4. Lestat de Lioncourt from Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice
Although I have great admiration for Tom Cruise’s surprisingly potent portrayal of this iconic vampire in the 1994 film adaptation (and with a silly shout out to the misguided Broadway musical adaptation), it is Lestat on the page as written by Anne Rice that is the true awesome creation. In various other novels in the Vampire Chronicles series (Queen of the Damned, The Vampire Lestat – both quite good), this character is written as something of a hero, but Interview (his first appearance) paints a far more complex and compelling picture and that is how I choose to remember him. Vain, ostentatious, and almost completely lacking in morals, Lestat is incredibly powerful and just a tad bit deranged. His bisexuality and accumulation of a vampire child speak to his overwhelming appetite for life, as does his love for music and parties. He is a perfect creation of gothic horror, and it is in the ways that he is unlike other vampires that make him so exciting and frightening.
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