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88-516: Lives of the Mayfair Witches is a trilogy of supernatural horror / fantasy novels by American novelist Anne Rice . It centers on a family of witches whose fortunes have been guided for generations by a spirit named Lasher. The series began in 1990 with The Witching Hour , which was followed by the sequels Lasher (1993) and Taltos (1994). All three novels debuted at No. 2 on The New York Times Best Seller list . Some characters from

176-508: A Mayfair cousin, he and Rowan sharing lines of descent from the male witch Julien Mayfair. Rowan and Michael marry and conceive a child. As the designee of the Mayfair legacy, Rowan assumes control of the family's affairs. Soon the mysterious man reveals himself to her: he is Lasher, a spirit with wicked motives who has plagued the Mayfairs for centuries. His wish is to be made flesh so that he may walk

264-414: A Novelette, and Ten Other Stories . During World War I these books were cheap to obtain and helped establish Knopf as an American firm publishing European works. Their first bestseller was a new edition of Green Mansions , a novel by W. H. Hudson which went through nine printings by 1919 and sold over 20,000 copies. Their first original American novel, The Three Black Pennys by Joseph Hergesheimer ,

352-414: A Taltos. Rowan herself has a genetic abnormality, polyploidy , or 92 chromosomes , which is probably what made Lasher's quasi-supernatural birth at all possible in the first place. In the past, Julien finds himself to be the only known male Mayfair witch, and learns how to manipulate the spirit Lasher. Julien impregnates numerous Mayfair women as part of Lasher's scheme of inbreeding, which Julien believes

440-540: A career that included working with John Updike and Anne Tyler . Pat Knopf left his parents' publishing company in 1959 to launch his own, Atheneum Publishers , with two other partners. The story made the front page of The New York Times . In a 1957 advertisement in The Atlantic Monthly , Alfred A. Knopf published the Borzoi Credo. The credo includes a list of what Knopf's beliefs for publishing including

528-464: A deep coma. Lasher tells Michael and Aaron his story of his past life. Born to Anne Boleyn , the second wife of Henry VIII of England , and a man from Donnelaith, Scotland, Lasher is believed to be a saint known as Ashlar. He is quickly taken away by his father, who is the son of the Earl of Donnelaith, and from there he is sent to Italy to become a priest. Lasher returns to Scotland after Elizabeth I takes

616-426: A dynamic new vampire personality with whom to play." Published on October 28, 2003, Blood Canticle debuted at No. 5 on The New York Times Best Seller list. Random House Audio originally released abridged audiobook adaptations of all three Mayfair Witches novels on audio cassette, with narrators Lindsay Crouse ( The Witching Hour ), Joe Morton ( Lasher ), and Tim Curry ( Taltos ). They were re-released as

704-412: A female Taltos he has acquired. The excommunications of Aaron and Yuri, as well as Aaron's death, were a ruse perpetrated by Stuart to keep the men from interfering with his plans. Ashlar meets the female Taltos, Tessa, and disappoints Stuart with the news that Tessa is too advanced in age to bear children. Rowan uses her strong telepathic abilities to cause Stuart to have a fatal stroke. Yuri takes Tessa to

792-403: A field and gives birth to Emaleth, a female Taltos. Rowan's last words to Emaleth are to find Michael, which she sets out to do, thinking that Rowan has died. Rowan is found and is rushed to a nearby hospital in a state of toxic shock . An emergency hysterectomy is performed to save her life, eliminating any chance of her ever giving birth again. She is taken home to Michael, where she remains in

880-666: A powerful old family in New Orleans, asks for Lestat's help to get rid of Goblin, an increasingly malevolent spirit who has plagued Quinn for his entire life. Quinn recalls his youth, his family, and his forced transformation into a vampire by Petronia. His stories allow Lestat to better understand the reach and power of Goblin, and clue in Lestat to the fact that Quinn is connected to the Mayfair family of witches. After his own failure defeating Goblin, Lestat asks Merrick for assistance. Meanwhile, Quinn has fallen in love with heiress Mona Mayfair, and

968-701: A pupil and friend of Aaron who has also been excommunicated by the Talamasca. Through Yuri they meet the other Ashlar and his friend Samuel, who is one of the Little People of Donnelaith, dwarf-like Taltos who never fed on their mother's milk and were subsequently stunted. Ashlar kills Anton Marcus, the Superior General of the Talamasca, for his part in Aaron's death. Another Talamasca Scholar, Stuart Gordon, has been plotting with his pupils Marklin and Tommy to unite Ashlar with

