Anne Rice, author of Interview with the Vampire, is dead
Anne Rice
Due to the complications caused by a stroke, Anne Rice died in the Italian night. The famous author of Interview with the Vampire was 80 years old.The announcement was made by her son Christopher Rice, also a writer, directly on her mother's official facebook page:
It breaks my heart to bring you this sad news. Tonight, Anne passed away from complications from a stroke. She left us nearly nineteen years after the day my father, her husband Stan, died. The immensity of our family's pain cannot be described. As a mother, her support for me was unconditional: she taught me to embrace my dreams, reject conformity, and challenge the dark voices of fear and doubt. As a writer, she taught me to challenge the boundaries of the genre and indulge my passions. In his final hours, I sat beside his hospital bed in awe of his accomplishments and bravery, steeped in memories of a life that took us from the misty hills of the San Francisco Bay Area to the magical streets of San Francisco. New Orleans to sparkling Southern California. While kissing Anne goodbye, her younger sister Karen said: "What a journey you have brought us, little girl. "I think we all agree. Let us take comfort in the shared hope that Anne is now experiencing firsthand the glorious answers to many great spiritual and cosmic questions, the pursuit of which she has defined her life and career. During much of her later years, your contributions to this page have brought her much joy, along with a deep sense of friendship and community. Anne will be buried in our family's mausoleum at Metairie Cemetery in New Orleans in a private ceremony. Next year, a celebration of her life will take place in New Orleans. This event will be open to the public and will be attended by her friends, readers and fans who have brought her so much joy and inspiration throughout her life.
Anne Rice gives Interview with the Vampire to the latest historical-religious novels
Always associated with gothic, horror and fantasy novels, Anne Rice has sold over 100 million copies worldwide becoming one of the most successful horror writers in modern history. She made her debut in 1976 with Interview with the Vampire modeling the protagonist, the vampire Lestat de Lioncourt, on her husband Stan.Always attentive to human sexuality, she has vigorously supported the thesis that all human beings are bisexual, and atheist and nihilist for over 40 years, in 1998 Anne Rice embraced the Catholic faith by publishing two historical-religious novels in 2005 and 2007. In 2010 she said she broke away from the Catholic Church while remaining a believer.
Her books were based on Interview with the Vampire, a film directed by Neil Jordan with Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise and Antonio Banderas released in 1994 and became a cult of the 90s and The Queen of the Damned in 2002, directed by Michael Rymer with Stuart Townsend and Aaliyah struck down by critics and audiences.
The rights of the Vampire Chronicles (which includes Interview with the Vampire) and the Mayfair Cycle of Witches have been acquired by AMC which is expected to draw from the TV series. For the latest updates on these projects, check out our dedicated article.
Anne Rice, ‘Interview With the Vampire’ Author, Dead at 80
Anne Rice, the author of gothic fiction whose novel Interview With the Vampire reinvented and revived the vampire genre, has died at the age of 80.
Rice died Saturday following complications from a stroke, her son, author Christopher Rice, first confirmed to Anne’s Facebook page. “She left us almost nineteen years to the day my father, her husband Stan, died. The immensity of our family’s grief cannot be overstated,” Christopher wrote.
“Let us take comfort in the shared hope that Anne is now experiencing firsthand the glorious answers to many great spiritual and cosmic questions, the quest for which defined her life and career.”
Rice’s bestselling works also spanned the genres of romantic and erotic fiction and Christian literature, but it was within gothic horror where the New Orleans-born author made her biggest impact, beginning with her 1976 debut novel Interview With the Vampire, written as Rice grieved the death of her young daughter Michelle.
The novel — the first book in what became an expansive series known as the Vampire Chronicles — wouldn’t become a cultural phenomenon until nearly two decades later, when a film based on Interview With the Vampire was released to theaters; Rice wrote the screenplay herself, with Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt and Kirsten Dunst among the all-star cast. The film reignited interest in the book and likely sparked the many successful vampire works that have since followed it: True Blood, the Twilight series, The Vampire Diaries, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and more.
Other novels in the Vampire Chronicles include The Vampire Lestat, The Queen of the Damned — loosely adapted into a 2002 film posthumously starring Aaliyah — and what was ultimately Rice’s final book in the series, 2018’s Blood Communion: A Tale of Prince Lestat. In 2006, Elton John and Bernie Taupin penned their first Broadway score for Lestat, based on Rice’s Vampire Chronicles; an upcoming AMC series The Vampire Chronicles is also inspired by the novels.
Rice, under the pen name Anne Rampling, also penned the 1985 erotic novel Exit to Eden, and in recent years wrote alongside her son Christopher in their “Ramses the Dead” series of novels.
Christopher Rice added that Anne would be laid to rest in a private ceremony and interred in the family mausoleum at New Orleans’ Metairie Cemetery. “Next year, a celebration of her life will take place in New Orleans,” he wrote. “This event will be open to the public and will invite the participation of her friends, readers and fans who brought her such joy and inspiration throughout her life.”
