I think it’s true that everyone in the fandom has, at some point, had a massive crush on Louis.

Psssst we know that, Louis.

I do think Louis was a gateway drug for alot of fandom ppl. It’s his story at first. I read the books in order and I’d recommend doing it that way, even tho it’s not necessary. TVL really is a response to IWTV, and part of the charm of that book is Lestat’s joy at breaking open the floodgate to release all the forbidden answers to all the burning questions Louis had in IWTV. I loved Lestat more knowing that alot of his bastardness in IWTV was frustration that he was sworn to secrecy, and couldn’t risk putting Louis, Claudia, and himself in danger by telling them any of it at that time. 

I think this varies from person to person in the fandom, and some ppl despise Lestat, and have from whatever book they started in. Like the movie itself, he’s not for everyone and doesn’t have to be. 

My gateway drug was Claudia, and then Louis, and then Lestat. How crazy that the antagonist of IWTV ends up being, very quickly in this series, the lead and clearly the protagonist? As the series shows, he’s not wholly an antagonist to Louis. It wasn’t so black and white, as it is in real life, there were misunderstandings and gray areas.