The Nightmare Room
horror
Series · gothic horror
The Vampire Chronicles
The Vampire Chronicles series by Anne Rice has 13 known books (13 published) and is best read in publication order, starting with Interview with the Vampire (1976).
- Books
- 13 known books (13 novels)
- Published
- 13
- First published
- 1976
- Status
- completed
- Shelved under
- Horror
- Last checked
Start here: Interview with the Vampire (1976) — 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:
Interview with the Vampire
Published in 1976, Interview with the Vampire launched The Vampire Chronicles with the melancholy Louis de Pointe du Lac recounting two centuries of immortal life -- his making, his bond with the child-vampire Claudia, and his tangled history with Lestat -- to a modern-day journalist, and was followed by The Vampire Lestat.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Interview with the Vampire - Book 2:
The Vampire Lestat
Book 2 of The Vampire Chronicles, The Vampire Lestat appeared in 1985, retelling and radically recontextualizing the events of Interview with the Vampire from Lestat de Lioncourt's own flamboyant, self-mythologizing point of view as he takes over the series' narration.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Vampire Lestat - Book 3:
The Queen of the Damned
Book 3 of The Vampire Chronicles, The Queen of the Damned appeared in 1988, sending Lestat and the coven up against the awakening of the ancient Egyptian vampire queen Akasha, sitting between The Vampire Lestat and The Tale of the Body Thief.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Queen of the Damned - Book 4:
The Tale of the Body Thief
The Tale of the Body Thief follows The Queen of the Damned and precedes Memnoch the Devil in The Vampire Chronicles reading order, published in 1992 as Anne Rice's sprawling secret history of Lestat and the coven kept expanding.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Tale of the Body Thief - Book 5:
Memnoch the Devil
Running 436 pages, Memnoch the Devil (1995) continues The Vampire Chronicles after The Tale of the Body Thief with one of the series' strangest turns: Lestat's Faustian brush with the literal Devil.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Memnoch the Devil - Book 6:
The Vampire Armand
The Vampire Armand came out in 1998, slotting into The Vampire Chronicles between Memnoch the Devil and Merrick and giving center stage to one of the wider vampire coven -- Armand, Marius, Pandora, David Talbot -- whose fates fill out the rest of the series.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Vampire Armand - Book 7:
Merrick
Merrick follows The Vampire Armand and precedes Blood and Gold in The Vampire Chronicles reading order, published in 2000 and continuing Anne Rice's expansion into the wider coven's individual histories.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Merrick - Book 8:
Blood and Gold
Running 471 pages, Blood and Gold (2001) continues The Vampire Chronicles after Merrick, tracing more of the wider coven's history within Anne Rice's sprawling secret vampire history.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Blood and Gold - Book 9:
Blackwood Farm
At 633 pages, Blackwood Farm (2002) is the longest novel in The Vampire Chronicles, following Blood and Gold as Anne Rice's confessional, first-person mythology continued to expand outward from Louis and Lestat.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Blackwood Farm - Book 10:
Blood Canticle
Running 527 pages, Blood Canticle (2003) continues The Vampire Chronicles after Blackwood Farm and was the last entry before the series paused for over a decade while Anne Rice wrote standalone and religious fiction.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Blood Canticle - Book 11:
Prince Lestat
Prince Lestat came out in 2014, slotting into The Vampire Chronicles between Blood Canticle and Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis, marking Anne Rice's return to Lestat after a decade-plus gap and reframing the whole mythology around an ancient, telepathic vampire hive-mind.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Prince Lestat - Book 12:
Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis
Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis holds position 12 in The Vampire Chronicles, credited to Anne Rice, continuing the hive-mind mythology she introduced in Prince Lestat as the series' late-career revival continued.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis - Book 13:
Blood Communion: A Tale of Prince Lestat
At 288 pages, Blood Communion: A Tale of Prince Lestat (2018) remains the last Vampire Chronicles novel Anne Rice completed herself, coming after Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis before her son Christopher Rice took over the wider vampire-and-witches universe following her 2021 death.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Blood Communion: A Tale of Prince Lestat
About The Vampire Chronicles
The Vampire Chronicles is Anne Rice's era-defining vampire saga, launched by Interview with the Vampire (1976), in which the melancholy vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac recounts two centuries of immortal life to a modern-day journalist -- his making, his complicated bond with the beautiful, monstrous child-vampire Claudia, and his tangled history with the vampire who made him, the flamboyant and utterly self-mythologizing Lestat de Lioncourt. From The Vampire Lestat (1985) onward, Lestat takes over as the series' true center and narrator, and the books expand outward into a sprawling secret history: the ancient Egyptian vampire queen Akasha's awakening in The Queen of the Damned, Lestat's Faustian brush with the literal Devil in Memnoch the Devil, and the fates of the wider vampire coven -- Armand, Marius, Pandora, David Talbot -- across the rest of the series.
Rice reinvented vampire fiction for a modern audience, trading Dracula-style monster-hunting for lush, confessional first-person narration that treats vampirism as a metaphor for grief, desire, faith, and the terror of outliving everyone you love. The series paused for over a decade after Blood Canticle (2003), during which Rice wrote several standalone novels and religious fiction, before she returned to Lestat with Prince Lestat (2014) and two further volumes that reframe the whole mythology around an ancient, telepathic vampire hive-mind. Rice's son Christopher Rice has continued the wider vampire-and-witches universe since her 2021 death, though Blood Communion (2018) remains the last Vampire Chronicles novel she completed herself.
Frequently asked questions
How many Vampire Chronicles books are there?
Thirteen novels, from Interview with the Vampire (1976) through Blood Communion (2018).
What order should I read the Vampire Chronicles in?
Publication order, starting with Interview with the Vampire, then The Vampire Lestat. The series builds a single continuous mythology, so reading out of order risks spoiling major revelations.
Do I need to read Interview with the Vampire before The Vampire Lestat?
Yes -- The Vampire Lestat retells events from Interview with the Vampire from Lestat's perspective, and the retelling's impact depends on already knowing Louis's version.
Are Pandora and Vittorio the Vampire part of the Vampire Chronicles?
They're a related but separate two-book spin-off, New Tales of the Vampires (1998-1999), sharing the same vampire world but not counted among the thirteen main Chronicles novels.
Is there a 14th Vampire Chronicles book coming?
None has been announced. Anne Rice died in December 2021; Blood Communion (2018) is her last completed novel in the main series.
If you like The Vampire Chronicles
Reading order last verified .