I Suffered Through The Witching Hour by Anne Rice So You Don't Have To. 

_The Witching Hour_ is my all-time favorite novel. It’s a nightmare that surrounds a love story and a family story and its darkness, its sense of history and culture, and its extreme length are what I love most about it. It’s scary to think that all the events in the novel that have to do with the Mayfair family of witches...the good and the bad and the horrible...wouldn’t have happened if Suzanne hadn’t conjured Lasher in that field in Scotland, allowing him to have complete control over the family’s existence from that point on. From Suzanne on down, Lasher engineered every following generation-their conceptions, their births and their deaths. I think it’s brilliant.

A phenomenal book for people who love their stories rich and complex and bizarre and beautiful. I hope no one listens to anyone who tells them not to give it a try.

The Witching Hour and The Feast of All Saints are her best. I adore them.

Read them all 30 years ago. When the series came out, I got the audiobook to refresh myself. At 44 now, I’m wondering who thought it was ok for me to read this at 14?? 😂 Also, I’ll see your flowers in the attic and raise you one Mayfair witch series

This is my favorite book of all time just like many others have said on here. I read it 27 years ago when I was about 31 years old and I just reread it recently to refresh my memory because of the tv series. I still loved every bit of it. The first time I actually read all 965 pages and loved it so much that I would literally read it every minute I had free in my single mom life with 3 children and to the point of exhaustion and falling asleep every night until I was finished reading it. The second time I listened to it on audio and enjoyed it just as much and did the exact same only this time it was easier because I didn't have to actually sit down to read it. I will say it is a special type of book series though. It really goes deep into the history of The Mayfair Witches but it takes you there with every word.

I really like this one. My favorite part is the history, but felt that Rowan and Michael's relationship has always felt rushed. I return to this every few years and always enjoy it.

Personally, this is my favorite series by Anne Rice. Everyone has different tastes, though.

REALLY? Lol. I’m shocked. This book is wonderful! I’ve read it twice and will probably read it again. It’s beautifully written. Unique.

WOW. I loved every minute of reading that book! :)

I loved The Witching Hour. A great read

It's a great book. The whole series is awesome!

You guys are insane. This series is amazing.

Witching Hour, Lasher, and Taltos must be read in order as Anne wrote the trilogy. Anne lived in the home and the restoration details were from her actual renovation of that Garden District Mansion. ( I went there in 1988 it was fabulous and Anne was gracious). These are my favorite of all her works. Disregard this review and decide for yourself.

I'm a fan of Mrs.Anne Rice's work (may she RIP). IMO, the reader must like or enjoy history in order to really appreciate how long and detailed her books are (not all of them). She was very accurate with the times and descriptions she was focusing on. I admit that at times I got anxious to skip the historical details just to get back to the plot, like "get to the point Edna.." lol However I do think it was important. I enjoy it. Interested to know of others opinions about Lasher and Taltos. The complement of thetrilogy. 🍒

I really liked how in depth the history was, and I have never read something like this before. But I didn't care too much about Rowan and Michele's story since I was enthralled with the history.

For some reason I loved this book. I don't even know why! I felt like I was high as a kite the entire time, but I was engaged and had fun with the weirdness.

Gotta say, i love this book, my favorite from Anne Rice, but still love the video really fun and i gotta agree with your take is wild and not for everybody, kinda want you to read the other 2 so you do more recaps like this one :D

As soon as the show was announced, I remembered the whole trilogy of books, and went, "Y I K E S". Because Game of Thrones/House of the Dragon is one thing, but Rice at her most gothically demented is something else. Also I had forgotten about the demon man-baby being in this book. I hope you enjoyed that bottle! I think you needed it.

I loved it! My favorite of all her books ! Yes moments I struggled a bit the alien Taltos stuff got a weird and the man with baby skin but it was bizarre and wonderful! I miss Anne rice bless her!

This was my favorite one out of the Mayfair series, yes it was a long read but wow I flew threw it I couldn’t put it down

Sorry you didn't like it.. But like any book it's not for anybody. Some of us love weird books.... I read them like 20 yrs ago. I loved them.. They aren't as good as the Vampire Chronicals but few books are. I do think hate and gross are harsh words.

Read it as a teen. Read Black Water by Michael McDowell as an adult. Mayfair is tween version of Blackwater. Loved it completely in the 90's - not so much as an adult.

