Rating: 
Summary: Anne Rice at Her Best !
Review: This massive novel is a wonder to behold.Even those who don't like this genre of books, just might become a fan if they dare to read it. Basically, it tells the sory of the New Orleans's Mayfair family, who are decended from several generations of witches. The effort Ms. Rice put into making this a believable and thoroughly entertaining tale is outstanding. Certainly, she must have been exhausted upon completion, for it truly left no stone unturned. Her amazing gift of weaving a fictional story with real facts and events are incomparable. I highly reccommend this novel to horror fans, as well as to all readers. Enjoy the fine writing skills of a wonderful author.
Rating:
Summary: Breathtakingly entertaining
Review: Usually, with a book with this many pages, I will run the other way. I am very glad I did not. This is a chilling book about a generation of witches from around the 1600's to the present time. They all strive to be strong but they are pulled in many, many different directions. With them, you will share their pain, their struggles, their tears, their hostility, and that spirit that is always lurking in the back. It was deep and mesmerizing and even though Ms. Rice sometimes goes into detail about certainties in the book, she will throw something spooky or bone chilling at you that will drag you right back into the depth of the book again. I think this is the best witchcraft book I have ever read. The characters are rich and you feel hatred and sorrow and joy so much throughout it. You start to get attached to certain characters and then the plot will twist and you feel remorse for another and on and on this goes. And the characters have a tendency to stay with you, and you will all find your favorite. Though Petyr was not a witch, I believe he and Antha were my personal favorites. You will either hate them or love them, and each individual character is tantalizing in their own way, good or bad. It is a cycle and it is a beautifully written book that will suck you up and it will stay with you even after you have put the book down. I highly recommend this book, especially to those that enjoy the chilling, creepy books and who have a big interest in the craft. I have the second part, Lasher, which I am just starting. I hope that it lives up to the expectations I have created after reading The Witching Hour.
Rating:
Summary: A completely engrossing novel!
Review: Why anyone would pass up the chance to get to know the Mayfairs' is beyond me! I know that Anne is best known for her vampires...but I think Rowan Mayfair can give Lestat a run for his money! I loved traveling back to the original Mayfair witch and the accounts leading up to todays Mayfair clan. The history lesson was amazing and Anne's detail helps pull the reader to that day and time. I know a lot of readers believe that Anne can be "long-winded" with description...but I think it works here. Without the description your lost to what motivates Lasher and the Mayfair women. For those readers who don't have the intellect, imagination, and the will-power not to skim are not deserving of this novel.The Witching Hour is meant for readers who understand what a novel is for......READING!
Rating: 
Summary: It was OK
Review: This book was alright. The first 300-400 pages were long and very detailed. But it did get better!...Anne Rice is Great!! and she shows it in every book she writes!
Rating:
Summary: Great Book, you should read it!!
Review: I just finished reading The Witching Hour two nights ago. It was by far the best book I have ever read. It literally stretched my mind to a parameter I didn't know existed in there. I can't wait to read the next two books!
Rating:
Summary: A long worthwhile read
Review: This is probably not a book for everyone, as it is long in detail and long on developing the plot. If you love novels like these, you will love this.If not, do not even pick this up.The story of the Mayfair witches starts in the present, moves to the past and back to the present with some loops thrown in. Anne Rice made beautiful usage of the language and description. I felt half the time that I was there in New Orleans (and it being over 90 degrees here helped =) watching a ghost story unfold. The ending is definitely a shocker, however, if you take the time to read the second and third book it all makes sense. This was not written to be a one book novel. Anne spent a lot of time developing the characters in this novel, which explained why certain characters do and react the way they do. It also made me feel that I knew each individual character very well. I almost cried at points, and got very angry in others. To me it was well worth the read (it grabbed my attention immediately, I didn't put it down for 2 days thank god it was the weekend!) and then I had to run out and by the next two books, which I will not go into details on here.
Rating: 
Summary: Page turner
Review: I'm not a big Anne Rice fan. She's far to morbid and gothic for my taste. This book would be the exception to that. The characters were so well written that I cared enough to wade through this too long novel. I did wish it wouldn't end, and in essence, it doesn't. But it's fun and I loved the New Orleans setting and the way she shifts time periods effortlessly to create a seamless storyline. I enjoyed it but not enough to keep my copy of the book.
Rating: 
Summary: a strange mishmash of the good and the dreadful
Review: The book is strong in parts and extraordinarily weak in others, especially the long-awaited conclusion. The greatest failing of the novel, however, is Rice's approach to the narration of the case history on the Mayfair Witches. She contracts one of the worst cases of verbal diarrhea I've ever encountered and becomes an utter bore. Some parts of the case history are interesting (e.g., Langtry's account of Stella's death and the letters of van Abel - although these, too, are remarkably long-winded, given that Abel often wrote them under pressured conditions, e.g., when he was being stalked by Lasher). Most of it, however, is completely irrelevant, serving only - and why Rice felt the need for this God only knows - to distend an already grossly bloated novel. It never ceases to amaze me how ready publishers and editors are to overlook the insufferable over-indulgences of writers who have acquired best-seller status, while reserving nothing but criticism for those would-be writers who dare approach them with manuscripts of over 120 000 words. In sum, I would recommend Rice's book only to those who suffer from acute insomnia.
Rating:
Summary: One of two books I've hurled across the room
Review: I have really enjoyed Ann Rice's Vampire Chronicles and Ramses...but this series will not be on my list of favorites. The description of life in New Orleans was pricesless. The book had very interesting characters, both in the current plot and the background, geneological history plot. The two main characters in the "current plot" could have been more central to the "current plot." The climax seemed so juvenile, especially compared to the style of the first 90% of the book. The ending so disappointed me that I sold the second book without reading it. I was in graduate school while reading Witching Hour. I took much longer than usual since I was so busy. The ending left me feeling as though I wasted my time.
Rating:
Summary: WOW! What a Family
Review: This was a wonderful book. The world in which Anne Rice created for the Mayfair witches to exist in is a timely, accurate reflection of our own world. The novel started rather slowly, but bacame much more interesting once the reader realizes the depth of the Mayfairs' story, and the realism of the characters. The family's demon, Lasher, is not realy met until the end of the book. If he was introduced as a character in the beginning of the book, he would have taken on much more scope as an evil character. I have really enjoyed Ms. Rice's novels, but this one takes the cake. She portrays the lives of thirteen different women over a length of 300 years in a neat, paperback package. An excellent read for anyone who enjoys fiction. But one question: How can a family be so inbred, but have properly functioning descendants?
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