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1056-546: A supernatural and a psychological interpretation of the events described. In this example, ambiguity adds to the effects of both the supernatural and the psychological. A similar example is Charlotte Perkins Gilman 's story " The Yellow Wallpaper ". Supernatural film is a film genre that encompasses themes related to gods, goddesses, ghosts, apparitions, spirits, miracles, and other extraordinary phenomena. These themes are often blended with other film genres, such as comedy , science fiction , fantasy , and horror . Historically,

1144-513: A three-book "Value Collection" on CD in 2005, and digitally in 2013. In 2015, new unabridged audiobook adaptations were released digitally by Random House Audio for all three novels in the trilogy, performed by Kate Reading . Development rights to The Lives of the Mayfair Witches were still held by Warner Bros in December 2019, when Rice began shopping a package combining film and TV rights to both The Vampire Chronicles and Mayfair Witches . Rice

1232-644: A total of 16 weeks on the list. Publishers Weekly wrote, "Pulsing with a persistent sense of foreboding, the novel is soggy with meandering, atmospheric prose that verges on softcore porn." Alexander Theroux of the Chicago Tribune wrote, "because this is a novel that is empty of style and color, it is turgid with story. It is a cat's cradle of unrealized characters, 25 or so stick figures who say things and disappear and not only are never vivid but also are never described." Some Mayfair Witches characters cross over to Rice's The Vampire Chronicles , specifically in

1320-403: A total of 17 weeks on the list. Publishers Weekly noted of the novel, "Long sections ramble without a compelling point of view, and are dampened by stock elements: clichéd wind storms, sexy witches, the endless supply of money the Talamasca has at its disposal. At times, Lasher is too much in evidence (rattling the china, gnashing his teeth) to be frightening. But embedded in this antique demonism

1408-401: A total of 22 weeks on the list. Writing for The New York Times , Patrick McGrath found Lasher's origins "intriguing", and described the many characters in the extended Mayfair family as "all vividly sketched, all gloriously weird." He noted the novel's "tireless narrative energy" and "relentless inventiveness", but also called it "bloated" with repetitive storytelling. McGrath also criticized

1496-523: A vampire, Merrick reveals that from the beginning, she used her magic to lure David and Louis to her in hopes of receiving the Dark Gift of vampirism. The novel introduces Merrick Mayfair, a powerful witch who is a cousin of the Mayfairs in the Mayfair Witches series. Published on October 17, 2000, Merrick debuted at No. 2 on The New York Times Best Seller list. Tarquin "Quinn" Blackwood , heir to

1584-489: A vampire. Lestat declines, pained though he is, because she is a guiding force for the Mayfair family and he cannot take her away from it. Rowan and Mona are major characters in the novel, and Publishers Weekly called Blood Canticle "the complete unification of the Mayfair witch saga with that of the Vampire Chronicles". The publication added that "the vampirization of young Mona, a true child of our times, gives Rice

1672-562: A well-known supernatural Internet character is the Slenderman , a tall faceless being associated with the forest. Another well-known internet urban legend is the Backrooms , an endless liminal space of moist carpet, humming fluorescent lights and monotone yellow wallpaper. The Backrooms are commonly depicted as being inhabited by supernatural monsters known as Entities. Alfred A. Knopf Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. ( / k n ɒ p f / )

1760-633: A witch dies and the power passes on." The publication called Lasher "another vast, transcontinental saga of witchcraft and demonism in the tradition of Gothic melodrama." The Mary Sue described the series as "half narrative, half exposition of the entire family tree". The website also noted the "overuse of incest" and casual treatment of horror and violence, which "permeates the Gothic atmosphere." Publishers Weekly wrote that "cutting-edge gene mapping intertwines with ancient mysteries" in Taltos . Alexander Theroux of

1848-549: Is a Taltos, a female she names Morrigan. She runs off with Mayfair cousin Mary Jane to Fontevrault, an old plantation sunken into the marsh that has been owned by a separate branch of the Mayfair family for generations. Mary Jane's grandmother, Dolly Jean, helps deliver the new Taltos. Mona names Morrigan the designee of the Mayfair legacy, and she and Mary Jane make plans for the future in case Rowan and Michael try to kill Morrigan. In London, Michael and Rowan meet up with Yuri Stefano,

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1936-449: Is a contemporary tale of incest and family abuse that achieves resonance." The publication added that "Rice's characters rise above the more wooden plot machinations with an ironic and modern complexity", and that "the novel is compelling through its exhaustive monumentality. Taltos is the third novel in Rice's Lives of the Mayfair Witches trilogy. It was published by Knopf in 1994. Ashlar,

2024-400: Is a means to keep power in the family but is actually the way by which Lasher hopes to resurrect himself in flesh. Rowan returns to America with Lasher, who sets out to impregnate other female members of the Mayfair family. All attempts are unsuccessful as the women immediately miscarry and hemorrhage to death. Rowan manages to escape Lasher, and after hitchhiking to Louisiana, she collapses in