I agree with you 100M%. I don't think that I have EVER read a less satisfying book. 1. Lasher is supposed to be the family "demon." He's the "villain" of the series. But Lasher doesn't do anything worse than any member of the family does on their own. He's practically a saint compared to some of the family members. One might assume that (as a demon) Lasher is the corrupting force behind the family's malevolent behavior. But, when one considers that they are a family of rich, elitist, witches from the American south, it isn't a grand leap to presume that they'd have some fucked up skeletons in their closets with or without Lasher. 2. I wasn't personally offended by all the rape and incest. I think that AR was painting a literary portrait of American blue bloods. As it is with royalty, the Mayfair power is in the purity of the lineage. That said, 99.99999% of the descriptive rapes and incestuous relations add nothing to the plot. The back stories (prior to Julien) are entirely unnecessary. AR takes whole chapters to lay out what could have been said on a single page (if it had to be said at all). 3. Rowan is the smartest idiot EVER. Fully aware that she holds the power in their relationship, and fully aware that Lasher has been rebuffed by other Mayfairs. She goes the absolute LONGEST WAY around to killing a demon that she can easily choose to ignore (or magically neuter, or psychically imprison, etc). If only her husband had a friend affiliated with an organization of psychics and spellcrafters who also might have a beef with the demon connected to the deaths of at least 3 of their own. 4. The nigh-endless droning on the scenery has ALWAYS been the most aggravating thing about AR's books. One page has the reader immersed and on edge. The next 3 chapters go on-and-on about how the character feels about how the scenery looks. I remember reading Tale of the Body Thief, and wondering if it had been published by a travel agency trying to sell European and South American packages. Please don't get me wrong. I mostly ❤️ AR's stories. I go WAY back with her books. I think that the Mayfair series had all the ingredients for greatness. It just missed the mark by 1000 miles. I sincerely hope that the TV series reworks the recipe before airing.

Great review! I personally love this book, it’s basically an event in itself. Lol I really enjoyed the whole witch family backstory, but I get that it’s not for everyone. Hold on to your hat for the next couple books in the series, they get WILD! But no matter what, I always enjoy your commentary. This is a fun channel to watch, your personality really shines through.

I think this is a beautiful book that could have benefited by a good deal of editing. Like 400 pages of fluff could be stripped away without affecting the story.

I've read Ms.Rice ...11 yr old girls seducing grown men,the amount of rape...incest...a man could never get away with this subject matter

I love this novel, but it is most definitely not for everyone. Hell, I dont think it's for like 75% of the population 🙃🤓 A good friend once asked my top 5 favorite books, and "The Wtching Hour" is one of them. He asked if he should read it and I said, "No. I don't think you'll gel with it." He looked perplexed. So I said, "Look. I don't want you to think differently of me. You'll read it and question what kind of person I am. You'll question our entire friendship 😂

"How are they coming out people still?" 🤣🤣That's the plot!

Anne Rice's writing style is rich and hypnotic. If you have an appreciation for words and developing a mood and atmosphere in a complex story, she does an excellent job. Absolutely if you are against mature and taboo topics, skip this book. If you want a supernatural story that is well written and epic that will haunt you indefinitely, this is your book.

Thanks for the video! I've never read the book and as my only "preparation" for watching the show (episode 1+2 were pretty decent imo) I read the synopsis on wikipedia. After reading so many good reviews about the book everywhere I wanted to at least give the audiobook a try (no time for actively reading 1000 pages atm) but, as you said, it's 50 hours! Yeah... nope. I think I'll just continue with my Vampire Chronicles re-read because as crazy and sometimes even lengthy (Blood & Gold...) they get, they aren't even half as bad as 1000 pages about witch history and remodeling a house!

I really hope you do the next 2 books. I want to remember what happened, but don't really want to have to reread all of that insanity, lmao. Your boozy recaps are a delight, though!

I'm so glad you did this, but also surprised you hated it! I kept hearing good things about it. (One day I'll get around to it myself...) I have high hopes for the show, though, after how well they handled IwtV. Very curious to see how they update this! I hope you do read the next two books in this side series... I guess it all does tie back to later books in the Vampire Chronicles (I didn't make it past the Vampire Armand myself). In any case, we can't thank you enough for the service you do for us fans! So much more fun watching you recap than anyone else, and you do a great job covering the important things. Thank you for throwing yourself under these literary buses for us. 😂

Im on page 400 and im struggling to make my way through it. The incest alone makes me not want to read anymore

I read the book 30 years ago and forgot how crazy it is!!!!

