Blue Rose Trilogy
horror
Series · gothic horror
Lives of the Mayfair Witches
The Lives of the Mayfair Witches series by Anne Rice has 3 known books (3 published). It is best read in publication order, starting with The Witching Hour (1990).
- Books
- 3 known books (3 novels)
- Published
- 3
- First published
- 1990
- Status
- completed
- Shelved under
- Horror
Start here: The Witching Hour (1990)
— then read straight through in publication order.
Reading order
The date order of published books and any announced future entries — the default way to read the series.
- Book 1:
The Witching Hour
The Witching Hour opened the trilogy in 1990 at a sprawling 1,216 pages, centering neurosurgeon Dr. Rowan Mayfair -- raised far from the family estate and unaware she's the latest in the Mayfair witches' bloodline -- as the spirit Lasher reveals what he wants from her. Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Witching Hour - Book 2:
Lasher
Lasher followed in 1993, less than half the length of its predecessor at 578 pages, pushing the family's mythology into stranger territory tied to an ancient race. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Lasher - Book 3:
Taltos
Taltos closed the trilogy in 1994 as its shortest volume at 528 pages, bringing the Mayfair cosmology closer to the vampire world Rice was building in parallel. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Taltos
Key facts about the Lives of the Mayfair Witches series
Our list has 3 books in the Lives of the Mayfair Witches series. Since all 3 are out now, you can read the whole list today.
Start with The Witching Hour, since it opens the publication order in 1990. Lasher is book 2, from 1993. Taltos is book 3, from 1994.
The list keeps the books in date order, while each title links to its own page. Each book page shows its dates and editions. Since the catalogue marks the series as complete, we list no next book.
The books came out between 1990 and 1994, while their length runs from 528 to 1216 pages. That is a run of 4 years.
Anne Rice has 37 books on our list. Additionally, they write The Vampire Chronicles, The Sleeping Beauty Quartet and Ramses the Damned. We shelve the books under gothic horror.
About the Lives of the Mayfair Witches series
Lives of the Mayfair Witches is Anne Rice's other major gothic saga, a doorstop trilogy tracing thirteen generations of a wealthy, cursed New Orleans family bound to Lasher, a beautiful and ancient spirit who has attached himself to the Mayfair women and shaped their fortunes -- and their deaths -- for three hundred years. The Witching Hour (1990) centers on Dr. Rowan Mayfair, a neurosurgeon raised far from the family estate who doesn't yet know she's the latest in the witches' bloodline, and unfolds as both a multigenerational family epic and a slow-building horror novel as Lasher reveals what he actually wants from her. Lasher (1993) and Taltos (1994) push the mythology into stranger territory, tying the Mayfair curse to an ancient race with its own reproductive horror, and bringing the trilogy's cosmology closer to the vampire world Rice was building in parallel.
Where the Vampire Chronicles is confessional and character-driven, the Mayfair books lean into sweeping family-saga plotting -- wills, incest, inheritance, and generations of women who can't outrun what's been done to their bloodline. Rice later folded the Mayfair witches and the Vampire Chronicles into a shared universe, with characters crossing over in later novels from both series, though the original trilogy stands as a complete, self-contained story on its own.
Frequently asked questions
How many Mayfair Witches books are there?
Three: The Witching Hour (1990), Lasher (1993), and Taltos (1994).
What order should I read the Mayfair Witches books in?
Publication order. The trilogy tells one continuous story, and Lasher and Taltos both continue directly from where the previous book left off.
Is this connected to the Vampire Chronicles?
They share a wider fictional universe and some later crossover appearances, but the original trilogy is self-contained and doesn't require reading the Vampire Chronicles first.
Is The Witching Hour based on a true story?
No, though the Mayfair family's New Orleans Garden District setting draws on real local history and architecture that Rice knew well from living in the city.
Was there a TV or film adaptation?
Yes -- AMC produced a television series, Mayfair Witches, based on the trilogy, which premiered in 2023.
If you like the Lives of the Mayfair Witches series
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