2112-508: Is a sister imprint of Random House. In October 2012, Bertelsmann entered into talks with rival conglomerate Pearson plc , over the possibility of combining their respective publishing companies, Random House and Penguin Group . The merger was completed on 1 July 2013 and the new company is Penguin Random House . Bertelsmann owned 53% of the joint venture while Pearson owned 47%. At the time of

2200-498: Is also one of very few people who has seen the mysterious Lasher, a ghost who haunts the Mayfairs. Lasher is described as "a slim, pale, elegant figure with dark eyes and dark hair and a hypnotically seductive power over any [of the Mayfairs] reckless enough to entertain him." Lasher, whom Publishers Weekly describes as "devil, seducer, spirit", is a demon linked to the Mayfairs for generations. Summoned by Scottish witch Suzanne Mayfair in

2288-537: Is an American publishing house that was founded by Blanche Knopf and Alfred A. Knopf Sr. in 1915. Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers in addition to leading American literary trends. It was acquired by Random House in 1960, and is now part of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group division of Penguin Random House which

2376-521: Is genetically a non-human, ancient species called the Taltos, which is "the superhuman result of the crossbreeding of two human witches who possess an extra chromosome". The infant Lasher immediately grows to adulthood, and Publishers Weekly describes the creature as "almost a monster ... capable of beastly behavior fueled by an extraordinary sex drive." He rapes Rowan repeatedly in Lasher to create more Taltos, but

2464-410: Is heartbroken. The novel brings Mayfair Witches character Mona Mayfair into The Vampire Chronicles . Published on October 29, 2002, Blackwood Farm debuted at No. 4 on The New York Times Best Seller list. Mona is slowly dying, afflicted with a mysterious disease brought on by the birth of Morrigan. Over time, Mona and Rowan reveal more and more about the powerful genetic plague that has haunted

2552-459: Is introduced to his daughter, Morrigan. He and Rowan accept Mona's decision to make Morrigan the designee. A frenzied Morrigan smells Ashlar on the gifts he has sent, just as he comes to the First Street house to visit. Morrigan rushes into his arms, and they run away together. Taltos debuted at No. 2 on The New York Times Best Seller list, and remained in that position for five weeks, spending

2640-455: Is now convinced did not leave willingly. Rowan, meanwhile, is essentially Lasher's prisoner. His first two attempts at impregnating her are failures ending in miscarriage, but he is successful the third time. Traveling with Lasher throughout Europe, Rowan manages to send DNA samples to colleagues in San Francisco. They discover that Lasher is a completely different species, later identified as

2728-517: Is owned by the German conglomerate Bertelsmann . The Knopf publishing house is associated with the borzoi logo in its colophon , which was designed by co-founder Blanche Knopf in 1925. Knopf was founded in 1915 by Alfred A. Knopf Sr. along with Blanche Knopf , on a $ 5,000 advance from his father, Samuel Knopf. The first office was located in New York's Candler Building . The publishing house

Lives of the Mayfair Witches - Misplaced Pages Continue

2816-427: Is revived, but upon seeing Emaleth before her, panics and screams at Michael to kill her. Michael refuses to, so Rowan grabs a gun and shoots her daughter in the head. Rowan immediately realizes what she has done, and crying for her daughter, insists that she be the one to bury her alongside Lasher. Lasher debuted at No. 2 on The New York Times Best Seller list, and remained in that position for three weeks, spending

2904-404: Is so permeated with foreboding and evil that themes like abortion and incest are merely secondary. There is Christian symbolism straight and skewed, rough sex and necrophilia." Publishers Weekly wrote that "Rice plumbs a rich vein of witchcraft lore, conjuring ... the decayed antebellum mansion where incest rules, dolls are made of human bone and hair, and violent storms sweep the skies each time

2992-400: Is the "ascendant character" of Taltos . The novel also introduces Ashlar, an ancient Taltos living in New York, whom Theroux described as a "mild seven-foot mysterioso who ... fears flying, has no soul and has a white streak of hair coming from his left temple, [and] has a brain twice the size of that of a human." Having not seen another of his kind in centuries, Ashlar is "driven essentially to

3080-399: Is the 13th such Mayfair designee, who Lasher believes will give him his chance to rejoin the living. Publishers Weekly called Lasher "both child and man at the same time", and Patrick McGrath suggested that Lasher is actually the protagonist of The Witching Hour . Lasher's plan comes to fruition at the end of The Witching Hour when he invades Rowan's unborn fetus and is reborn. The baby

