Witching hour: Time has come for AMC, Rice’s ‘Mayfair Witches’

Every now and then, a film or television adaptation comes along that makes you wonder why it hasn’t been adapted sooner. Such is the case with author Anne Rice’s Lives of the Mayfair Witches novel trilogy. Following in the footsteps of the author’s “Interview With the

Vampire,” which released its first episode on Oct. 2, “Mayfair Witches” premieres Sunday, Jan. 8, on AMC and its AMC+ streaming service. Both series are a part of Rice’s Immortal Universe and (the books, at least) have seen some character crossovers.

Originally scheduled to debut its first episode on Jan. 5, “Mayfair Witches’” premiere date has been push back by three days, but makes up for the minor delay by offering viewers the first two episodes at once. The show will then air a new episode on the network each Sunday thereafter for the remainder of the eight-episode season.

Like most of Rice’s stories, the Mayfair Witches franchise is set in New Orleans, where filming began in May 2022 and wrapped in September. Set against a backdrop rife with weeping willows, presumably fragrant bougainvilleas and historic homes, “Mayfair Witches” follows a young neurosurgeon named Rowan Fielding (Alexandra Daddario, “The White Lotus”) as she uncovers a series of mysteries linked to her family — a family of powerful New Orleans witches. According to the official synopsis, “as she grapples with her newfound powers, she must contend with a sinister presence that has haunted her family for generations.”

The “sinister presence” in question is the enigmatic entity known as Lasher (Jack Huston, “American Hustle,” 2013), for whom the second book in Rice’s trilogy is named. Thanks to Lasher’s foreboding presence throughout “The Witching

Hour,” Rice’s first novel of the series, New York Times writer Patrick McGrath described the character as “possibly … Satan” and noted that “he appears to members of the Mayfair family, mainly the women, as a slim, pale, elegant figure with dark eyes and dark hair and a hypnotically seductive power over any of them reckless enough to entertain him.”