Did AMC+ Capture the Essence of Anne Rice's Mayfair Witches?
AMC recently began adapting Anne Rice's body of work into what they are calling the Immortal Universe. It started with Interview with the Vampire, which premiered on October 2. The series received a mixed reception. It was set in a later time period, which fundamentally altered the aesthetic, and it departed quite a bit from the original material. Instead of horses and carriages, the characters drove antique cars. Some fans enjoyed the changes, while others found them lacking. Now the focus has shifted to Mayfair Witches, which premiered on January 8. The series is an adaptation of one of Anne Rice's lesser-known works, a trilogy of novels about a family of women who live in New Orleans. It's a bleak, Southern Gothic horror set in an old decaying home on First Street in New Orleans. While it might not have been as popular as the Vampire Chronicles, the books still hold a place in the hearts of fans. It remains to be seen if AMC is up for the task of creating a quality production. The Mayfair Witch trilogy was not written to be adapted into film. The books present serious roadblocks for filmmakers, and in fact, there are portions of the novels that cannot be recreated at all. That means old fans will have to be impressed by new material. We won't know the finished product for some time, but we have been given a single episode, and it does show promise.