3168-481: Is the second novel in Rice's Lives of the Mayfair Witches trilogy. It was published by Knopf in 1993. Rowan has disappeared and Michael, feeling betrayed by her, has sunk into a depression, helped along by the useless drugs prescribed to him after his near-drowning. The sexually adventurous Mona Mayfair, a precocious teenage cousin also descended from Julien, is a powerful witch. She seduces Michael, who snaps out of his stupor and commits himself to finding Rowan, who he

3256-568: Is violent and bloody, and Lasher enters the world as a human infant. But the hybrid baby immediately grows into a full-sized, intelligent man. Michael returns and tries to kill the creature, but Lasher is too strong and nearly drowns Michael in the pool. During this second near-death experience, Michael ends up losing the unwanted psychic sensitivity in his hands. Fearing for Michael's life, Rowan flees to Europe with Lasher. The Witching Hour debuted at No. 2 on The New York Times Best Seller list , and remained in that position for four weeks, spending

3344-411: The Chicago Tribune called Taltos "a dark and intimidating mystery" and wrote that Rice "continues the dark epic of the Mayfair witches, her saga of the occult ... that takes us on temporal and spatial journeys back through the centuries, probing plots of corruption and innocence, mortality and immortality, good and evil. The genre goes back to the Gothic novels of Ann Radcliffe and Horace Walpole ,

3432-535: The Good Neighbor policy , Blanche Knopf visited South America in 1942, so the firm could start producing texts from there. She was one of the first publishers to visit Europe after World War II. Her trips, and those of other editors, brought in new writers from Europe, South America, and Asia. Alfred traveled to Brazil in 1961, which spurred a corresponding interest on his part in South America. Penn Publishing Company

3520-435: The tropes of supernatural fiction with those of detective fiction . Supernatural fiction and drama has supernatural elements blended into a story about the characters' internal conflict and/or a dramatic conflict between the protagonist, human and/or supernatural world, society and between groups. The author of The Rise of Supernatural Fiction, 1762–1800 states that the origins of supernatural fiction come from Britain in

3608-408: The 1600s, Lasher "goes on to bedevil her descendants down to the present day, seeing in them the means of fulfilling his ghastly and unnatural ambitions." Under Lasher's influence, the Mayfairs become an enormously wealthy family of witches, able to "attract and manipulate unseen forces." The demon seduces each new designee and orchestrates incestuous unions among the family, with ulterior motives. Rowan

Lives of the Mayfair Witches - Misplaced Pages Continue

3696-464: The 20th century, supernatural fiction became associated with psychological fiction . In this association, descriptions of events that occur are not explainable through the lenses of the natural world, leading to the conclusion that the supernatural is the only possible explanation for what has been described. A classic example of this would be The Turn of the Screw (1898) by Henry James , which offers both

3784-575: The Knopfs suggested publishing a collection of her short stories, Youth and the Bright Medusa , in 1920. Cather was pleased with the results and the advertisement of the book in The New Republic and would go on to publish sixteen books with Knopf, including their first Pulitzer Prize winner, One of Ours . Before they had married, Alfred had promised Blanche that they would be equal partners in

3872-440: The Mayfairs for generations: their connection to the Taltos, an advanced species of human to which both women have given birth. Lestat turns a dying Mona into a vampire so that she and Quinn can be together forever. While trying to prevent Mona's family from discovering her transformation, Lestat falls in love with the married Rowan, and she secretly pines for him as well. Mona adjusts to her new power. Lestat, Quinn and Mona arrive at

3960-701: The Sunshine; Merrick's mother, Cold Sandra; and the Great Nananne, a powerful witch whose very presence is enough to frighten and instill respect in David. Merrick and David recall their journey to a cave in Central America which contained malevolent spirit protecting an ancient jade mask, which allows people to see spirits as if they were corporeal. Merrick retrieves Claudia's diary from the Talamasca vaults, and makes it possible for Louis to speak with Claudia. After being made

4048-511: The Talamasca, who welcome Tessa with open arms and punish Marklin and Tommy by burying them alive. In New York, Ashlar tells Rowan and Michael the story of his long life. He explains that the Taltos once thrived peacefully on a tropical island north of the British Isles, where they had been since "The Time Before the Moon". The island's semi-active volcano reawakens, forcing the Taltos to flee south to

4136-611: The Type", which describes the history of the typeface used for the book. In addition, Knopf books date the year of the book's current printing on the title page. Knopf published textbooks until 1988, when Random House's schools and colleges division was sold to McGraw Hill . In 1991, Knopf revived the " Everyman's Library " series, originally published in England in the early 20th century. This series consists of classics of world literature in affordable hardcover editions. The series has grown over

