Rating: 
Summary: good enough to finish, not good enough to rave about
Review: I finally finished this book after a couple of weeks of 50 pages a day. Having not read any other Anne Rice, I can't compare it to her other books. I was pretty disappointed that after wading through over 1000 pages, the ending was not just "surprise" or a "twist", but an obvious setup for a sequel. The reader deserves better after the time invested in the rest of the book. I did find the history of this family of witches pretty engrossing, or I wouldn't have kept reading. There are some parts which would be disturbing to many readers, including a LOT of incest. Despite her ability to write, I probably won't pick up another Anne Rice novel.
Rating: 
Summary: THE BEST NOVEL ANNE HAS EVER WRITTEN!!!!!!
Review: My favorite book of Anne Rice is The Queen of the Damned. But The Witching Hour is the best book Anne has ever written. It took three years to do the research, MAN! DID IT PAY OFF!! Do NOT prejudge this book by its length. Do not stop after reading the first chapter thinking you got the gist of the book, you havent even BEGUN!!!! A woman rocks in a rocking chair in her house. A ghost is there comforting her and the world of The Mayfair Witches is revealed.... Three main characters, Rowan Mayfair, Michael Curry and Aaron Lightiner. Rowan Mayfair, a doctor who was adopted, wants to find out about her mysterious past. Michael Curry was just saved from near death and have seen visions. During the near death state, Michael is given a mission and now he is determined to see it through. Aaron Lightner, a chief investigator of the Talamasca. Aaron Lightner the same character in The Queen of the Damned. The Talamasca, the same organization in The Queen of the Damned has investigated The Mayfair Witches for centries. Aaron Lightner has compiled the history of Lasher, the ghost that haunts the Mayfair Witches. All three converge to solve the mystery of the ghost and the Mayfair history. And finally a ending you WILL NOT BELIEVE!!! IF YOU DO NOT READ THIS BOOK YOU HAVE NOT READ AN ANNE RICE NOVEL YET!!!!!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Very Long!
Review: Despite the strong and interesting begining, The Witching Hour was a painful read. I made it to approximately page 500 and realized that I had become very bored. Then I took into consideration that I had roughly 500+ more pages to go. I decided to stop reading it. The story, while very well conceived, became dryly written and slowed down entirely too much for my attention span. I probably could have completed The Witching Hour *story* if the tale were separated into separate books (like a series) instead of cramming such a vast tale into one book. Skip it if you are impatient and/or otherwise have a short attention span. Get it if you are patient and want to read a story with A LOT of character history in the form of flashbacks.
Rating:
Summary: HAUNTING! STAGGERING! ANNE RICE AT HER BEST! READ IT!!!
Review: I was absolutely spellbound from chapter one of this fabulous tale. Rowan is a tragic heroine for the ages and Michael is her light at the end of every tunnel. If you like Anne Rice then you'll love this book!Never has her talent for rich description been more brilliantly displayed than in the Witching Hour. You can almost feel the Louisiana Heat and see the oak lined streets of the Garden District. More importantly you'll become so involved with the characters and their tradgedies and triumphs that you'll actually feel sad when you reach the end of this amazing novel (despite it's length). Fortunately there are two other novels in the series with the promise from Anne of more to come. Also, the classic Rice trait of interweaving two and sometimes three stories into one and going back and forth in history (sometimes many centuries apart) is in full force in the Witching Hour. I first read this book almost six years ago and I loved it so much that it has become a ritual for me to reread it every summer. The only criticism of the book that I have encountered is that the section on the History of the Mayfair Witches is too lengthy, but personally that is my favorite part. This is where you really get to know the history not only of Lasher and his 13 witches, but the Mayfair family itself. And as always Anne puts her own unique twist on historical facts and blends them in beautifully with the plot. The tale of Rowan and the other doomed witches will haunt you. This book is not to be missed!!!
Rating:
Summary: Not The Finest Hour
Review: Despite the strong and interesting beginning, The Witching Hour was a painful read. I made it to approximately page 500 and realized that I had become very bored. Then I took into consideration that I had roughly 500+ more pages to go. I decided to stop reading it. The story, while very well conceived, became dryly written and immobile. And the amount of detail in this book is quintessentially EXCESSIVE. I have read quite a few reviews that site Rice's writing style as being the flaw with this book. I don't think her style is necessarily a "flaw", because a few parts are beautifully written. The "flaw" is that The Witching Hour is profusely detailed and incredibly long. So if you are a patient person and would enjoy a book that is tantamount to an emotional history book about a family of witches, then this is the book for you. However, if you are looking for a concise book of at least reasonable length and momentum, consider yourself forewarned because I do not recommend this book for you.
