Lives of the Mayfair Witches sub-series, which are distinct stories that take place in the same world as The Vampire Chronicles.

The Vampire Chronicles series

  • Interview with the Vampire (1976)
  • The Vampire Lestat (1985)
  • Queen of the Damned (1988)
  • The Witching Hour (1990)
  • Tale of the Body Thief (1992)
  • Memnoch the Devil (1995)
  • Pandora (1998)
  • The Vampire Armand (1998)
  • Vittorio, The Vampire (1999)
  • Merrick (2000)
  • Blood and Gold (2001)
  • Blackwood Farm (2002)
  • Blood Canticle (2003)
  • Prince Lestat (2014)
  • Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis (2016)
  • Blood Communion: A Tale of Prince Lestat (2018)

The Sleeping Beauty Quartet

  • The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (1983)
  • Beauty’s Punishment (1984)
  • Beauty’s Release (1985)
  • Beauty’s Kingdom (2015)

Ramses the Damned series

  • The Mummy, or Ramses the Damned (1989)
  • Ramses the Damned: The Passion of Cleopatra (2017)
  • Ramses the Damned: The Reign of Osiris (2022)

Christ the Lord series

  • Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt (2005)
  • Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana (2008)

Songs of the Seraphim series

  • Angel Time (2009)
  • Of Love and Evil (2010)

The Wolf Gift Chronicles series

  • The Wolf Gift (2012)
  • The Wolves of Midwinter (2013)

Stand-alone novels

  • The Feast of All Saints (1979)
  • Cry to Heaven (1982)
  • Exit to Eden (1985) – Published as Anne Rampling
  • Belinda (1986) – Published as Anne Rampling
  • Servant of the Bones (1996)
  • Violin (1997)

Short Stories

  • October 4, 1948 (1965) – This is a short story that appeared in Transfer magazine
  • Nicholas and Jean (1966) – This is a short story that appeared in Transfer magazine
  • The art of the Vampire at Its Peak in the Year 1876, or, Armand’s Lesson (1979) – This is a short story that appeared in Playboy magazine
  • The Master of Rampling Gate (1984) – This is a short story that appeared in Redbook magazine

Non-fiction

  • Called Out of Darkness: A Spiritual Confession (2008) – This is Anne Rice’s memoir about her life and her return to her Catholic faith

Previous and Upcoming Adaptations

Mayfair Witches
Image credit: AMC Networks

With Anne Rice’s death in December 2021 at the age of 80, we won’t be seeing any further books from this accomplished author. However, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t news for fans to look forward to. Several of Rice’s books have been adapted for both the big and small screens over the years.

1994’s Interview with the Vampire, which starred Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, and a young Kirsten Dunst, is perhaps the best-known film adaptation of Anne Rice’s work. It was followed in 2002 with another Vampire Chronicles adaptation, Queen of the Damned. This film, which combined the plots of The Queen of the Damned and The Vampire Lestat books, was significantly less well-received upon release.

Exit to Eden was loosely adapted for a 1994 film of the same name, changing from a BDSM-themed love story into a police comedy starring Rosie O’Donnell and Dan Aykroyd.

The Christ the Lord books were adapted into a film titled The Young Messiah in 2016 after spending several years in development hell.

In the world of television, Anne Rice’s book The Feast of All Saints was adapted into a miniseries on Showtime that aired in 2001.

In October 2022, AMC Network aired an eight-episode adaptation of Interview with the Vampire, which followed the plot and themes of the original book much more closely. Then, in January 2023, Mayfair Witches aired on the same network. Both series have been renewed for a second season which is currently in production.

Finally, many of Rice’s works have been adapted into comic books and graphic novels over the years. These include:

  • The Vampire Lestat (1990)
  • The Mummy or Ramses the Damned (1990)
  • The Queen of the Damned (1991) – Note that this series remains incomplete as the final issue
  • was never published
  • The Master of Rampling Gate (1991)
  • The Vampire Companion (1991)
  • Interview with the Vampire (1991)
  • The Witching Hour (1992)
  • Yoake No Vampire (1995)
  • The Tale of the Body Thief (1999) – Note that this series remains incomplete as the final issues were never published
  • Servant of the Bones (2011)
  • Interview with the Vampire: Claudia’s Story (2012)
  • The Wolf Gift: The Graphic Novel (2014)

Once you’re done reading your way through the sexy, brooding world of vampires, you can find more supernatural and fantasy adventures with our A Song of Ice and Fire reading guide.

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