4224-926: The Vampire , already in production at the network as part of their new Immortal Universe franchise. Mayfair Witches is written and executive produced by Esta Spalding and Michelle Ashford , and executive produced by Mark Johnson . The series stars Alexandra Daddario as Rowan Mayfair, Harry Hamlin as Cortland Mayfair, Tongayi Chirisa as Ciprien Grieve, and Jack Huston as Lasher. Recurring roles include Annabeth Gish as Deirdre Mayfair, Beth Grant as Carlotta Mayfair, Erica Gimpel as Ellie Mayfair and Jen Richards as Jojo Mayfair. The series debuted on AMC and AMC+ on January 8, 2023. Supernatural fiction In its broadest definition, supernatural fiction overlaps with examples of weird fiction , horror fiction , vampire literature , ghost story , and fantasy . Elements of supernatural fiction can be found in writing from

4312-2177: The acquisition the combined companies controlled 25% of the book business, with more than 10,000 employees and 250 independent publishing imprints and with about $ 3.9 billion in annual revenues. The move to consolidate was to provide leverage against Amazon.com and battle the shrinking state of bookstores . In 2015, Knopf celebrated its 100th anniversary by publishing a commemorative book, Alfred A. Knopf, 1915–2015: A Century of Publishing. While there have been many notable editors at Knopf there have only been four editors-in-chief: Alfred A. Knopf, Sr. , Robert Gottlieb , Sonny Mehta (who died in 2019) and Jordan Pavlin. Other influential editors at Knopf included Harold Strauss (Japanese literature), Herbert Weinstock (biography of musical composers), Judith Jones (translations, The Diary of Anne Frank, culinary texts), Peter Mendelsund (art director and book cover designer) as well as Bobbie Bristol, Angus Cameron , Ann Close, Charles Elliott, Gary Fisketjon , Lee Goerner, Ashbel Green , Carol Brown Janeway , Michael Magzis, Anne McCormick, Nancy Nicholas, Daniel Okrent , Regina Ryan, Sophie Wilkins, and Victoria Wilson . Knopf also employed literary scouts to good advantage. Alfred A. Knopf has published books by many notable authors, including John Banville , Carl Bernstein , Elizabeth Bowen , Frederick Buechner , Albert Camus , Robert Caro , Willa Cather , John Cheever , Julia Child , Bill Clinton , Michael Crichton , Miguel Covarrubias , Don DeLillo , Joan Didion , Bret Easton Ellis , James Ellroy , Martin Gardner , Kahlil Gibran , Lee H. Hamilton , Kazuo Ishiguro , John Keegan , Nella Larsen , John le Carré , Jack London , Gabriel García Márquez , Cormac McCarthy , Toni Morrison , Alice Munro , Haruki Murakami , Cynthia Ozick , Christopher Paolini , Edgar Allan Poe , Ezra Pound , Anne Rice , Dorothy Richardson , Stephen M. Silverman , Oswald Spengler , Susan Swan , Donna Tartt , Barbara W. Tuchman , Anne Tyler , John Updike , Andrew Vachss , James D. Watson , and Elinor Wylie . The logo for Knopf

4400-610: The attempts end in violent miscarriages. Rowan finally conceives and gives birth to a Taltos daughter, Emaleth, but ultimately kills her. Michael fathers another Taltos with Rowan's cousin Mona Mayfair, a daughter she names Morrigan, in Taltos . Theroux wrote, "The Mayfair witches are easily the largest dysfunctional family on earth, and yet, perhaps not surprisingly, face the same soap-opera problems of any other extended family—jealousy, sex, drink, rape, revenge, inexplicable pregnancy, sudden death, crazed children and occasional murder." Of

4488-497: The bitter cold of Scotland. They become hunter-gatherers, and occasionally see early humans, whom they sometimes keep as pets. The Taltos break off into different tribes and the largest of them, led by Ashlar, goes south to Somerset where they settle. Their peace is often disrupted by Celtic raids on the land. To adapt and live peacefully among humans, the Taltos become the Picts , and Ashlar their king. When Christianity comes to them in

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4576-411: The characterization of central human characters Rowan and Michael, writing that "they have both been so constructed that they hardly for a moment live or breathe except as structural elements serving specific design functions in the grand scheme." According to Publishers Weekly , "This massive tome repeatedly slows, then speeds when Rice casts off the Talamasca's pretentious, scholarly tones and goes for

4664-491: The company in 1934, and worked with the firm for more than fifty years, rising to take the positions of president and chairman of the board. Blanche became president in 1957 when Alfred became chairman of the board, and worked steadily for the firm until her death in 1966. Alfred Knopf retired in 1972, becoming chairman emeritus of the firm until his death in 1984. Alfred Knopf also had a summer home in Purchase, New York . Following

