The Witching Hour

“\n  I'm watching you. Always watching\n”

Oops – sorry – mixing up pop culture references – Roz isn't in this. Here we go...

“\n  We watch
And we are always here\n” - The Talamasca

That's more like it. More on the Talamasca later.

This year I decided to step out of my comfort zone and add some longer books to my reading list. You know those books that have been sitting in your To-Be-Read pile for ages, but you keep procrastinating? Well, I finally decided to tackle them. For the past several years, I've made it a tradition to read only horror books in October.

Anne Rice, as always, did not disappoint with her vivid and descriptive portrayal of the surroundings.

Her words painted a picture that was so detailed and vivid that one could easily envision it in their mind.

The background history of the family was indeed extremely detailed. However, after reading a significant portion of it, I found myself skipping through a lot.

The story line took an interesting turn as the doctor, with her medical background, was able to see the, let's call it, entity from a cellular level.

This added a unique and scientific perspective to the supernatural element of the story.

Although I had a hunch about how the ending might play out, there was still a punch at the end that caught me by surprise.

Overall, the story was engaging and filled with Rice's signature style of rich description and supernatural elements.

1000+ pages of witches, spirits, romance, history, and incest - a combination that only Anne Rice can masterfully pen. Indeed, incest is ingeniously intertwined with witchcraft as the unsightly "family secrets" (the central theme of the novel) of the Mayfair Family. The novel's length is cumbersome and, to be honest, excessive. However, to give credit where it's due, Rice manages to cram an abundance of story into it. She details the entire history of the Mayfair family in great depth, starting from 17th Century Scotland and stretching all the way to modern-day New Orleans, with the help of Aaron Lightner from the secretive Talamasca organization, which also appears in Rice's Vampire series. As is typical of Rice's works, there is a wealth of romance and rather graphic sex, a great deal of repetitive exposition, and an overwhelming amount of intense and passionate emotions. This might very well be Rice's most potent and comprehensive work, but it will surely not appeal to every reader's tastes.

Engrossing from the first paragraph.

Anne Rice is widely renowned for her book, "Interview With the Vampire." However, she truly SHOULD be best known for this particular work.

This is an epic novel that delves deep into the lives of the Mayfair witches across generations, transcending time and place. It is a world filled with eerie, magical, and mysterious elements. The characters are masterfully woven into an intricate and mesmerizing plot that keeps the reader on the edge of their seat. The descriptive writing is simply beautiful, painting vivid pictures in the reader's mind.

I was chilled to the bone and genuinely scared during nearly every chapter. Yet, I was addicted like nothing else. I stayed up way past my bedtime with this one. Or perhaps it was because I was too scared to go to sleep? ;) This novel is a true masterpiece that combines elements of horror, magic, and mystery in a way that is both captivating and unforgettable. It is a must-read for any fan of the genre.

Wow!

I don't remember this story being as long as it seemed when I read it for the first time. Thirty hours on audio? Needless to say, I absolutely loved it ❤️. The second read has revealed so many things that I had forgotten and all the wonderful foreshadowing that Anne Rice skillfully wrote into this.

Having read this as a late teen (a very long time ago!), I had forgotten just how deeply wrapped in history this story is. It is crystal clear that AR has a profound love for history, and I truly believe that this is one of the book's greatest strengths. I am completely in love with the history presented in this story. It is written so beautifully.

Also, I have to concur that the main female character does a complete personality flip towards the end that just doesn't feel quite right. This is even more evident upon the second read.

But that's a rather moot point for me. I reread this because I simply ADORE the way Anne Rice writes. I just love her unique style, that gothic descriptive style she has. I'm seriously thinking that I'm going to have to start the next book in the series, even though I already know how this one ends ❤️.

I truly wish I could have given this book a mere half-star. F for the author's effort, that's for sure.

I'm about to reveal the details of this book, and you probably won't mind because it's simply NOT WORTH IT. I felt as if I'd spent decades poring over its pages. I had to check it out of the library twice, and it's a whopping 1200 pages long. Here's a blanket trigger warning for the following review.

This book is rife with racism, sexism, and homophobia. It's disturbingly fixated on fetuses in the most uncomfortable anti-choice manner. It conflates and confuses rape and consensual sex to an extent that I swear Anne Rice doesn't truly understand the meaning of the word "rape." She throws it around carelessly when it doesn't apply, and it's strangely absent when it does. The sex scenes in this book are truly revolting. Not only are the descriptions lurid and uncomfortable (at one point, she refers to a butthole as a "nether mouth"), but almost all of them are rape, despite Anne Rice's attempts to convince you otherwise. There's sex under the influence of magic, sex while people are asleep and clearly saying "no," and sex while people are in a drugged coma. Sometimes, it's all three combined!

Okay, let me try to calm down. You might be wondering, "But Rose! This book is TWELVE HUNDRED pages long! Why on earth did you keep reading it if it's so awful?"

Well, when I was about 16% through, I considered whether to continue. I'd endured what I called "the fetus detour" and countless scenes of a male character's Man Pain over his girlfriend's perfectly reasonable abortion. I wasn't sure if the end result would be worth it. So, I turned to Wikipedia and looked up the ending. And guess what? This book is so needlessly long and convoluted that the Wikipedia entry didn't even begin until much later in the plot, and it told me almost nothing about the story. So, I persisted, convinced that there was a good, terrifying story hidden beneath all the boring bits, incest, and other offensive garbage. I wanted to read that story, so I plowed on. How dare this book be so bad and yet so overly long and messy that I couldn't even get a concise, satisfying understanding of the story from Wikipedia?

