"Anne Rice's The Witching Hour" (A Witching Hour - Anne Rice)

Member Name: Matt2050

Product:	A Witching Hour - Anne Rice
Date:	06/06/02 (278 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great fluid writing, Fantastic ending, Character are brilliant etched

Disadvantages: A tad slow, Couple of boring stretches, Very, very long

Author Anne Rice is a spinner of yarns, a
creator or worlds. She had spun tales as
diverse as those of vampires, witches, and
mummies, along with several hardcore erotic
novels and dramatic books, such as "Cry to
Heaven" and "The Feast of All Saints". With
that in mind, let's take a look at Rice's
spawling, huge novel of witches and demons
known as "The Witching Hour", which was
published in 1990 to generally decent critic
reviews and massive book sales. And all of
that was well deserved, as I found the book
to be thrilling, a tad overlong but that can
be forgiven, and exthralling, drawing me
into it's web and holding me tight all the
way into the twilight hours, as I raced to
finish the novel.

A little history about "Witching Hour" and
Anne Rice may be in order to get into the
feel of the novel. 1976 was the year that
Rice published "Interview with the Vampire"
which I found to be an interesting, albeit
highly flawed novel about vampirism. The
storyline is interesting, but the manner in
which events are dealt was rather meandering
and unappealing. Rice continued her series
with "The Vampire Lestat", as good a book as
I have ever read in 1985. Then came the
third book, "The Queen of the Damned", which
was also good, although very much different
from "Vampire Lestat".

NOTE: There is a sequel to "Witching Hour"
titled "Lasher". Also, there is a sequel to
"Lasher" called "Taltos". These three books
form a trilogy, I they are worth reading,
but be warned, each book has it's flaws.

"The Witching Hour" is a good old fashioned
gothic horror drama about a rich old family
with many hidden secrets, demons, witches,
ghosts, murder, the supernatural, psychi
cs,
and secret organization called simply the
TALAMASCA, and an old, dark, very surely
haunted house on First Street in the Garden
District on New Orleans. These are the
strands of which Rice weaves her haunting
saga, her tapestry of rage and death, birth
and lust, and of family.

This book runs an imposing 965 pages in its
trade paperback and hardcover versions, and
it is so big and thick I was nervous that I
would start it and never be able to finish
it. Boy was I wrong as once I started it I
couldn't put it down and you shouldn't let
the book's length keep you from giving this
one a glance.

"The Witching Hour" is the sprawling sage of
the Mayfair family; they are a family of
witches, haunted, so it seems, by something
they can "The Man", who is later revealed to
be a spirit/possible demon of sorts by the
name of "Lasher". Forever linked to the
family is an old, crumbling mansion on First
Street in the Garden District of New Orleans
and a emerald necklace heirloom, which is
similarly connected to the spirit Lasher.
And this is how we begin the novel.

Deidre Mayfair, 12th witch in the Mayfair
dynasty is dying, and her daughter Rowan
Mayfair, a beautfiful blonde neurosurgeon
from San Francisco, adopted by cousins at
birth, returns to discover her roots, where
she came from. Almost immeditealy Lasher
makes contact with Rowan, but why and what
he wants is unknown to her.

Michael Curry, a carpenter who was saved
from drowning in the San Francisco Bay by
none other than Rowan Mayfair, the two have
an intense, brief affair before Rowan leaves
for New Orleans, follows Rowan to the First
Street mansion in New Orleans and the two
are soon wed, and Rowan discovers she is
pregnant.

Menacing dreams begin plauging Rowan as she
slowly fi
nds she is the 13th witch in the
Mayfair dynasty, she now wears the emerald
necklace heirloom, and she keeps flashing on
a keyhole, a huge doorway of sorts. She
doesn't know what is means exactly, but she
comes to the realization that it is directly
influenced by Lasher.

On Christmas Eve, Rowan banishes Michael
from the house and awaits Lasher, for he
will reveal her true purpose in returning to
New Orleans, and this haunting, melodic
story comes to a close with a bang!

Anne Rice writes brilliantly poetic with her
novel, filling it with intensely likeable
characters, heartstopping violence and gore,
a smattering of sexuality, and hauntings of
the scariest kinds. Truly, once you start
the novel, Rice's writing will grab you, put
you through an emotional wringer, and once
it's over, you'll thank her for it.

Many readers have claimed that Rice is too
descriptive in her writing, and true, her
over descriptive nature tends to slow the
pace of the book every now and then, it is
never damaging to the whole of the book. I
actually liked the descriptions, as it took
me to New Orleans, San Francisco, and other
incredible locations around the globe.

The tone of "Witching Hour" is dark, very
dark, maybe too dark for some. I however am
in the camp which admire Rice for taking
the material and weaving a horrific dream
come true for horror fans. This novel most
approaches outright horror than any other
she has written, and the mood of the novel
is accurately gothic.

Another thing I loved about this book were
the fascinating, multifaceted and complex
characters populating the pages of the yarn.
While I loved all the characters, personal
favorites of mine were few.

Rowan Mayfair is a great character, she of
the supernatural power, incredible sexuality
an
d blonde hair, and fearsome family. Her
character is affraid of her supernatural
powers, but gradually learns that if she is
to break Lasher from the family she will
have to learn how to use them.

Lasher was my personal favorite from the
entire book. He is seen as a ghost during
the whole of the book, and while he isn't
given much to do, and he certainly isn't in
much of the book, although a lot of focal
attention is paid to him through lots of
conversation, he made the book worth reading
for me.

Other characters which I found appealing to
me were Mona Mayfair, the little red head
cousin of Rowan; Aaron Lightner, an agent of
the Talamasca; Aunt Carlotta Mayfair, she of
the hardened temperament and spiteful
demeanor; and last but not least, Stella
Mayfair, the witch shot in the head during
her own swinging party by her own brother.
These are not nearly all of the characters
featured in the book, but they were the most
memorable for myself.

With "The Witching Hour" Anne Rice reached a
peak of creative momentum and critical
fanfare she has yet to top, although she has
tried countless times. After this book she
returned to her vampire chronicles, but she
eventually penned a sequel, "Lasher" which
is worth a look, although it was a bit of a
letdown after the superior "Witching Hour".

I highly recommend "Anne Rice's Witching
Hour" to readers of any given genre of
literature, and horror fans in particular.
Rice fans will surely have read it already,
but if you haven't, rush out and pick up a
copy right now. This receives my highest
recommendation. It is a fine piece of
literature, and fine book to just sit down
and immerse yourself in.

"Anne Rice's The Witching Hour" contains
descriptions of violence/gore, sex
uality,
including incest, thematic material, and for
some adult language and horrific elements.
I would not recommend children of any age
read this novel.

Summary: