New Orleans, with its eccentric, mysterious charm, is the setting for Anne Rice’s most famous novels. And ever since the release of Interview with the Vampire, thousands of gothic-lovers have been drawn to her hometown for a taste of the macabre.
Here are 5 destinations Anne Rice fans can’t miss in New Orleans.
5. Gallier House and Madame John’s Legacy
Gallier House is a restored 19th-century historic house museum located on 1132 Royal St in the French Quarter. Rice aficionados claim it’s the model for the house on Rue Royal that was home to vampires Lestat, Louis, and Claudia, described in Interview with the Vampire. Two blocks away is another historic house museum on Dumaine Street – Madame John’s Legacy, one of the oldest houses in the French Quarter, which appears in the movie version of Interview with the Vampire.
4. St. Louis Cemetery No.1
St. Louis Cemetery No.1 – New Orleans’ oldest and most famous ‘city of the dead’ – attracts some100, 000 visitors a year. This cemetery is mentioned in both Interview with the Vampire and Queen of the Damned, where it is the site of Louis’s empty tomb. With its maze of ornate above-ground tombs (a necessity in New Orleans because the city sits below sea level) the cemetery is considered one of the most haunted in the US. Some say that Rice has purchased a tomb here. And it’s believed that the renowned voodoo priestess, Marie Laveau is buried in one of the tombs. Because of a spate of vandalism visitors now have to take a guided tour.
3. French Quarter Restaurants
There are various points of interest for Rice fans in the upper end of the French Quarter near Canal Street. Several characters in her books grab a bite to eat at Galatoire’s on Bourbon Street, and in The Witching Hour, two characters dine at The Oyster Bar on the same street. The St. Luis Hotel on Bienville St. may have been the inspiration for the “new Spanish hotel” featured in Interview with the Vampire.
2. Anne Rice’s House
Readers (and fans of the movies) love to see where their favorite author grew up, lived and wrote. And in the early days fans flocked to see Anne Rice’s house in the Garden District, a Greek Revival-Italianate mansion at 1239 First Street. Scores of people trying to commune with spirits hung around for days, which Rice apparently encouraged, throwing lavish Halloween parties. She lives in California now but fans still come here to honor her.
1. Lafayette Cemetery No. 1
Lafayette Cemetery No 1 is another old and historic New Orleans cemetery and has over a thousand tombs. This aboveground burial site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Mayfair witches and Lestat have fictional tombs here.
This is a frequent setting in Anne Rice’s work – as a roaming ground for Lestat and Claudia in Interview with the Vampire, and the graveyard for the Mayfairs in The Witching Hour. If you get hungry, you can cross the street and visit Commander’s Palace on 1403 Washington Avenue, which was the favorite restaurant of the Mayfair family.
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