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Intro
Louis, a vampire, speaks to a boy in the present day, sharing his life story. Although Louis frightens the boy, everything Louis has to say fascinates and sometimes even excites him.
Louis begins his story in 1791. He is the owner of a plantation, Pointe du Lac, outside of New Orleans and is grieving the tragic death of his brother at age 15. In his grief, a vampire named Lestat attacks Louis and turns Louis into a vampire. Lestat is an impulsive, hedonistic vampire who comes to live with Louis at Pointe du Lac. Unfortunately for Louis, Lestat is not a good mentor. He will not teach Louis any of the secrets of being a vampire because he wants to remain in charge. Except when Lestat forces him to do otherwise, Louis survives by killing and feeding on animals. Meanwhile, Lestat kills everything in sight and lives lavishly.
Eventually, the enslaved people on Louis’s plantation figure out that Louis and Lestat are vampires. They stage a revolt, causing the vampires to burn the plantation to the ground and flee. The same night, Louis travels to the house of Babette Freniere, a young woman who he loves and has helped out in the past. Babette allows him and Lestat to stay for a single day. However, the following day, she forces them to leave after discovering what happened at Pointe du Lac. In their final exchange, Babette tells Louis she thinks he is the devil, which deeply wounds him.
Louis and Lestat flee to New Orleans. In his grief over Babette, Louis gives into his vampiric urges and feeds on a human. The human he chooses is a young girl, Claudia, and he leaves her alive. Sensing an opportunity, Lestat decides to turn Claudia into a vampire. He knows doing so will make Louis feel responsible for her wellbeing, so he will have to stick around. Over time, Claudia develops into a full-fledged vampire, who, like Lestat, is fond of killing. However, she also has an artistic and intellectual side, spending a great deal of time reading. Louis fosters this part of her education and the two of them share a complicated relationship that is romantic, but is also akin to that of a father and daughter.
Even though Claudia ages and her mind grows, her body stays the same, giving her an uncanny appearance. Her inability to change physically becomes a source of great frustration, and she blames Lestat for making her this way. Eventually, her frustration with Lestat boils over, and she attempts to kill him. Although Louis does not approve of her plan, he helps her, and, together, they think they have rid themselves of Lestat. However, Lestat manages to survive and comes back for revenge. Once again, Louis and Claudia manage to overpower him and flee. Before they leave, they burn the building Lestat is in to the ground, possibly killing him.
Next, Louis and Claudia travel to Eastern Europe, hoping to find other vampires there. From her reading, Claudia knows that Eastern Europe has the most extensive vampire mythology, which makes her believe they will find others of their kind. Although Louis and Claudia manage to locate these Eastern European vampires, they are mindless, animalistic husks rather than intelligent, modern vampires. Feeling like they have failed, Louis and Claudia leave Eastern Europe and travel to France.
After spending some time in Paris, Louis encounters two vampires: Armand and Santiago. Armand invites Louis and Claudia to the Théâtre des Vampires. Louis and Claudia attend a show at the theatre and discover it is largely run by vampires, who feast on humans as part of the show itself. After the show, Armand invites Louis and Claudia backstage and introduces them to the other vampires. Although Louis and Armand are interested in each other, the other vampires are skeptical of Louis and Claudia. In particular, Santiago insinuates that they killed Lestat, and he does not trust them. Here, Louis and Claudia learn that killing a vampire is the worst crime a vampire can commit in vampiric society and the punishment is death. In private, Armand warns Louis not to reveal anything more about his past, as he fears the other vampires will turn on him and Claudia. Armand likes Louis because Louis possesses a human-like energy that Armand has never seen before in a vampire.
Soon after, Claudia confronts Louis about his relationship with Armand. She senses that the two of them share a bond and that Armand wants to get rid of her. So, she wants Louis to transform a woman named Madeleine into a vampire. Madeleine is a dollmaker who lost her young daughter and now spends her time making doll-like replicas of her. Claudia thinks Madeleine will be a perfect companion for her because the two of them will complete each other. Although Louis has always sworn to himself that he would never make another vampire, he ultimately gives in and turns Madeleine. Later, Armand admits to Louis that he used his vampiric powers to influence Louis in this decision.
Not long after Madeleine becomes a vampire, Santiago and some other vampires from the Théâtre des Vampires kidnap Louis, Claudia, and Madeleine on behalf of Lestat, who is still alive and has made his way to Paris. Armand rescues Louis before anything can happen to him, but both Claudia and Madeleine are killed. In a rage, Louis destroys the Théâtre des Vampires, killing many of the vampires inside, including Santiago. However, he warns Armand in advance about his plan, so Armand escapes unharmed. After the theatre burns down, Armand approaches Louis and offers to travel the world with him. Louis agrees and for many years they travel together. However, following Claudia’s death, Louis is never the same. Eventually, Armand admits to Louis that he was responsible for killing Claudia, hoping to evoke some sort of emotion in Louis. However, Louis is too numb to care.
One day, Armand informs Louis that Lestat is still alive and living in New Orleans. Louis travels to New Orleans and locates Lestat, who has turned yet another young man into a vampire to keep him company. When Lestat sees Louis, he begs Louis to stay with him so they can live like the old days. Louis can tell that Lestat is exceedingly lonely, but still, he refuses to stay. It is only a short time after this final encounter with Lestat that Louis finds the boy with whom he is currently speaking.
In the present, the boy expresses his frustration that Louis’s story ended so tragically. The boy is confident that he would live a much better life as a vampire. Frustrated that the boy has learned nothing, Louis bites him and drains his blood until he passes out. However, as soon as the boy wakes up, he reviews everything Louis told him and then goes off in search of Lestat, still hoping to become a vampire.