4752-432: The earth again in the permanent physical form of a human being, and he sets about slowly seducing Rowan. Secretly thinking that she can outwit Lasher, Rowan sends Michael away from the house on Christmas Eve. Her plan is to bind Lasher to "weak matter" which she can destroy with her mental killing power, but this backfires. Lasher enters her womb and makes himself at home in the fetus. Rowan immediately goes into labor, which

4840-461: The extended Mayfair family, McGrath noted, "Mayfairs often come to bad ends, generally either burning to death or falling from high places, and we meet many members of many generations of them". Notable Mayfairs include: Julien, "the genial dandy who can be in two places at once and start fires with his mind" and who "movingly recalls his male lovers"; Stella, "the flapper, wildly dancing the Charleston,

4928-539: The form of St Columba , Ashlar converts with more than half his tribe. But there is a conflict between the Christians and non-Christians, and war ensues. Soon only five Taltos males are left, and they all become priests, including Ashlar. Several years later, he attempts to tell his story to a fellow priest, who believes the story is blasphemy. Ashlar is disillusioned, and goes on a pilgrimage , leaving Donnelaith forever. Rowan and Michael return to New Orleans, where Michael

5016-468: The founder of a multi-million dollar toy corporation based in New York City, believes himself to be the last living Taltos. He is shocked to learn from his friend Samuel that a male Taltos has been seen in the glen of Donnelaith. Having buried Emaleth, Rowan exists in a semi-catatonic state. She walks, she bathes, she eats, but she does not speak and does not respond to those around her. Rowan is awakened by

5104-492: The genre of science fiction . Amongst academics, readers and collectors, however, supernatural fiction is often classed as a discrete genre defined by the elimination of "horror", "fantasy", and elements important to other genres. The one genre supernatural fiction appears to embrace in its entirety is the traditional ghost story . The fantasy and supernatural fiction genres would often overlap and may be confused for each other, though there exist some crucial differences between

5192-480: The ghost of their mutual ancestor Julien Mayfair warns him against making Mona a vampire. Goblin is revealed to be the spirit of Quinn's twin Gawain, who died days after being born. He is bound to Quinn, and is relentlessly jealous to experience whatever Quinn does. Merrick performs a ritual using Gawain's corpse to exorcise Goblin. She sacrifices herself by carrying the child's spirit into the hereafter with her, and Lestat

5280-409: The job of revealing the riddle of not only who and what he is but what he wants." The Witching Hour is the first novel in Rice's Lives of the Mayfair Witches trilogy. It was published by Knopf in 1990. The Mayfairs' First Street house is based on Rice's own antebellum mansion in New Orleans, with fictional events written as if taking place in specific locations in the real-world house. Rice bought

5368-412: The jugular with morbid delights, sexually charged passages and wicked, wild tragedy." Susan Ferraro of The New York Times called the novel "unquestionably absorbing" but noted, "At the end, it seems to stumble ... because the fiercely protective Michael does something completely out of character to make way for the denouement; ultimately what creaks loudest is not the haunted house but the plot." Lasher

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5456-469: The kind of books, with their creaking armor, salivating monks and thunderstorms, satirized by Thomas Love Peacock in his Crotchet Castle ." Upon the death of her estranged biological mother Deirdre, California neurosurgeon Rowan Mayfair is shocked to find herself named the new designee of the Mayfair family fortune. Rowan revives drowned contractor Michael Curry, who finds that the near-death experience grants him unwanted extrasensory powers. Michael

5544-503: The mansion with the advance for The Witching Hour . She called The Witching Hour "a Gothic epic", and said, " The Turn of the Screw is a wonderful haunting novel [but it is] just the beginning. I want The Witching Hour to be as great or greater than Henry James ." Dr. Rowan Mayfair is a gifted neurosurgeon in San Francisco , California. When her estranged birth mother Deirdre Mayfair dies in New Orleans, she begins to learn about

5632-485: The narrative. With the help of former Talamasca leader-turned-vampire David Talbot, Louis de Pointe du Lac asks the beautiful witch Merrick Mayfair to use her spiritual powers to contact the spirit of Claudia , a child who, like Louis, had been turned into a vampire by Lestat but was destroyed long ago. Merrick is also a former agent of the Talamasca, and shared many adventures with David in the past. Flashbacks introduce Merrick's malevolent sister, Honey Isabella or Honey in

5720-435: The news that Aaron, now excommunicated from the Talamasca and recently married into the Mayfair family, has been deliberately run over by a car. She makes plans with Michael to seek revenge on the Talamasca, who she believes are responsible for Aaron's death. Mona discovers that she is pregnant by Michael and, after Rowan gives her blessing, ecstatically shares the news with the family. Mona later discovers that her unborn child

