• The Witching Hour

  • By: Anne Rice
  • Narrated by: Kate Reading
  • Length: 50 hrs and 1 min
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (9,424 ratings)

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The Witching Hour  By  cover art

The Witching Hour

By: Anne Rice
Narrated by: Kate Reading
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Publisher's summary

"[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)

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What listeners say about The Witching Hour

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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    6,069
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Performance
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Story
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  • 4 Stars
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  • 3 Stars
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Long but Worth It!

my favorite part is the middle section where the Talamasca tells the history of the witches and how Lasher came to be. That middle section is at least 6 hours and it's worth it!

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30 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Unabridged! Finally! Great production.

What other book might you compare The Witching Hour to and why?

This has always been one of my favourite Anne Rice novels, and after being an Audible member for 10 years I'm SO happy that it has finally been released in the unabridged format.
The Lives of the Mayfair Witches does intertwine with the New Tales of the Vampires (Merrick and Blackwood Farm) but the fascinating history that she weaves in this novel can stand alone.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I especially enjoy the detailed family history when Rowan reads the Talamasca files on the Mayfair family.

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18 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A magical tour de force

Rice's book is not one you read (or hear, in this case), it is one you luxuriate in. The prose is lush and enveloping and the narrator's performance sucks you into the world of the Mayfair witches, such that you'll never want to leave.

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13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Great Performance, Decent Story

As always Kate Reading delivers in this recording. Some other reviews complain about the lack of New Orleans accents, however apparently those people didn't listen to the words of the text because the -author- declares that various people have Irish, Brooklyn sounding, or Boston accents when introducing various characters.

In terms of the actual story, it's not bad, although Rice chooses to use a broken storytelling device for about 2/5 of the story - letters to reveal historical events. This is fine for something that actually sounds like a letter, but several times 45 minutes, an hour, an hour and a half into a -single letter- I caught myself thinking "Who the hell writes like this in correspondence?" Seriously... They say that these are hand written letters that were delivered to various people but considering how thick the computer printed novel is, just imagine the mountain of parchment that was allegedly delivered for each one... It really pulled me out of the story because people just don't give blow by blow accounts of their experiences when they are writing about what happened to them (and he said... then she said... and he said.. and on and on)... Then the amount of detail that is included is just unbelievable... It's like "You are taking time out of this historical document to tell us what color pants the band was wearing?" Personally I think it'd have been more effective to have a short letter and then use the character's psychic abilities to derive all the extra information.

In spite of it's flaws, the book is still enjoyable. I just wish the information was presented in a better way so as not to make the reader think "Okay... when is this guy going to stop reading? ... OMG ... I just finished an entire download part and he's STILL reading these frickin' letters!"

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

This story is not for children XXX rating from me

Where does The Witching Hour rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Among the best but X rating

What did you like best about this story?

A real shocker

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

it's all moving , shocking , Slow to start but gets much better

Any additional comments?

Not for the light at heart .Deeply disturbing , for.mature people only .Sex and in breeding a real shocker . Be warned .

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

If you are unsure if you should go back to this..?

You should absolutely re-read this one if, like me, you read this as a teenager when it came out. I have been toying with the idea of going back to Anne Rice to see if it holds up to my youthful fascination and was a little afraid to try the vampire series and remembered loving this story. It by far held up to my remembrance if not exceeded it. I really enjoyed the multiple timelines and the over story structure as well as Rice's ability to give you a visceral understanding of every room, every person, every environment. I'm not sure about the others in this series but this one is really something special.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Need to take shower

Not sure what to say, but since I used my credit I decided to finish. The history in the middle is long and boring. Then the incest is disgusting.
After you finish this story you might need a long shower to wash off the filth and pray for forgiveness for just reading. If you don’t mind feel dirty after reading. But this book does make you feel something.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

The accents are horrible

Why do all the people from New Orleans sound like they are from New York

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Good but not great

Having read other Anne Rice books I was hoping for a another Interview with a Vampire but got a smutty drama instead. It was good but not great with some long long long long long drawn out sections.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

loved it

the beginning was a struggle for me but once i got into it i couldnt stop!! the narrator was amazing with all the different voices she can do!! i cant wait to get lasher the next book. well worth the time!!!

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