Talamasca

The Talamasca, sometimes known as the Order of the Talamasca, is a fictional secret society featured in Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles and Lives of the Mayfair Witches supernatural horror novel series.<ref name="taltos">Template:Cite news</ref>

It is described as a secret society set up to research, investigate, observe and monitor the paranormal, in particular, vampires, witches, spirits and werewolves.<ref name="melton"/><ref name="canfield">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Rice describes them as "psychic detectives". Many vampiric characters from Rice's novels once belonged to the Talamasca before accepting the "dark gift". Jesse Reeves, David Talbot and Merrick Mayfair are the best known of Rice's Talamasca characters.<ref name="jacobs">Template:Cite news</ref>

The Talamasca represents one strand of Rice's theme of anthropology in her work which she repeatedly returns to. There are a number of anthropologists in, or connected with the Talamasca. The Talamasca can itself be seen as a kind of parallel to physical anthropology, looking for artifacts of another world. This is especially clear in the Talamasca's secret search for the Taltos.<ref>Frank A. Salamove, "The anthropological vision of Anne Rice, pp. 49–50 in, Gary Hoppenstand, Ray Broadus (eds), The Gothic World of Anne Rice, Popular Press, 1996 Template:ISBN.</ref> The Talamasca provides a solid foundation for Rice's work. With a history going back centuries it is like a backbone going through Rice's work which makes it coherent within itself.<ref>Linda Badley, Writing Horror and the Body: The Fiction of Stephen King, Clive Barker, and Anne Rice, p. 127, Greenwood Publishing Group, 1996 Template:ISBN.</ref>

History in Rice's works

Introduced in The Queen of the Damned (1988),<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> the Talamasca is said to have formed in 758 by Teskhamen, Heskreth and Gremt, and though it operates in offices worldwide, the organization's central files are held in London.<ref name="melton"/><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

In the novel Prince Lestat it is revealed to the vampire Pandora and Arjun that the founder of the Talamasca is the spirit Pandora encountered upon the death of Cassiodorus.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The leader at that time is David Talbot, who spearheaded its growth at the end of the twentieth century.<ref name="melton">Template:Cite book</ref> Earlier in the Vampire Chronicles, the society was sent to New Orleans to uncover the truth behind the story told in Interview with the Vampire (1976).<ref name="melton"/>

Characters

Character	rowspan="2" Template:Vertical header	rowspan="2" Template:Vertical header	rowspan="2" Template:Vertical header	rowspan="2" Template:Vertical header	rowspan="2" Template:Vertical header	rowspan="2" Template:Vertical header	rowspan="2" Template:Vertical header	rowspan="2" Template:Vertical header	rowspan="2" Template:Vertical header	rowspan="2" Template:Vertical header	rowspan="2" Template:Vertical header	rowspan="2" Template:Vertical header	rowspan="2" Template:Vertical header	Portrayals in media
	Queen of the Damned Template:Nobold	Mayfair Witches Template:Nobold
David Talbot	Template:Yan		Template:Yan			Template:Yan	Template:Yan	Template:Yan			Template:Yan	Template:Yan	Template:Yan	Paul McGann	Template:CNone
Jessica "Jesse" Reeves	Template:Yan										Template:Yan		Template:Yan	Marguerite Moreau	Template:CNone
Aaron Lightner Template:Efn	Template:Yan	Template:Yan		Template:Yan	Template:Yan			Template:Yan						Template:CNone	Tongayi Chirisa (as Ciprien Grieve)
Merrick Mayfair								Template:Yan		Template:Yan				Template:CNone	Template:CNone
Teskhamen									Template:Yan		Template:Yan	Template:Yan	Template:Yan	Template:CNone	Template:CNone
Stirling Oliver										Template:Yan				Template:CNone	Template:CNone

Television series

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} In April 2023, it was reported that AMC was developing a third Immortal Universe television series focused on the Talamasca.<ref name="DL Talamasca">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Variety Talamasca">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> John Lee Hancock is attached to the project as showrunner and writer.<ref name="DL Talamasca"/><ref name="Variety Talamasca"/> Talamasca: The Secret Order had begun production by October 2024 and premiered in 2025.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

External links

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