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Goblin causes Aunt Queen’s fatal fall

Blood Canticle

Goblin’s haunting of Quinn Blackwood culminated in the death of Quinn’s great-aunt, Aunt Queen, after the ghost caused her to fall. The fatal incident showed that Goblin’s influence persisted—and had grown more dangerous—after Quinn’s transformation into a vampire, prompting Quinn to seek help and Lestat to call on Merrick Mayfair for an exorcism.

The Haunting and Its Escalation

Goblin had haunted Quinn since childhood. Quinn was newly among the Undead when he came to Lestat for help, but becoming a vampire had not ended the haunting: the ghost had instead grown stronger and meaner. Its effects therefore crossed the boundary between Quinn’s mortal life and his new existence as a vampire.

Aunt Queen’s Death

Goblin caused Aunt Queen, Quinn’s great-aunt, to fall, and the fall killed her. She was eighty-five. Her death made the haunting more than a private torment for Quinn; it established Goblin as a threat to someone he loved and gave the effort to remove the ghost an urgent, personal stake.

The Exorcism’s Consequence

To deal with Goblin, Lestat invited Merrick Mayfair to Blackwood Farm. Merrick, a scholar and sorceress before becoming a vampire, solved the riddle of the ghost and destroyed it in a fire that also killed her. Goblin’s role in Aunt Queen’s death thus became the cause of the exorcism that ended the haunting, but the victory came at a devastating cost: Merrick did not survive it.