5808-520: The next year and keep doubling becoming one of the firm's most successful books. In 1965 the book sold 240,000 copies. Approaching its 100 year anniversary in 2023, The Prophet has been translated into over 100 languages and has never gone out of print for Knopf. In the 1920s, Knopf sometimes withdrew or censored their books when threatened by John Sumner , such as Floyd Dell 's Janet March or George Egerton 's 1899 translation of Hunger . Samuel Knopf died in 1932. William A. Koshland joined

5896-430: The novels Merrick (2000), Blackwood Farm (2002), and Blood Canticle (2003). The Vampire Chronicles is a series of gothic horror novels featuring the vampire Lestat de Lioncourt . In the crossover novels, former Talamasca leader David Talbot seeks out Merrick Mayfair , an octoroon descendant of Julien Mayfair, on behalf of the vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac . Mona and Rowan Mayfair are later brought into

5984-515: The old Southern family to which she belongs. Michael Curry is a contractor who specializes in the restoration of old homes while dreaming of his childhood in New Orleans and yearning to return there. Rowan gradually realizes that she has the psychic power to either save or take lives. Michael drowns but she revives him, the near-death experience triggering a new and unwanted clairvoyant ability within him. Michael and Rowan fall in love, and when he decides to return to New Orleans, she follows him to learn

6072-515: The origin of supernatural fiction in his essay " Supernatural Horror in Literature " (1927). He also goes on to describe the literary genre's roots in Gothic literature. The description in Wuthering Heights (1847) of the natural surroundings in which the novel takes place and the eerie mood it evokes is cited as one of the first instances of supernatural horror's being evoked in literature. In

6160-417: The primary goal of supernatural films was not to terrify audiences but to offer entertainment, often in whimsical or romantic contexts. The film genre is part of several hybrid genres , including supernatural comedy films, supernatural horror films , supernatural religious films, and supernatural thriller films. Supernatural beings have also seen common uses in internet creepypastas and urban legends ;

6248-416: The publishing company, but it was clear by the company's fifth anniversary that this was not to be the case. Knopf published a celebratory fifth-anniversary book in which Alfred was the focus of anecdotes by authors and Blanche's name was only mentioned once to note that "Mrs. Knopf" had found a manuscript. This despite ample evidence from authors and others that Blanche was in fact the soul of the company. This

6336-534: The remote island colony of the Taltos, but instead of finding a secluded utopia, they discover that years of criminal intrigue and civil war have taken their toll. The remaining Taltos join the Mayfair clan in New Orleans. Mona and Quinn are instructed in the proper ways of vampirism by the ancient vampire Maharet and her twin Mekare . Rowan seeks out Lestat, half in love with him but torn by her love for her husband Michael. Exhausted by her life, she requests that he make her

6424-636: The second half of the 18th century. Accounts of the Cock Lane ghost were featured in the newspapers in 1762, and an interest in Spiritualism was also currently prevalent. There was a need for people to see real ghosts and experience them vicariously through the writings of fiction. S. L. Varnado argues in Haunted Presence: The Numinous in Gothic Fiction that the beginning of an interest in

6512-466: The secrets of her past. Aaron Lightner, a psychic scholar and member of the Talamasca , has studied the Mayfairs from afar for decades. The matriarchal family—known to the Talamasca as the "Mayfair Witches"—have a long and sordid history. Among the supernatural events surrounding them is a mysterious man, seen by Michael in his childhood and by other members of the family over time. Michael is revealed to be

6600-763: The statement that he never published an unworthy book. Among a list of beliefs listed is the final one—"I believe that magazines, movies, television, and radio will never replace good books." In 1960, Random House acquired Alfred A. Knopf. It is believed that the decision to sell was prompted by Alfred A. Knopf Jr. , leaving Knopf to found his own book company, Atheneum Books , in 1959. Since its founding, Knopf has paid close attention to design and typography , employing notable designers and typographers including William Addison Dwiggins , Harry Ford, Steven Heller , Chip Kidd , Lorraine Louie , Peter Mendelsund , Bruce Rogers , Rudolf Ruzicka , and Beatrice Warde . Knopf books conclude with an unnumbered page titled "A Note on

6688-486: The streets of the financial and theatre districts dressed in artist costumes with sandwich boards . The placards had a copy of the book for browsing and directed interested buyers to local book shops. The unique look of their books along with their expertise in advertising their authors drew Willa Cather to leave her previous publisher Houghton Mifflin to join Alfred A. Knopf. As she was still under contract for her novels,

6776-457: The supernatural comes from humanity's craving for the experience of the divine , so that even the old mythological tales of the knights of King Arthur give the reader a sense of the presence of "holy" things. The author does then go on to trace this influence further into the future with the Gothic literature movement. The famous horror writer H. P. Lovecraft cites man's fear of the unknown as