The history of the Mayfair witches is the story because it sets the pattern of Lasher’s interaction with the members of the family. I don’t know how that’s the thing you hated. The story isn’t linear. This review is ridiculous!

I read this and I can't remember most of what you're talking about. I must have blocked it out to preserve my sanity.

I loved this book and book series. I loved it better than the Vampire Series. I absolutely hate the tv show. The producers have done a horrible job. The tv series of Interview With a Vampire have done a wonderful job. It is a class act series. Mayfair is cheaply made, bad acting and the story is fan fiction

I'm reading through this book currently, and it's very slow going. I'm not even sure I like the book, but it's interesting enough for me to keep going. Hopefully it gets better. This is my first Ann Rice book, and I think perhaps I shouldn't have started with this first.

Thank you for your service. I was really into Anne Rice when I was younger, and I read probably all the vampire novels, but I remember trying to read this one and wasn't able to make it very far, so I appreciate the summary, you made it really fun!

I loved this book so much when I read it at age 20. But liked the sequels less. But I can understand people who are uncomfortable with all the incest and non consensual sex. But it is the whole reason for the story of Lasher. He was using selective breeding and eugenics to create a witch strong enough and magical enough to birth Lasher into this world.

I loved the book! Anne Rice is a great writer.

I've read it some 30 years ago, and i remember enjoying it a lot

I had to reread this book twice to get my head wrapped around it! The long boring periods was what lost me, but I finally got through it. I then read Lasher and Taltos. I think the last two are better than the first one. If I could have alcohol, I would have been drinking too. This was a LONG LONG LONG book!! 😉

Thanks for reading these books cause I can never get thru them.

Nope. IMHO, Anne Rice can write circles around Diana Gabaldon. What's horrifying, is AMC making the series. It totally needs to be GOT epic. These books are Anne Rice classic. You want nicer? Go read Dr. Suess.

I agree that parts definitely dragged but i thought it was great 💯🔥

I’m not even half way thru and trying to find the strength and motivation to continue and this video didn’t help at all but boy was it fun to watch thank you! I’m reading like 3 other books rn just to avoid this one ahaha maybe I’ll truly give up, we’ll see.

I LOOOOVE the book. Let's just try to analyze and understand that the minor age and incest happened during the early century time when it was still normal remember the marrying age was 13 or 14 and it's normal to marry among relatives with the royals and aristocrats. So I think most of Anne Rice books, those happened during the era when it was still considered normal

Yeah my brother got me this book for Xmas. - he only knew I liked Anne Rice. I never enlightened him to the plot.

I read the books around 20 years ago...I love the books but I also love your way of summarizing it. This was soooo entertaining and "man baby demon" is killing me 😀

Thank you!! So I watched the series and it was great... can't wait for the next season! I guess the series is better than the book! Where does Anne Rice get these stories!!

Thank you for reading and then your take on it, cuz i would have hated wasting my time on it.

The book was great and the series was good, and it didn't bother me that the screen adapters took liberties with the characters. ..it's subjective and all to one' s taste..but one should understand when making a screen adaptation there are time constraints, and some other necessary changes that have to made to turn a book series into a TV series...so many details in a book have to eliminated or embellished to fit into the format of a screen adaptation...yes those who know the book will know every nuance of the main characters, however a viewing audience has much less patience than a reading audience, and in that way, on occasion, changes in characters must made...both my wife and I loved this AMC series .my wife liked it so much l, she bought the books and is reading them...I read the books 20 years ago, and loved them.

I really liked the whole book... until the very end when Lasher steals the baby. I wanted Rowan & Michael to defeat the centuries old spirit soooo much 💔 It felt like a setup for the sequels 🙄

Omg I loved that book! Now the other 2 books not so much. Anne Rice is super descriptive all of her books are like that sometimes I just had to skip over some of that.

I'm team Vampire Chronicles but I'm keen on more of Anne Rice's amazing books

I have 8 hours left in the Audiobook and I started it in January... I kept putting it down and coming back to it because literally... NOTHING... Happens in the story for a good while. Now it's the last book I need to finish to complete the year. They say Anne Rice is an amazing Author... If this is true then I fail to see it.

It's my most read book

I loved this book.

I was listening to the audiobook, and I was starting to get bored so i looked for a summary. Good thing I did. I dont think i want to read or listen to the next two books. Thanks for the summary!

