The Witching Hour

By: Anne Rice

Narrated by: Kate Reading

"[A] huge and sprawling tale of horror." (The New York Times Book Review)

Demonstrating once again her gift for spellbinding storytelling, Anne Rice makes real for us a great dynasty of four centuries of witches - a family given to poetry and incest, murder and philosophy, a family that over the ages is itself haunted by a powerful, dangerous, and seductive being called Lasher who haunts the Mayfair women.

Moving in time from today's New Orleans and San Francisco to long-ago Amsterdam and the France of Louis XIV, from the coffee plantations of Port-au-Prince to Civil War New Orleans and back to today, Anne Rice has spun a mesmerizing tale that challenges everything we believe in.

©2010 Anne Rice (P)2015 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"[A] huge and sprawling tale of horror." (The New York Times Book Review)

Greatest Supernatural Thriller of the 20th Century

finally arrives, unabridged and expertly produced, in the Audible archive. Whether you are an avid Anne Rice fan or new to her work, you must hear The Witching Hour in its entirety. In addition to the vivid imagery of location, sensation and ethical evolution of her characters for which Anne Rice is world famous, the Witching Hour delivers the most complete, detailed portrait of The Talamasca available in any of her supernatural thrillers. As the history of The Mayfair Witches unfolds, the ancient order of The Talamasca reveals its own history, purpose and growth through the centuries. Although members of the Talamasca are characters in Rice's novels, it's the Witching Hour that births the Talamasca as a fully formed, perfectly complete character in its own right. The Witching Hour is, in fact, the key hole door of Rice's supernatural thrillers as surely as that image is to this powerful, emotional story. Your supernatural library won't be complete without this unabridged production of The Witching Hour.

Gripping supernatural tale

Any additional comments?

I want to begin by saying that I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this audiobook. At a stunning 50+ hours long, it kept my attention to such an extent that I would listen to it while driving to work, and then sit in my car in the work parking lot until the very last minute before I absolutely HAD to go inside, all so that I could keep listening.

Kate Reading is one of my top three favorite Audible audiobook performers. I loved the voice she chose for Lasher, and I just love the way she pronounces and enunciates words in general. Her performance for this audiobook is phenomenal. I personally enjoyed the accents she chose for people. In retrospect, there weren't New Orleans accents in her performance, but it did not bother me. I felt like the voices she chose for her characters fit them just fine... especially Lasher.

The story itself kept me guessing until the end. As the listener, you are perpetually left uncertain of whether Lasher is pure evil, redeemably misguided, or a misunderstood good entity. I kept swaying back and forth in my view of Lasher, and it wasn't until nearly the very end that I came to my conclusions of what I felt Lasher was on the good and evil scale (I won't spoil it here).

The multigenerational account of the Mayfair Witches was so detailed that, at times, I forgot I was listening to a fictional account. It was masterfully written and presented, with an organized and long thought-out family tree that is thoroughly examined over the course of the novel. The historical account of the family is just as interesting as the present day goings-on.

I am left in some suspense still, and will now go on to the second novel in this series.

Good writing poor content. *beware of the incest*

Although I enjoyed Anne Rices imagery the content is so graphic. Also some of the story was very predictable. WhileI am not a prude and enjoy a little bit of risqué content in a good story, a love story about a man describing his daughters breasts and then having sex with her was too much for me. I was very excited to read a good book witches but this book drug on and on with a whole section/chapters about a men lusting after women (their children) and then feeling bad about it and then doing it anyway. Sorry:( I had to return this one.

lovely story with ups and downs

I enjoyed the historical parts to the story such as the Renaissance, the new world and slavery. It was entertaining enough to fulfill my needs, but it wasn't the BEST. There was love, sex, murder, magic, but not enough magic for me. It was okay.

Actor was good but

Actor reading was good with the french, and English accents, but awful with Cajun accent. Maybe when assigning actors to read these bools, they should practice the languages and inflections and vernacular in them. South Louisiana is distinct, but it is French/Creole which might sound like New York to some, but is quite different altogether. She also could not pronounce some of the names and places in New Orleans. "N'Awlins" . they should do a bit of research before reading. otherwise, a good book. The ending left me bewildered. There was no finality. Perhaps that's what Anne Rice wanted!

Must read

A true joy to read, I read as an audible and it was clear and colorfully read. Long book, definitely worth the time.

Well written, but not for me

Anne Rice is clearly a good author. This particular story became pretty boring several times for me with the over abundance of minor details. It is interesting to know the history, but the way it was presented was very dull. I understand how the ending would be interesting to some, but it was a letdown for me. The narrator was decent enough, but I’ve heard better. More story, less detail please.

That Lasher is an alien lifeforce

I read this book when it first came out over 30yrs ago. I was as enthralled in it this time around as I was then. I liked everything about it.

So good!

I've always enjoyed Anne Rice. Such an amazing creative mind! Will definitely be reading more.

The book was good until .....

The book was good until the last chapters it just kinda wondered off I was listing but not interested how I was in the beginning.....