So one of my favorite (favorite) shows in the past few years is AMC’s Interview with the Vampire and I need to just give it some extra love here on the blog. Now on Instagram, if you follow me there, you’d know that I am a fan of the series and I do share posts on the stories but on my blog, I don’t think I’ve spoken much about the show. I think there’s a previous post on vampires that IWTV was thrown into but never a full dedicated post.
So here we are, two seasons later and while we wait on season three, I wanted to think about this show with the new format of this blog. Tying it back to more art roots, there is something very special about this show. And as a fan of the show (and the books, the only 4 I’ve read so far and looking for the others), and as an audience, I wanted to share some thought pieces.
I think IWTV is a great example of a show that captures an audience of visual proportions, so let’s talk about why.
Mini background for those who do not know but Interview with the Vampire is a 2022 series based off the same title series (The Vampire Chronicles) written by Anne Rice in 1976 up til 2018 with the latest novel Blood Communion: A Tale of Prince Lestat. It has been a film adaptation by Warner Bros (1994) and stars Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Kirsten Dunst, Antonio Banderas, Christian Slater and Stephen Rea. There is also a play based around the character Lestat, a comic book run, a sequel to Interview with the Vampire, Queen of the Damned (2002) (questionable film, great soundtrack, love the casting of Aaliyah as Akasha) and now with the television series on AMC, we have spin offs of Mayfair Witches (based off The Witching Hour) and Talamasca which is coming soon. These all fall under the “Immortal Universe” and honestly, I am waiting for a potential adaptation of The Mummy/Rames the Damned cos that book is awesome. (Did I miss anything? It’s a lot to remember and research)
With all that housekeeping out of the way, you can see the vast potential of the book series as a whole and what I think what AMC has done with IWTV (Mayfair Witches is a failure in my eyes, I said what I said) is the golden child so far for me and I think for others as well. In order to do this post, I rewatched the very first episode of season one and looked at the screencaps to remember how amazing the show starts off as*. Episode one is titled “In Throes of Increasing Wonder”, and the premise is Daniel Molly (Eric Bogosian) is established as a successful author, receives a package in the mail that takes him on a journey to reconnecting with his past… his past also includes a vampire named Louis de Pointe du Lac (Jacob Anderson).
*I also found my very first tumblr post (personal) and this is before I watched the first episode in 2022 but I clearly was following the show’s progression and press prior and I said this:
This was posted on Thursday, September 29th of 2022. And you know what? The show did not fail me with the sweet, sweet blood, gore and gothic romance. Let me show me why and how.
1) Casting choices: We know casting can make or break a project, especially when the source material has been around for a long period and has multiple adaptations. So imagine my surprise when I saw the casting for the main characters and was shook. In a good way, I was shook. These are going to be representing the show visually and the change of aging up “The Boy” aka Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosian) to having Louis (Jacob Anderson) and Claudia (Bailey Bass S1, Delainey Hayles S2) be black is SUCH a huge calculated risk but it definitely brought in a new audience that I feel wouldn’t be there ordinarily. And the other risk of creating a better storyline for Louis and Claudia (Louis in the book and first film is BORRRIIIIING)
2) Set Design and Costume Design: A big part of this show and you definitely see it in the first episode is how costume design really transports us into a different world. And it feels authentic, it feels real and that’s a huge part to the creative minds behind that. Carol Cutshall is the amazing costume designer for Interview (and now Mayfair Witches) and if you are not following on Instagram, please do because she shares a lot of behind the scenes sketches, ideas, final results of her work on the show and she is very, very talented. Mara LePere-Schloop is the production designer and my goodness, the work for Season 2 and the Theatre des Vampires is again, a great example of putting us in a fictional world that still feels real.
3) Horror Factor: This was the only hesitation and surprise to me. We love horror, we love the gore, the spooky spooky factor, all of that and with a show like this, I wasn’t expecting horror in that fashion. Yes, we’ll see some blood from draining a victim but to see Lestat (Sam Reid) punch through the priest’s head and it just explodes and has this impact and I had a visceral reaction. I remember I said “Oh my God” at that and then Lestat had blood all over his face and mouth and that sealed the deal for me. Like oh, this show is not afraid to be messy and show the blood and gore factor.
4) Cast and Crew Passion: What I love about the show is that you can see the excitement and passion for the show and how everything can/will come together weave its way through the cast and crew. And I find that likeable and attractive to any project when the people who are involved are excited. All the interviews I’ve seen and watched of the cast from both seasons, they are just elated to talk about their character and what to expect and the source material (WHICH IS FUCKING VAST) and honestly, the last time I’ve seen this in a show would be The Walking Dead (AMC, 2010-2022, spinoffs) and Yellowjackets (Showtime, 2021+) and I’m sure there are others I watch a lot of horror/thriller tv shows so that’s my wheelhouse.
5) Source Material (and outside inspiration): We like vampires in this world. It never gets old and every year it seems like there’s a new vampire show or film or book coming out because there’s so much you can explore with that concept. Anne Rice was not the first nor the last to give us vampires but we cannot sit here and deny the impact of the vampires she had created. When you think of vampires, I can guarantee most people would give out Nosferatu (2024), Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Interview with The Vampire or “a vampire” cos people have a mandela effect, Twilight (2005 book series, 2008 film series), Buffy the Vampire Slayer, maybe The Vampire Diaries and… IDK, I’d throw out other options but like that would be coming from me who consumes horror content and not the average person.
ALL of five of these total up to making IWTV very special and appealing. And it all comes down to the very first episode of a show to either entice you or you become disinterested. And I think, no, no, I KNOW this show nailed it out the part. Rewatching the episode again put me back in that space of watching these characters interact and coming together in the past and present yet the direction is good, the set and costume design is good, the writing and acting is superb, all of these elements make my art senses tingly!
It ranks high up there with NBC’s Hannibal (2013-2015) where the entire show is aesthetically pleasing, even the kills and the aftermath of said kills are artistic expressions in some capacity. I miss Hannibal, do y’all?
This is not about Hannibal but it’s just another example of a hidden gem of a show that continues to get discovered and people fall in love with it. And if you have not seen Interview, it is available on AMC+, seasons 1 and 2 are on blu-ray/dvd and if you’re more intrigued about the Immortal Universe, please read the source material and check out other shows such as Mayfair Witches (if you are interested) and the upcoming series Talamasca.
Til then, I’ll see you guys next month with TWO, count em, TWO new posts. I post every other week nowadays but I am very active on the SoH Instagram account and if you’re on tumblr, the original SoH blog is still up to check out!
Peace, chicken grease and be safe!
Shots of Horror 
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