Rating: 
Summary: Rice's journey through myth, legend and the supernatural
Review: "The Witching Hour," Anne Rice's 1990 foray into witchcraft and the occult, is not really a change of pace for the uniquely gifted author more than it is a better realized creation emphasizing her strengths and obsessions. As most readers know, Rice cut her teeth with the enormously successful Vampire Chronicles including "Interview with the Vampire" and "The Vampire Lestat." With "The Witching Hour," Rice has taken a well-deserved break from the immortal lives of her witty vampire clan, creating a fascinating legend of a family of witches stretching back four centuries and two continents. The witches, known as the Mayfairs, are connected by the haunting thread of the mysterious spirit Lasher, appearing ghost-like to a selected few, standing within the shadows of ominous trees and forming within mirrors, tears streaking his pale face. Lasher forms an eerie, if not erotic bond with the women of the Mayfair clan, providing untold riches and eventually amorous damnation. But Lasher, much like the legacy of the Mayfair family, is an exotic mystery waiting to be solved, and this intimidating responsiblity falls into the modern-day hands of Michael Curry and Rowan Mayfair. This appealing, love-struck couple, set out for New Orleans to solve the mystery and reclaim the souls of the Mayfair family. "The Witching Hour" was eventually followed by two sequels, but it stands alone as one of Rice's greatest novels, an enthralling, complex epic filled with gothic mystery, dancing ghosts and heartbreaking irony. Her descriptions of the decayed mansion on First Street, situated in the Garden District of New Orleans, a moody, ancient home owned by the Mayfairs for over 100 years, provides some of this novels most sensual and memorable passages. This house is indeed haunted by spirits and the hovering mysteries of past tragedies, but like Shirley Jackson's classic "The Haunting of Hill House," what is lurking within the home is much more than just crying spirits of the dead. Rice's body of work has always had an old fashioned taste for the finer things in life, from exquisite bottles of wine to antique furnishings and dusty historic paintings. She caresses these lush trappings, much like a lover embraces an old flame. And her descriptions of these tasteful adornments - clothes, artwork, china, food and even New Orleans culture, all glowing within the flame of yellow candlelight, are examples of her sensual writing style. Granted, the passages leading up to the novel's final conflict, in which Michael and Rowan begin renovating the ancient Mayfair home, move slowly, perhaps providing more architectural detail than the reader is interested in. But Rice is strategically building a growing sense of dread. Horror is going to pay a visit to this young couple, and when it eventually does, the reader's mouth will be agape. "The Witching Hour" is a mesmerizing novel, combining comfortable elements of the English ghost story with a feather-touch dash of erotica, witchcraft and the occult. As in all Anne Rice novels, the dead will simply not go away. They lurk in the shadows of history, as they have for centuries. Time may have passed these pseudo banshees by, but their power is far reaching. Even within the shadows of skyscrapers, automobiles and computers, these timeless supernatural fears are hiding. In Anne Rice's fascinating worlds, ancient legends live and wait, and our imagination is entranced.
Rating:
Summary: Master Storytelling
Review: Anne Rice proves to be a master storyteller in her Mayfair Witches Chronicles. I attempted to read Interview With a Vampire and also Lestat but found the whole vampire history a little uninteresting. However, the witches series is a masterpiece! Having read the sequels Lasher and Taltos, I can say this is a superb trilogy. The characters are lush and complex, which I love. Anyone who hates when a book ends will love these long detailed novels. Being a fan of Stephen King and Dean Koontz, horror is my specialty and I can say that with this series Anne Rice ranks right up there with the King (Stephen that is). She makes New Orleans sound wonderful and mysterious without being boring and long winded. I highly recommend this trilogy to anyone who enjoys horror.
Rating:
Summary: A good read, but fails to deliver
Review: Witching Hour is an excellent story that spans generations of the Mayfair family. Hardcore Rice fans will probably devour it. More discerning readers may note that the novel suffers from several fatal flaws as other reviewers have pointed out. Firstly, it is probably 30% filler, and Rice could have easily trimmed it down to eliminate much of the repetitive backstory. By the 500 page mark, most readers will be fairly clued in to the existence of Lasher but Rice continues to pile on little stories about his influence on the Mayfair family. Secondly, after persevering with Rowan, Aaron and Michael for nearly 1000 pages, at the end readers are likely to be disappointed with their inconsistent actions as they break character just to continue the momentum of this novel into the sequel. Thirdly, there is too much obvious deus ex machina for the purpose of pacing. When Rowan inherits the mansion, the cleaning and renovation process begins so quickly, you wonder if Ms Rice has ever had to hire a tradesperson. Rowan walks into an 8am meeting with her lawyers, who hire a cleaning crew on the spot and the mansion, neglected for decades is clean by 2pm the same day!? Likewise, the initial renovation also goes far too quickly to be anything except a fantasy. Conversely, when Michael returns to San Francisco it takes him weeks to pack a few boxes! I realize this may have been necessary for the plot, but this disregard for mundande detail shattered my suspension of disbelief. Finally, Lasher just isn't scary enough for this novel to qualify as horror. Unlike Lestat and the vampires, who you could both love and fear, this ends up more like a dark romance novel. Lasher is more an object of pity in some ways. Perhaps Rice has plans to develop his character in the sequel, but I'm not sure I have the patience to find out.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful story lost in a sea of bombast
Review: I had a real problem with this book. It's too long. Rice has a well-documented tendency to prattle on about non-essential things. Does the reader really need to know every detail of the Doric columns of architecture in stately New Orleans manors? Does the reader need to have a dissertation on Kudzu vines?
Reading this begs the question: Does Anne Rice have an editor? Indeed Rice has a wild imagination and sees fully the worlds she creates, but events happen so slowly in this book that were it a movie, one third of the audience would be constantly hitting the snack bar, unconcerned about missing anything vital. Another third would be dead asleep. The final third would be sitting at rapt attention, drool dripping onto their black robes and goth accessories as they sat transfixed, not realizing that they are so hooked on Rice's work that they would pay top dollar for an audio tape of the author's flatulence. Seriously, it's a rich, fine story, but it misses the mark because one leaves the novel wondering if Rice gets paid by the word.
Rating:
Summary: Too much description it just didnt keep my interest
Review: I have enjoyed other anne rice novels but i could through about half of this one and just couldnt go on any longer. I was younger when my mother read this book, she said it was great but that i had to wait until i was a bit older to read it. The story was too hard to keep track of. I was highly disappointed.
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