Anne Rice eats and loves mythology

Idk how I would feel about it today, but I read it at 16 and liked it back then. I read so many Anne Rice starting then until 21.

I read Lasher before The Witching Hour (but after watching the Mayfair Witches on AMC and thinking holy hell this is crazy, how nuts was the series??) and after Lasher I felt like I might need to go to church (or have an exorcism maybe??) for the first time in over a decade. With that being said, The Witching Hour wasn’t as bad as Lasher but it’s still yucky as hell at times. And yes, listening to the audiobook is a slog at times when it becomes a history lesson. I will say this tho, Anne Rice clearly fell in love with the Mayfair family while she was writing.

Thanks for this wonderful review! As a budding gay highschooler in the 90s, I devoured everything Anne Rice then and remember being more into the witches than even the vampires (though my favorite remains her one-off about the castrati, "Cry to Heaven"). And I'd been considering whether to try a re-read for the show, but I suspect that, for the reasons you gave, I wouldn't find it as engrossing in my 40s. Just as with the vampire chronicles, I remember being really into the series until I hit one book where things really went off a cliff (a Rice hallmark) and with the witches I think it might have been one of Lasher's backstory books.....

I love all things Anne Rice and her son Christopher is an excellent writer too.

mate. i loved it when i was 14. i tried to listen to the audiobook this week (aged 40) and i could not. for so many reasons.

Why do you say you suffer through these books anne rice's works are brilliant

Ive read a lot of books over the years and this is my favorite book ever. Thanks for the review. Youre fun!

So, after binge watching the first season of THE MAYFAIR WITCHES, I've decided to reread THE WITCHING HOUR!!!

Even though I loved this book, I really enjoyed your take and summary! Some of these comments are so unnecessarily hateful. I loved the book but everything you said is absolutely 💯 percent true, it’s gross and dark and awful, and while I enjoy all these elements in books, especially AR books (I ABSORB AR books) this book did NOT have to be this long! It definitely dragged in parts of the story. Still loved it though. Great video!

I'm rereading the Bantam Books paperback edition of THE WITCHING HOUR which is 1038 pages long!

It’s fabulous

About 300 pages in, I came here trying to decide whether to finish. I don't enjoy the history of the witches in letter form part and just not engaged in the story. Having listened to your summary I'm happy not to slog through the rest of it, loved her Vampire books, oh well.

No suffering through it at all! Anne Rice is the matriarch of witchy-vampire stories. Even if the Movie/TV version can’t do them Justice. The Witching Hour was amazing. I read it more than 20 years ago and was amazed how the TV show has some of the optics exactly how they were in my head. Preparing to read it again, as well as Taltos and Lasher.

It's about Enoch

Yep

The wine bottle drinking😂. Hahaha

Phew I was worried about all the spoilers but the tv show is nothing like the books but it sort of follows the plot of the book oh well it still made the tv show easy to understand thanks

I’m glad I read it but it was so hard to get through…and I didn’t care about Rowan and Michael’s relationship at all and that’s such a big part lol

I'm so glad you made this video - I got ~4 hours into the 50!!! hour audiobook and I just couldn't do it anymore. I've been reading a lot of Anne Rice lately, and I think my main takeaway is that she's really excellent at setting a mood and building lore, but I truly hate the way she builds her characters, especially characters in a modern day setting. Michael and Rowan felt so emotionally empty and honestly both are kind of awful. I realize now that the pro-life stuff in the beginning was foreshadowing for the horrid man-baby-demon ending, and it seems like AR's views on abortion evolved since she wrote this book, but I hated the ghoulish descriptions of made up methods of stem cell research, and how Michael claimed to be supportive of a woman's right to choose, but not when it came to his own partner! Also why does everyone have to be fabulously wealthy in every book?? Rowan was obsessed with Michael's down-to-earth working class ruggedness, but like...he wasn't working class? He lived rent free in San Francisco and had his college tuition paid for by his mom's rich family. No one in AR's books actually has to work lol, I guess that would be too boring. Anyways, thank you for this, I was curious about the plot but not enough to actually finish the book 😂

