Staff Picks - Interview with the Vampire: Claudia's Story by Ashley Marie Witter (Adult Graphic Novel)

Interview with the Vampire: Claudia's Story, art and adaptation by Ashley Marie Witter

In 19th century Louisiana, three vampires, Louis, Lestat, and Claudia, are living in a Spanish townhouse on the Rue Royale. It's an ideal place for vampires to live because between disease, poverty, and the danger of night life, nobody notices one more person disappearing here and there. The two older vampires have with them Claudia, a little girl who looks as beautiful as a porcelain doll, but is the most dangerous of all of them.

After living together in Louisiana for almost a century, the burden of immortality begins to strain their relationships and results in a serious falling out. Claudia and Louis are forced to flee the country, and embark on a journey to Europe to search for the origin of vampires. However, their curiosity puts them in over their heads and disastrous consequences follow.

While Anne Rice's original novel, Interview with the Vampire, was told from Louis's perspective, Ashley Marie Witter's graphic novel adaptation retells it from Claudia's point of view. Witter translates Rice's lush prose into ornate illustrations in antique sepia tones, punctuated with lurid splashes of red whenever there is blood in a scene. Her illustrations portray movement really well, making it seem almost like you're watching an animation. Another interesting aspect of her style is that the edges of the pages appear burnt during a scene when a building is on fire. These effects go a long way towards making you feel immersed in the story.

While some of the complexity of the original book is lost in the graphic novel format, something I really liked about this adaptation was the creative way that the illustrator imagined the ending. This key plot element happens offstage in the original, but is depicted in a poignant and bittersweet way in the graphic novel. This book would appeal to anyone who is a fan of Anne Rice's books, as well as anyone who likes the horror genre.

Interview with the Vampire: Claudia's Story is shelved in the Adult Graphic Novel section under the call number GN RICE. For more recommendations on graphic novels for adults, check out our Graphic Novel book list which is curated and updated annually by our librarians.   

Taylor 
Collection Support Aide 
Post Road Library
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