Bring out your undead: the children of Lestat.(Cover story)

When Anne Rice sold the manuscript of her first novel to Knopf more than 30 years ago, the protagonist was a man named Louis who discovers a lost child. A mysterious figure named Lestat is introduced, only to die by fire. However, in the editing and rewrite, the Lestat character was brought back to life. Interview with the Vampire became a bestseller, and Lestat lived on for the entirety of the 10-volume Vampire Chronicles, concluding with 2003's Blood Canticle. Since announcing a "return to faith," the Catholic-born Rice (nee O'Brien) has put an end to her Vampire series. And with last week's closing of the Broadway musical Lestat, it is evident that she has left a vacuum. After selling 73 million books in three decades, mostly of the back-from-the-dead variety, there is certainly a market for books about the dark fantasy world of blood lust and evil doings. But who will fill it?

There are no lack of contenders. More vampire fiction has been written in the last 30 …