Auctions: Gothic horror, vampire chic and lots of coffins

No less than 14 coffins up for grabs in Laois sale

A Times-Picayune dated July 30, 1919

THE concept of a vampire being long in the tooth is a seductive one but 145-year-old Louis de Pointe du Lac is not just any old vampire. The fans of this successful TV icon can hardly contain themselves over an Irish auction which draws to a close from 6pm tomorrow (February 15).

Gothic horror, vampire chic, a Louisiana setting and no less than 14 coffins from a fiver up feature in the timed online sale by Sean Eacrett at Ballybrittas, Co. Laois.

A roomy black lacquered vampire coffin.

His latest auction of film paraphernalia is for AMC, the American cable channel. It is described as a prop auction from film and television shows.

Mr Eacrett is precluded from even mentioning Interview with the Vampire, the show that propelled the aforementioned Louis, his vampire lover Lestat de Lioncourt and Lestat’s daughter Claudia to stardom. But there is no disguising it. The tiniest bit of laptop sleuthing reveals all.

Available lots feature the Versace sunglasses worn by Louis, Lestat’s coffin, Claudia’s diary, Lestat’s business cards, Louisiana number plates, copies of The Times-Picayune and all sorts of props used by the characters in the series. The cybersphere is agog. “I need these like oxygen” wrote one breathless fan on Reddit.

A group of haberdashery hat boxes.

Interview with the Vampire is based on the life story of Louis, an affluent black man and brothel owner in New Orleans in the 1910s, as told to veteran journalist Daniel Molloy in Dubai in 2022. He had previously given Molloy an unpublished interview in 1973. It explores New Orleans and surrounding plantation life in the 18th and 19th centuries. The story, based on The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice, premiered in October 2022 with two seasons. There was a third in 2024 and there will be a fourth season later this year.

A boxed and cased pair of Versace sunglasses.

One of the most expensively estimated lots, at €200-€400, is a very large black lacquered high gloss dining table from a Netflix series. A very large oil on canvas of the Dubai skyline is estimated at just €100-€200, as is an L shaped corner sofa, a faux fireplace from Lestat’s house in New Orleans and a silvered six branch chandelier. Most estimates are lower than this. A group of haberdashery hat boxes is among a number of items with estimates of €20-€40. A quantity of water canisters is estimated at €10-€20, as is a group of four heavy timber theatre prop eyes and plenty of other items.

This is a fun sale of 684 lots from an auctioneer who has previously sold props for TV series like Badlands, The Vikings, and Game of Thrones. For this auction an undead and decidedly cheerful Sean Eacrett has made a must see 27 second long Tik Tok video of himself emerging from a coffin and donning a pair of sunglasses. Every vampire hates the light. There will be fees of course, but based on low enough hammer prices. Since when are vampires supposed to be nice....