6864-576: The throne, and is killed there while performing Christmas Mass by followers of the Protestant reformer John Knox . His next memory is the summoning of his spirit by the witch Suzanne Mayfair in Donnelaith. When Lasher's story is complete, Michael kills him and buries him under the great oak in the yard. Michael discovers Emaleth in Rowan's room, feeding her mother the highly nutritious milk from her breasts. Rowan

6952-559: The trilogy cross over to Rice's The Vampire Chronicles , a series of gothic horror novels featuring the vampire Lestat de Lioncourt , specifically in Merrick (2000), Blackwood Farm (2002), and Blood Canticle (2003). A television series adaptation, Mayfair Witches , debuted on AMC and AMC+ in January 2023. Susan Ferraro of The New York Times described The Witching Hour as "a ghost story about an evil spirit called Lasher who

7040-505: The two genres. Fantasy usually takes place in another world, where fantastical creatures or magic are normal. In supernatural fiction, though, magic and monsters are not the norm and the mystery of such things is usually closely intertwined in the plot. The supernatural genre highlights supernatural creatures or happenings within the real world. Moreover, supernatural fiction also tends to focus on suspense and mystery and less on action and adventure. Occult detective fiction combines

7128-439: The witch who just wants to have fun"; her granddaughter Deirdre, "whose sexual passion for Lasher is so intense that terrible old Aunt Carlotta keeps her doped to the eyeballs on Thorazine all her adult life"; and Mona, the "young feminist witch with sharklike business instincts" who has also been described as Rowan's "13-year-old sexpot niece ... who is herself the most powerful witch of the Mayfair clan." Red haired, green eyed Mona

7216-465: The worlds of my two biggest series united under a single roof so that filmmakers could explore the expansive and interconnected universe of my vampires and witches. That dream is now a reality, and the result is one of the most significant and thrilling deals of my long career." In December 2021, Deadline Hollywood reported that Anne Rice's Mayfair Witches had been given an eight-episode series order by AMC, with another Rice series, Interview with

7304-581: The years to include lines of Children's Classics and Pocket Poets . Random House was acquired by Bertelsmann AG in 1998. In late 2008 and early 2009, the Knopf Publishing Group merged with Doubleday to form the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Random House has been owned since its 2013 merger of Penguin Group by Penguin Random House , a joint venture between Bertelsmann (53%) and Pearson PLC (47%). Many of Knopf's hardcover books are published later as Vintage paperbacks . Vintage Books

7392-474: Was acquired in 1943. The Knopfs' son, Alfred "Pat" Jr., was hired on as secretary and trade books manager after the war. In 1957, editor Judith Jones joined Knopf. Jones, who had discovered Anne Frank : Diary of a Young Girl while working at Doubleday, acquired Julia Child 's Mastering the Art of French Cooking for Knopf. Jones would remain with Knopf, retiring in 2011 as a senior editor and vice-president after

7480-574: Was covered extensively in The Lady with the Borzoi by Laura Claridge. In 1923, Knopf also started publishing periodicals, beginning with The American Mercury , founded by H. L. Mencken and George Jean Nathan , which it published through 1934. Also in 1923, Knopf published Kahlil Gibran 's The Prophet . Knopf had published Gibran's earlier works which had disappointing sales. In its first year, The Prophet only sold 1,159 copies. It would double sales

7568-475: Was officially incorporated in 1918, with Alfred Knopf as president, Blanche Knopf as vice president, and Samuel Knopf as treasurer. From the start, Knopf focused on European translations and high-brow works of literature. Among their initial publications were French author Émile Augier 's Four Plays , Russian writer Nikolai Gogol 's Taras Bulba , Polish novelist Stanisław Przybyszewski 's novel Homo Sapiens , and French writer Guy de Maupassant 's Yvette,

7656-466: Was published in 1917. With the start of the 1920s Knopf began using innovative advertising techniques to draw attention to their books and authors. Beginning in 1920, Knopf produced a chapbook for the purpose of promoting new books. The Borzoi was published periodically over the years, the first being a hardback called The Borzoi and sometimes quarterly as The Borzoi Quarterly . For Floyd Dell's coming-of-age novel, Moon-Calf , they paid men to walk

7744-478: Was reportedly asking around $ 30 to $ 40 million, plus a $ 2.5 million buyout of Warner Bros.' rights, and the new owner would hold the rights in perpetuity, not just as an option. In May 2020, it was announced that AMC had acquired the rights to The Vampire Chronicles and Lives of the Mayfair Witches for developing film and television projects. Anne and Christopher Rice serve as executive producers on any projects developed. Rice said, "It's always been my dream to see

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