Quinn Blackwood is like Louis in that he is a native of the Louisana swamplands, but he is the one vampire whose attitude about life and love most resembles Lestat’s. Lestat even goes so far as to call him his Little Brother. Quinn appears in Blackwood Farm (2002) and Blood Canticle (2003).
Patsy Blackwood, daughter of Pops and Sweetheart, gives birth to twin boys, Tarquin and Garwain, when she is only sixteen years old. Garwain dies shortly after Tarquin’s birth. Although his full name is Tarquin Anthony Blackwood, everyone calls him “Quinn.” He is a direct descendant of Julien Mayfair, who impregnated his great-great-grandmother Grace Blackwood, wife of sterile William Blackwood, son of Manfred, founder of Blackwood Farm, thus making Quinn a direct relation to the Mayfair family of witches. Quinn is raised by his grandfather and grandmother, Pops and Sweetheart, in a grand southern mansion called Blackwood Farm, located in the dense, dank bayou of Sugar Devil Swamp. Quinn’s mother, Patsy, still lives on the property, behind the main Blackwood house, in a small building that mostly houses workmen and occasional guests. Although he never knew his father, Quinn is told throughout his childhood that his mother, Patsy, is his sister, due to the fact that her undependable behavior makes her incapable of raising a child. Surrounded by no other children, Quinn matures in the presence of his grandparents, Jasmine the housekeeper, house servants, groundskeepers, and guests that visit Blackwood Farm.
By the time Quinn is three years old, he is haunted by a ghost called Goblin, who is actually the spirit of his dead twin brother, Garwain. The ghost has the ability to move objects and can be very mischievous. As Quinn grows older, he and Goblin communicate more, and Goblin often expresses jealousy whenever Quinn shows interest in anything besides him. Quinn also observes that Goblin ages at the same rate as himself and has similar ways of speaking and behaving. Although most people believe that Goblin is Quinn’s imaginary friend, individuals with strong psychic abilities can see the ghost.
Goblin demands all of Quinn’s attention, especially when Quinn encounters ghosts in an old cemetery, which are torpid and uninteresting to Quinn, as Goblin constantly haunts him. Quinn spends the next few years struggling to receive an institutional education, especially because he does not get along with other children, since all he truly wants is to live at Blackwood Farm with his family. He also goes to a psychologist who tells him that Goblin is a figment of his imagination that will eventually disappear. Around the same time, Quinn encounters Lorraine McQueen, his great-aunt, also called Aunt Queen. She spends a lot of time with Quinn and hears him talk about Goblin. Quinn begins to suspect that Aunt Queen can see Goblin, but she will not admit to this. Before returning to her home in New York, she hires a teacher, Lynelle Springer, who will teach Quinn on Blackwood Farm so that he will not have to leave it for another educational institution. Lynelle humors Quinn and pretends to speak with Goblin and eventually teaches Goblin new words to speak, although he is not as clever as Quinn. Quinn grows to be highly intelligent and articulate. He is also well traveled, mainly due to the benevolence of Aunt Queen. On his first trip to New York, Quinn notices that Goblin grows weaker the farther he moves away from Blackwood Farm. And when Quinn travels around the world, Goblin cannot go with him because the distance is too far from Blackwood Farm, but Goblin is still there when Quinn returns.
After a string of deaths in Quinn’s life—Lynelle Springer who dies in a car crash when he is seventeen and his grandmother Sweetheart when he is eighteen—he goes into the attic and discovers much about the history of Blackwood Farm, especially about a woman named Rebecca Stanford. Following this discovery, the ghost of Rebecca appears to Quinn. He finds her more alluring than haunting and has a night of intimacy with her. She asks him to uncover the truth about her death. After Quinn makes several inquiries into the matter, Aunt Queen explains to him that Rebecca was the second wife of Manfred.
Quinn goes deep inside Sugar Devil Swamp in search of the place where Manfred was rumored to have murdered Rebecca. His search leads him to Sugar Devil Island, where a Romanesque tomb with the name PETRONIA stands near an old hermitage. Therein, Quinn finds Rebecca’s remains. While on the island, Quinn also finds evidence that someone is still living in the Hermitage. He leaves a note telling the person living in the house to leave, but Quinn then receives a note telling him to never return to the island.
Ignoring this threat, Quinn decides to renovate the Hermitage and he invites the police to take away Rebecca’s long-deceased corpse, but during the course of the renovation, Quinn’s grandfather Pops dies. In his grief, Quinn enjoys a night of passion with Jasmine, the housekeeper, who, unknown to him at the time, becomes pregnant. Meanwhile, Quinn tries to convince others of the stranger living on the island, but no one believes him, until one night when the stranger appears and attacks Quinn. Saved by Goblin, who scares off the stranger, Quinn has wounds so severe that he is taken to Mayfair Medical Center, where he encounters Mona Mayfair, who is slowly dying after having given birth to a Taltos child, Morrigan.
