fangs, fangs, fangs

While the spirit's vitriol matches the show version, I'm struck by how much more sympathetic the entire presentation of the scene, and all that follows, is to Louis. He's surrounded by people who are devastated on his behalf and fear for his well-being (whereas the show version seems to frame the spirit's attack as a justified punishment for Louis's shortcomings). And of course, Merrick's vehement insistence that the spirit's words aren't true (along with her later admitting to using her powers to manipulate David and Louis) does not appear in the episode.

(For context the protag of Merrick is David Talbot, so the "I" is him)

The seance:

Merrick's comments on the spirit:

Louis's reaction:

Louis's suicide attempt + being brought back to life by Lestat, David, and Merrick:

Aftermath, Louis grateful to be alive

It's kind of crazy to consider how the show has chosen to adapt Louis's suicide attempt and the seance with this context.

In the book, Louis is fed all the worst things he thinks about himself in Claudia's voice (by what is heavily implied to be a malevolent spirit and not her ghost), attempts to take his own life because it's what he thinks Claudia wants, is brought back to life by people who love him and would have been grieved by his loss. Where IWTV is a novel about grief, Merrick is effectively a story about the journey out of grief. Louis faces the deepest darkest fears conjured by his grief, is driven into death because he believes them, and is revived by the love of those closest to him. He emerges from his ordeal physically healed, stronger than ever, with no more desire for to escape into nothingness, the oblivion of death. The story ends with Louis resolved to go on living alongside his loved ones.

In the show, Louis is driven to suicide by Armand in the midst of a drug and grief-fueled haze, is pulled back by Armand to be scolded by him and punished with a long, painful healing process. Then he is emotionally ravaged by the seance, with no one to suggest his darkest fears are untrue, and isn't given the time to fully process his feelings before he's beheaded. Instead of being supported and cared for through his struggles with grief, he is mocked and physically brutalized.

Over and over again in the show Louis is punished and shamed for his love and his grief (his community shames him for his 'pale lover', Lestat shames him for his love of Claudia, Claudia shames him for his love of Lestat, Louis is punished for loving Lestat enough to not burn him by having Lestat come back and participate in the trial, losing Claudia, and then punished by Lestat again for loving Claudia enough to want to hurt Lestat when Lestat lets him go with Armand without telling him the truth...even Paul's death could be seen as an inadvertent punishment for Louis loving him, and Louis's turning is inadvertently the result of his grief over Paul). The Regina plotline seems to exist to make a mockery of Louis's grief, framing him as pathetic and ridiculous and creepy. Then the seance shames Louis for grieving and attempting to avenge and honor the daughter he lost.

Like, Anne Rice was not a huge fan of Louis as a character past book one, but the stark difference between showLouis being half-dead, screaming in pain from his coffin as Armand slams the door on his pleading - and bookLouis dying with dignity, his corpse surrounded by grieving loved ones who are desperate to bring him back, but only if that's what he wants, because they value him so much they honor his wishes above their own desires......it seems like the show takes every opportunity to hurt Louis and never to give him any respite.

Before I read these passages, I was a fan of Louis killing David Talbot offscreen (bc I don't like the character in Body Thief or TVA, the books I've read with him in it), but now that feels like another cruel slight against Louis! They had Louis never get to know him, to casually murder a character whose book counterpart was terrified by the idea of Louis killing himself and tried to stop him, who loved him so much he put himself at bodily risk to help bring him back from the dead...

I don't rly mind them not doing the whole Merrick plotline, but bc her role as a character seems to have been reduced to only her facilitating the seance, that's another character whose book counterpart loves Louis and doesn't get to give him that love in the show.

In the books, Lestat WAKES HIMSELF UP FROM A COMA to go see Louis's corpse and ultimately save his life (only when he's convinced that it's what Louis would want, which feels significant given how little agency bookLestat gave Louis in his turning). He bathes and dresses Louis and insists on giving him more blood so he will be as strong as possible in his rebirth. ShowLestat wouldn't even get on a plane to San Francisco......

‘Forget-me-nots’ tiara, Paris, about 1905.

Horn, gold, diamonds and pearls.