The Vampire Lestat (Interview with the Vampire Season 3 Premiere Review) | A Wild, Disorienting New Era

Anne Rice (novels) & Rolin Jones (creator)

CAST

Sam Reid
Jacob Anderson
Eric Bogosian
Assad Zaman
Jennifer Ehle

Review

The Season 3 premiere of Interview with the Vampire is probably the most disorienting episode the series has delivered so far. I mean that in both a good and challenging way.

After two seasons of gothic romance, tragedy, and beautifully crafted period drama, the show pivots into something that feels like a drug-fueled grunge mockumentary centered on Lestat’s rise as a rock star. It’s loud, messy, chaotic, and honestly takes a minute to adjust to.

This is the kind of episode that demands a rewatch. There were details in the opening sequence and throughout the episode that completely flew over my head the first time around. Little visual cues, the Halloween costumes, even Lestat’s stutter returning when someone appears, all of it feels layered beneath the surface. Watching it felt a bit like what I’d imagine an LSD trip is like: fascinating, overwhelming, and occasionally difficult to process in real time.

That messiness won’t work for everyone. Some viewers will probably love how experimental and ambitious the episode is, while others may wonder whether certain choices were intentional or simply chaotic. Personally, I found myself somewhere in the middle. I wasn’t always sure what the show was doing, but I was never bored, plus this isn’t Mayfair Witches; Rolin Jones has earned my patience. I’m letting him cook.

It’s also worth mentioning that I’m currently about halfway through Anne Rice‘s The Vampire Lestat, so I’m at the point in the book where the storyline of the character who shows up at the end of the premiere is only starting to reveal itself. Because of that, some of the episode’s biggest moments feel less like answers and more like intriguing questions.

More than anything, this premiere feels like the beginning of a completely different show with the soul of the one we’ve been watching for two seasons. Whether that transformation ultimately works remains to be seen, but it’s certainly one hell of a way to start the season.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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Dumah

In Hebrew & Aramaic, it means “silence.”

He’s an angel mentioned in Rabbinic & Islamic literature as an angel who has authority over the wicked dead. He’s popular in Yiddish folklore. I.B. Singer’s Short Friday (1964), a collection of stories, mentions Dumah as a “thousand-eyed angel of Death armed with a fiery rod or flaming sword.

Duma(h) or Doumah (Aramaic) is the angel of silence & the stillness of death. Dumah is also the prince of Hell, & the angel of vindication.

The Zohar speaks of him as having “tens of thousands of angels of destruction” under him & as being “Chief of demons in Gehinnom (Hell) with 12,000 myriads of attendants, all charged with the punishment of the souls of sinners.” 3 angels of destruction are appointed to him. He & his fellow angels torment the sinners every day of the week except on Shabbat. Shabbat is the Jewish Sabbath day. Like the Christian Sunday.

According to hadiths mentioned in Al-Suyuti’s al-Haba’ik, Azrael hands over the souls of the deceased unbelievers to Dumah.

Dumah is the name of the 1 of the 7 compartments of Gehenna.

In the video game Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, Dumah is the name of a boss character. He’s the vampire brother of Raziel, & along with Turel is the 1 who is cast into the Abyss on Kain’s orders. In reference to the meaning of his name, when finally confronted, he is killed by vampire hunters, & his corpse is sitting silently on a throne.

Dumah shows up in the TV show & comic book The Sandman (by Neil Gaiman; DC Comics). Specifically in “The Season of Mists.” Dumah, along with Ramiel, becomes the keeper of Hell after Lucifer abandons his throne/realm.

An angel named Dumah appears in the wildly popular CW show called Supernatural (“Carry on my wayward son…” Sorry, we’ll show ourselves out…). In this show, Dumah is portrayed as a woman, played by Erica Cerra.

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⚠️ Valor Mortis's launch has been delayed, but heads up, the demo is available NOW, so you can play instead of just staring at release news. 🕹️

The devs confirmed the postponement and haven't given a new date; meanwhile jump into the demo to test the supernatural soulslike's mechanics, practice combat and decide if it earns a spot on your wishlist

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What a very cis thing to say.

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An excellent #thirstythursday read!
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Listening tips: Ghosts and hauntings

There’s something deeply satisfying about listening to ghost stories on a dark, rainy evening. The suspense, the thrill, the fear of the unknown… Regardless of whether you take them seriously or see them as a form of entertainment, ghost stories have been around for a very long time, trigerring something primordial in the human psyche.

In this post, I’ll share with you some of my favourite podcasts on the subject of ghosts and hauntings (as in real-life experiences, not the literary genre of ghost stories). From whispered accounts of haunted houses to chilling explorations of folklore and paranormal investigations, these shows invite us to lean in and believe—if only for a moment—that the veil between worlds is much thinner than we might think.

Uncanny

Hosted by Danny Robins, this BBC Radio 4 programme is an absolute must. While it also covers other supernatural / paranormal phenomena, such as the UFOs, ghosts feature prominently. Each episode consists of an interview with a witness to an uncanny experience, followed by comments from experts in the field – one of them on Team Believer, the other on Team Sceptic. At the moment of writing, there are close to 100 episodes available, including a recent release of Cold Case episodes, exploring famous and still unexplained mysteries from the earlier centuries.

The Paranormal Podcast

Jim Harold’s The Paranormal Podcast is one of the longest-running shows dedicated to the supernatural, featuring interviews with leading voices on ghosts, UFOs, cryptids, and unexplained phenomena. Since 2005, Harold has built a loyal audience by blending guests, folklore, and chilling accounts into a weekly exploration of the unknown. With over 900 episodes available, you’ll have plenty of listening material! 

Otherworld

Similar in scope and concept, Otherworld—hosted by Jack Wagner—presents detailed witness accounts, typically unfolding like a documentary-style investigation, designed to make listeners feel like they’re part of the story. Episodes last from anywhere between a couple of minutes to hour-long features, some of them serialised over several episodes.

Ghost Church

This podcast series is rather different, in that it explores the religion of contemporary American spiritualism, from its roots in the 19th century (ever heard of the Fox sisters?) to whatever remains of the once thriving spiritual and social reform movement. The host, Jamie Loftus, guides us through this fascinating history and introduces us to a present-day community of practicing spiritualists.

Unobscured

And if you’re not at all familiar with the history of the spiritualist movement, Season 2 of the Unobscured podcast is a great resource. Presented by veteran podcaster Aaron Mahnke and including interviews with prominent researchers and historians, this series is a wonderful addition to his other very popular podcast, Lore. 

There are many more podcasts out there on this (and related) topics, not all of them of great quality. If you have any additional tips and recommendations, do post them in the comments section below!

NOTES

I’m a freelance language tutor (English, Latin, Classical Greek), researcher, and a literary scholar currently based in Belgrade, Serbia.  

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COVER PHOTO CREDIT

Frank Eiffert via Unsplash

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