But wait. Hold on. Incest, you say? OH YES. The Mayfair family tree is more like a twisted wreath. I got so confused at one point that I had to consult not one, but *three* genealogies of the Mayfair family because two different men are simultaneously brothers, fathers, grandfathers, and/or great-grandfathers to the Mayfair witch descendants.

It's impossible to determine who the antagonists or villains are, and not in a fun or engaging way, like in "Song of Ice & Fire" where everyone is terrible but you still enjoy their antics. I mean it's impossible because one character will be portrayed as horrible for a few chapters, and then you'll see their perspective and think they might be morally correct. But then they're punished by the narrative and die horribly, with their plans unfinished, which seems like a strange way to treat your supposed "good guy" characters.

And let's not forget the racism, sexism, and homophobia. I lost count of how many times Anne Rice made sure to emphasize that the black nurses or staff knew things about voodoo or fit into Stephen King-esque stereotypes. People of color only seem to exist (in New Orleans and Haiti) when they're talking about ghosts, altars, or being maids. There are allegedly 13 Mayfair witches, all of whom are women, but oops! One of them is at best an Evil Bisexual Man, and at worst an Evil Gay Villain who also sleeps with his sister, daughter, and I think even her daughter to create three more generations of Mayfair Witches.

I cannot stress enough how much sexual violence is scattered throughout this book. Lasher, the Mayfair family's pet demon, is repeatedly described as sleeping with the Mayfair women. However, the main two we hear from either explicitly, implicitly, verbally, and/or nonverbally tell him no, or they're so drugged and shock therapied that they can't even speak. But Anne Rice has to bring in a psychic character to touch this comatose witch's nightgown and tell us she's "blissfully happy." REALLY?

There's another sort-of Mayfair man-witch who also engages in incest three times, but this time, we're specifically told it's all rape, so he's A Bad Man. However, by this point in the book, Anne Rice has used the word "rape" so often as a shorthand for "violently passionate consensual sex" that when she uses it (just once) to refer to the actual crime, it's lost its impact as something truly bad in this universe. She wants you to think Lasher is sexy, and he's spent decades "blissfully" sleeping with a woman in a drug coma. I think there's a word for that, and it's not a good one.

And as if scene after scene of (at best) dubcon isn't bad enough, the entire point of this book is that Lasher has been waiting for 13 generations for the final witch to get pregnant so that she and her fetus can serve as the "doorway" through which he can gain a corporeal form. Are you kidding me? Anne Rice created this brilliant thirtysomething neurosurgeon, full of promise, potential, and independence, and then she reduces her to nothing more than an incubator, centuries in the making. GREAT, THANKS.

Do not waste your time on this book. I spent a month reading it, suffering, and watching Goodreads cheerfully inform me of how many books I was behind in my reading challenge. This was absolute garbage, and to add insult to injury, it ends on a cliffhanger. I will definitely not be picking up the second book in the trilogy, thank you very much.

What a truly queer little book this is! (Although, with a hefty 1207 pages, the term "little" is far from appropriate.) This marked my very first foray into the works of Anne Rice, and I'm afraid it might unfortunately be my last.

Halfway through "The Witching Hour", I found myself completely enthralled. The concept of The Talamasca was simply fascinating to me. At that particular stage of the story, I vividly imagined it as a real organization and even entertained the thought of applying for a job. I thoroughly revelled in delving into the entire history of the Mayfair family. Anne Rice undeniably possesses a remarkable gift for choosing precisely the right words that breathe life into every aspect of the narrative. I could effortlessly envision the house on First Street and clearly see everything as the characters traversed through the Garden District.

So, why then am I awarding it only one star? Firstly, I firmly believe it was far too long. I have a deep love for books and reading, and I never shy away from a challenging read. However, in this case, I felt that it took an interminably long time to reach what ultimately turned out to be a disappointingly lackluster ending. And that, in essence, is the very crux of my complaint. The way it all concludes. In a single word, it is pitiful.

Rowan, the all-powerful 13th witch in the Mayfair Dynasty and the supposed destiny, who is so completely consumed by her eternal love for Michael,竟然 gives up, betrays Michael, and aids Lasher? Seriously? For me, this not only diminishes her character (and her relationship with Michael) but also makes a mockery of it all. None of it felt remotely true or believable. After painstakingly wading through this entire tome, all that I am left with is a profound sense of having been cheated.

I really liked the story, although there are two or three things that didn't quite convince me, especially at the end.

I loved the descriptions of New Orleans, the historical journey of the Mayfair family, even with those rather uncomfortable parts, the descriptions of the house and the parties. Yes, it seems there are many pages of filler, but I think I even liked that.

I'll see how the story continues, because for now it really has me intrigued.

Overall, despite the few elements that didn't fully satisfy me, the story has managed to capture my attention and interest. The vivid descriptions of the setting and the events make it easy to immerse oneself in the world of the Mayfair family. I'm curious to see what will happen next and how the story will unfold. I'm looking forward to continuing to read and discover more about this fascinating tale.