Quinn and Mona spend much time together in the hospital and fall in love. Aunt Queen invites Quinn to travel with her to Europe, and he feels obliged to accompany her, as this will likely be her last trip, due to her great age. Quinn promises Mona that they will email often.
Unexpectedly, Quinn’s travels throughout Europe last for three years, yet he and Mona continue an email correspondence. She signs off as his “Ophelia Immortal” while he signs off as her “Noble Abelard.” With Jasmine’s assistance, Quinn also emails Goblin, who cannot accompany Quinn that great distance away from Blackwood Farm.
Upon his return, Quinn discovers that, as a result of their night together, Jasmine has given birth to Quinn’s son, Little Jerome. Quinn also discovers that Mona’s condition has worsened, but the opportunity to visit her is taken from him when Petronia takes him with her vampiric power and speed to Italy, where he meets two other vampires, the twenty-five-hundred-year-old Indian, Arion, and Quinn’s ancestor Manfred Blackwood. Then, against Manfred’s protests, Petronia turns Quinn into a vampire.
Petronia, Manfred, and Arion explain to Quinn the confines of his new existence, namely that the Talamasca Order is now his enemy, and that Quinn can never again return to New Orleans because the vampire Lestat is guarding it from being hunted by any other blood drinker. Despite his maker and his ancestor, Quinn is truly taught how to be a vampire by Arion, who lets Quinn drink from his ancient blood, which increases his strength. After he learns how to hunt mortals and hide from them, Quinn returns to Blackwood Farm, despite Petronia and Arion’s objections. Upon returning home, Quinn discovers that his mother, Patsy, HIV-positive, has now contracted the AIDS virus. When Quinn meets Goblin again, the nature of the ghost of his dead twin brother becomes altogether different. Goblin violently attacks Quinn and drinks his blood whenever Quinn drinks blood, which augments Goblin’s strength. Petronia returns to Sugar Devil Island where she learns of Quinn’s predicament with Goblin. She shows him the Vampire Chronicles, where he learns more about Lestat.
Eagerly hoping that Lestat can help him, Quinn goes to his townhouse in New Orleans and explains to him the situation. Lestat observes how, after Quinn drinks the blood of a victim, Goblin appears, attacks Quinn, and drinks his blood. When Goblin attacks Quinn a second time, Lestat attacks the ghost, who in turn goes and kills Aunt Queen. To rid Quinn of Goblin forever, Lestat enlists the aid of the newly made vampire, Merrick Mayfair, who is also a witch of the Mayfair family. Utilizing the etheric potency surrounding the death of Aunt Queen, Merrick plans to perform an exorcism ritual with a pyre and Goblin’s long-deceased corpse, Garwain Blackwood. Before the ritual starts, Quinn sees once more the ghost of Rebecca, who desires vengeance for her death. Quinn’s mother, Patsy, also comes into the house and begins saying and thinking many hateful things at him. Furious with her, Quinn breaks her neck without drinking her blood and leaves her body in the swamp to be eaten by alligators, which satisfies Rebecca’s need for vengeance, although that matters little to Quinn.
In preparation for the exorcism, Lestat lets Quinn drink some of his more powerful blood to ensure that Quinn’s increased strength will be able to survive the ritual. After the exorcism ritual begins, Merrick realizes that Goblin is not going into the light of Heaven. Not knowing what else to do, and desiring to help Garwain’s soul have peace in the Afterlife, Merrick holds Garwain’s corpse and leaps into the pyre, which burns her to death.
Following this, Mona Mayfair arrives at Blackwood Farm to spend her final days with Quinn, the man she loves, knowing that she has wasted many years in the hospital and that she does not have much longer to live. Quinn reveals to her that he is now a vampire and he introduces her to Lestat, who instantly loves her. Knowing that she will make an excellent immortal, Lestat turns Mona into his fledgling vampire, as a favor to Quinn, so that he can be with her forever.
For more perspectives on Quinn Blackwood’s character, read the Alphabettery entries on Arion, Aunt Queen, Garwain Blackwood, Goblin, Héloïse, Hermitage, Jasmine, Lestat de Lioncourt, Little Jerome, Lorraine McQueen, Lynelle Springer, Manfred Blackwood, Merrick Mayfair, Mona Mayfair, Morrigan Mayfair, Noble Abelard, Ophelia Immortal, Patsy Blackwood, Petronia, Pops, Rebecca Stanford, Sweetheart, Talamasca Order, Taltos, and Virginia Lee Blackwood.