Interview with the Vampire

Louis waits on the deck of the ship that will take him to Europe. As he waits, he looks around New Orleans, unsure of when he will see it again. Around town, he sees lavish parties going on. As dawn approaches, the parties end, and carriages leave the riverfront streets. A few late passengers come aboard the ship, but Lestat and the musician do not appear. While Louis waits on deck, Claudia stays locked in their room, watching through the porthole.

Before daylight, the ship departs. The lights of New Orleans grow dim as they sail away, and Louis stays on deck as long as he can see them, knowing he might never return. While sailing to Europe, Louis feels as though he is moving toward an important secret. When he arrives, he suspects he will find other vampires, who will finally be able to answer his questions about vampirism and provide companionship. Although Louis is excited, he also spends much of his time brooding. He has become obsessed with the idea that he is eternally damned, which terrifies him.

Meanwhile, Claudia spends her time reading and playing solitaire. In particular, Claudia reads as much as she can about vampires in Eastern Europe. Eastern Europeans have by far the most extensive mythology and folklore related to vampires, which makes Louis and Claudia think they will be able to find vampires there. One day, Claudia and Louis discuss what happened to Lestat after they threw him in the swamp. They marvel at how tightly Lestat clung to life, managing to survive in even the direst of circumstances. Lestat’s ability to survive makes Louis think that he—and all vampires—might be truly immortal.

As the journey continues, the sea brings Louis bad dreams. These dreams lead Louis to recall a winter night in New Orleans when he saw his sister, old and hunched over, carrying white roses to the grave marked with his name. He wishes he could have comforted her, but instead he left her to her grief. Although the sea journey is rough on Louis’s psyche, eventually he and Claudia reach Eastern Europe.

Together, Louis and Claudia travel along the Carpathian Mountains, searching high and low for signs of other vampires. They travel alone in a luxurious black carriage that Claudia purchases. The carriage reminds Louis that Claudia is Lestat’s daughter as much as she is his own. The journey through the strange, dark countryside fills Louis with an anxiety he never experienced in New Orleans. Along the way, he and Claudia feed on humans but they always disguise their kills to look like something other than a vampire killed them. They do so because they know the locals believe in vampires, and they do not want to attract any attention to themselves.

One evening, Louis and Claudia arrive in a desolate-looking village. At first, they suspect it might be abandoned. However, when they knock on the door of an inn, a woman reluctantly lets them inside. The woman warns Louis that he should not be traveling at night, especially with a child. As Louis and Claudia enter, they notice a crucifix and a garlic wreath above the door. Inside, Louis meets a distraught and drunken Englishman, Morgan, who is excited to learn that Louis speaks English. Louis asks the man what has made him so upset.

Morgan leads Louis to a small parlor where the body of a young woman, Emily, lies on a table. On Emily’s neck, Louis sees the unmistakable puncture wounds of a vampire. Morgan, devastated, blames himself for her death. Louis, sensing the Englishman’s desperation, offers to help him but first wants to know what happened.

Morgan tells Louis that he and Emily came to the country on their honeymoon, hoping to travel around to the ancient monasteries in the area. However, Morgan and Emily witnessed a disturbing event upon arriving in a village. He describes the villagers performing a bizarre ritual involving a wild horse running around a graveyard. When the horse stopped at a particular grave, the villagers dug it up, revealing a body that appeared freshly dead. They then decapitated the corpse with a shovel. After witnessing the strange ceremony, Morgan wanted to leave the village. He offered money to the villagers for transportation, but they refused, claiming that they were afraid of vampires. Not long after, Emily went missing in the night and was found dead the following day.

Because a vampire killed Emily, the villagers want to decapitate her as well. Morgan does not want this to happen and begs Louis for help. While Louis is not sure that he can protect Emily from the villagers, he promises Morgan that he will seek out of the vampire who is responsible. Then, Louis asks the innkeeper where he should go to find the vampire. The innkeeper warns him to stay away from the vampire at all costs. However, Louis insists that she give him directions. Eventually, the innkeeper does as he asks. Now with a destination in mind, Louis and Claudia set off to find a European vampire.

As Louis and Claudia near their destination, Claudia spots the tower where the vampire is said to live, and Louis halts the carriage. Louis fears what he might find, though Claudia is quite excited. Despite his fear, Louis follows Claudia as she leaps from the carriage and beckons him to join her on the road. They move through the dark forest, guided by the lantern’s light, the ruins of the monastery looming ahead. Louis feels the oppressive stillness of the night, noting the absence of any living creatures. The scent of blood fills the air as they approach the monastery, and Louis feels an ominous presence.

Inside the monastery, Louis and Claudia hear footsteps approaching them. Their lantern reveals a figure carrying a body, which Louis moves toward instinctively, knowing it to be a vampire. The vampire, grotesque and decayed, lunges at Louis, and a struggle ensues. Quickly, Louis realizes he is fighting a mindless, animated corpse, not an intelligent being. With Claudia’s help, he defeats the creature, its body collapsing in a heap. Louis, exhausted, realizes that they have destroyed an ancient European vampire, a creature of the Old World.

Claudia stands at the Old World vampire’s feet. She begins to rock slowly, as if in a trance. Louis calls to her, which snaps her out of it, though she still looks dazed. Once she has regained her senses, Claudia points at the body the vampire was carrying. Louis approaches the body and sees that it is Morgan. Claudia, who has not eaten for some time, feeds on Morgan. She encourages Louis to do the same, but he refuses. Once Claudia is done, she and Louis return to the village and inform the other villagers that the Old World vampire is dead.

The following day, Louis and Claudia leave the small village and go looking elsewhere for vampires. Louis describes their journey through Transylvania, Hungary, and Bulgaria, where peasants speak often of vampires. In every village where Louis and Claudia actually encounter vampires, the creatures are always mindless corpses. Louis remembers only a handful of these encounters, which were largely unmemorable because the result was always the same.

The boy asks why these creatures are so different from Louis and Claudia. Louis says he does not know. However, at the time, he feared that he and Claudia had killed the only other vampire like them. Although Louis had his issues with Lestat, he misses him, and the fear of eternal loneliness plagues him. For Claudia, loneliness is not the issue. Instead, she cares about getting her practical questions answered.

Claudia asks Louis why he can’t make another vampire like Lestat did. The idea horrifies Louis, who despises his own existence, and he does not want to make someone else endure it. He has considered it before but always rejected the notion, fearing the creation of more monsters. Claudia asks if Louis is sure he has never inadvertently created another vampire. Louis insists that Lestat’s method of draining and then giving back blood is necessary to create a vampire, and it’s something he has never done.

Claudia acknowledges that she may have made a mistake by ridding them of Lestat, despite her hatred for him. Although there was a time when she thought Louis would be the only companion she ever needed, now she feels that they were more complete with Lestat. Claudia suggests that they stop looking for vampires in Eastern Europe and instead go to Paris. She believes they need to be among their own people, speaking their language, to find a new path forward. Louis agrees, feeling that they need a fresh start.