The Witching Hour Audiobook By Anne Rice cover art

The Witching Hour

Lives of Mayfair Witches, Book 1

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The Witching Hour

By: Anne Rice
Narrated by: Kate Reading
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"[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.

Accolades & Awards

Locus Award
1991
Locus Award Paranormal Fantasy Horror Fiction Sagas Suspenseful Magic Haunted Scary Vampires Psychological Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Royalty War

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Spooky season is upon us, and it's the perfect time of the year to sink into some wonderful witchy listens—although to be honest, we don't need an excuse to enjoy great stories about the fascinating world of witches. Whether you're into fantastical fiction tales of magic, the more practical informational guides on how to practice witchcraft, or historical tales about the real lives of famous witches, we've rounded up some of the very best witch audiobooks.

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Immersive World-building • Rich Historical Detail • Distinct Character Voices • Atmospheric Setting • Masterful Vocal Range

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Like many other fans, I have waited years to have the Mayfair Witches books in unabridged version, and I will keep these in my collection forever. For me, Anne Rice books either pull me in and I am an instant fan or I am left struggling to finish. The Witching Hour is one of her best, in my opinion.

As is typical with Anne Rice, these books are VERY descriptive. Sometimes painfully descriptive. In the end, I believe the elaborate descriptions are a big part of the magic of these books. They tell such a grand, lavish story, spanning so many generations, and enveloping the listener so deeply that it is easy to feel as if you are there with them. And they're so much more magical when listening to the stories being read rather than reading them. Especially with such a superb narrator as Kate Reading.

A Must For Anne Rice Fans - Finally in Unabridged!

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I read this book many years ago and called it one of my favorites. I was so excited to see it in full unabridged format, I dropped my other book to tag it immediately.

The plot had a lot more rape and incest then I remembered, and the erotic stuff got old. Lasher was not the romantic guy I remembered either. I did enjoy the detailed character development and the descriptions of the cities.

The narrator did a good job with multiple voices and accents, but her Rowan was to deep and throaty and was distracting.

I'm not going right into the second and third books right now, maybe in the future.

Not as I remembered it

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If you could sum up The Witching Hour in three words, what would they be?

interesting, entertaining, powerful

What did you like best about this story?

The story and characters

Have you listened to any of Kate Reading’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I've never listened to Kate Reading before, she did a excellent job. I hope she finishes this series.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

not sure, I still have about 2 chapters to finish book 1

Great Anne Rice classic.

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The character Michael, a main character, has the voice of a teenage brat holding undertones of a slight NY accent.
He grew up in New Orleans then later resides in California where he does high end restoration of houses.
The distorted and mismatched voice for Michael's character was so distracting I could barely listen. Other characters
equally as poorly read with no southern accents. Kate Reading does ok with the British characters. This was not the correct reader for the setting and characters of this story.

Narrator --ugh

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Was just okay, narration was lacking. Story was repetitive. Some parts read like stereo instructions. When the story picked up, it was too late in the book. I won't be reading the other books in the series.

narration was aggravating.

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