Its one of the best novels ever written

Thanks for your service! 😂🫡 I started this book last Christmas and just wasn’t as compelled as I was with Interview so I dropped off but meant to go back to it…. I knew the ending included Lasher & a baby but like you said never would’ve guessed that womb entering possession resulting in adult baby man twist hahah. (Reminds me of the recent horror movie “Men” and it’s birth sequence). It actually makes more sense of the hamfisted anti abortion type passages in the beginning of the book (from both Rowan and Michael if I remember correct)… to then have Michael attempting to kill his own demon kid. Kinda turns things on it’s head. Tbh what I enjoyed most was the haunting atmospheric descriptions of the house and New Orleans lol so the house renovations actually excite me. I may try to push through for that 😂… please do finish the series though, your videos are so entertaining and I’d love to hear your thoughts. Thanks for the content! ♥️ Also can’t wait to hear your thoughts on the show! I might try it out but wanna finish the book first… I actually really liked Lightner and Michael as their own characters so I’m disappointed they’ve merged those two. I also hope Michael’s alcoholism is included somehow? Since it was refreshingly honest (at least in the beginning of the book) and Anne Rice of course herself struggled with it for many years. Addiction is like it’s own demonic possession! A real world horror for people and their loved ones. So I liked that parallel in this book.

I've tried to read this book on three different occasions, really it starts off great, about a comatose women named Deidre an a curious shrink, an then it goes on an on an on about a guy named Michael curry an his whole life biography I got bored out of my mind an gave up.

I hate the book so much. I'm afraid to watch the show. However, I do think they change the source material. I don't see the network wanting to be "faithful" to the book. LOL

Unlike most people, I read this series before the Vampire Chronicles and it permanently cemented my love for Anne Rice. Everyone should read these books. It's a very rich, complex, story. I believe you let your abhorrence of the sexual aspects of the storyline--sentiments you made quite clear within the first 30 seconds of your review--color your opinion of the book. You also whined about how long it was, but i read all 3 books in one weekend so maybe wine and books dont really mix? Edit: Also, these books are meant to be READ, not listened to. I believe the audiobooks probably are terrible, but I also believe that's likely due more to narration than story content.

I love how this is a part of the vampire chronicles

Loved this book ❤

Sounds to me like you actually enjoyed this book. 😊

I love love love your story-telling!!!!!

This is my favorite book right now. I have book hang over I just finished it. Help. This is all i did for like 4 days in all my free time 😂

Firstly we have to apologize and thank you at the same time, that you read this book for us, so we didn't have to. Thank you for reading it, and sorry for the trauma you endured. 😳😳... just the ending with the, Adult, man, baby, demon lover was bad enough, and the fact the book was over 900 pages long. .. sheese... that's traumatizing and crazy.. 😳 well Amanda you're not only patient but BRAVE, to make it through this book. But I'm glad you read it, 📚 I was CURIOUS as to what Anne Rice would take over 900 pages to say about a family of bizarre 🧙🏼‍♀️ witches, but now we know. I enjoyed your review. Thanks again.. 😊.. 📚...

have you read the other two in this trilogy?

I know that I read this when it came out, but I had ZERO memory of it until watched this. I think I might have just blocked it out as some bizarre fever dream or something. I think my brain just rebelled against remembering it, as I probably had as painful experience as you did when I read it. Hopefully the show will be more enjoyable than that slog of a book! 😆

Oookay. * puts The witching hour in my Sell pile * Also. If your sweater says Make it ho-ho-ho, im gonna be pissed 😂

It's ab Enoch

Obviously you do you, my comment is a positive critique and please take it as such. The drinking from the bottle is a bit to much. I felt uncomfortable, like instead of listening the story I kept asking myself why doesn't she have a glass or why doesn't she put that bottle down?

I really did not like this book at all ☹️ took me two tries to read it. Maybe the show will improve upon it?

I read this book when I was ten, the month it was published. It definitely had some weird effect on me, LOL. At the time I just thought: "Adults are weird! Is this what being an adult is like?"

Honestly micheal and rowans relationship is just I don’t know it’s weird like I could definitely see them together what i didn’t like or get is what happened when they are married and everything between that and micheal and Mona is just weird as hell i mean if someone cheated on me I would’ve left them and rowan just accepts Mona I couldn’t stand her in the second book.

Interesting. You know when a book is bad when it makes you take a bottle to the face :). The Vampire Lestat was a 22 hour audiobook. After listening to the first 45 minute chapter I was drained. Considering this book was a 50 hour audiobook, I can only imagine it was beyond draining to take everything in. Thank you for enduring the obscurer and macabre nature of Anne Rice's books so we can all be entertained.