Interview With The Vampire author Anne Rice dies at 80: see 5 facts about her

Anne Rice, the famed author of Interview With The Vampire, and other bestselling gothic fiction novels, has died at the age of 80.

The literary world lost a gem on 11 December 2021, as American author Anne Rice passed on from stroke complications in a California hospital. According to her son, the late author will be buried in New Orleans at the family mausoleum at Metairie Cemetery was known for her dynamic range that cut across horror, romance, and Christian literature. She began her professional writing career with the publication of Interview With The Vampire in 1976 while living in California and continued with its sequels, ultimately making it a series.

A number of her novels have been adapted into feature films. The first was, Interview With The Vampire, released in 1994, which starred Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, and Kristen Dunst. Queen of The Damned was her second work to be adapted into a movie, although she was not pleased with the project, as it wasn’t well interpreted. Christ The Lord was also adapted into the Young Messiah film, released in 2016. In addition, she lived to see television, theatre, comics, and manga productions based on her works.

A more than fulfilled author, Anne penned almost 40 books in her active years under several pseudonyms. As the world bids farewell to one of the best to ever do it, we have put together these interesting facts you probably didn’t know about Anne Rice.

1. Her birth name is not Anne Rice

Adopting new names is not uncommon among famous people, and Anne Rice appears to be in the category of those who have. Born Howard Frances O’Brien, the author took Anne right from her kindergarten days because she didn’t like answering a masculine name. Following her marriage to Stan Rice, she officially adopted his surname and thus became Anne Rice.

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2. Anne wrote under many nom de plumes

In a bid to avail herself of some creative freedom, she adopted many pen names in the course of her career. One of such is the name A.N. Roquelaure under which she wrote the four books in the The Sleeping Beauty Quartet between the 1980s and 2015. It was revealed in the 1990s that she was the author of the books, and they were subsequently reprinted to indicate that. Rice wrote the 1985 and 1986 erotic books, Exit to Eden and Belinda under Anne Rampling.

3. Rice had a turbulent relationship with religion

Born and raised in a Catholic home, Anne spent all of her formative years in the Catholic setting, including her primary and high school educations. Not long after leaving high school, she chose a different path, identifying as an atheist for most of her adulthood, stemming from her displeasure with organized religion. In the late 1990s, Anne experienced severe health challenges, suffering a diabetic coma. She was subsequently diagnosed with Type-1 Diabetes and traced her way back to God. Anne also focused on Christian literature, writing the Christ the Lord series.

However, one thing that didn’t change is her disapproval of organized religion, which she reiterated in 2005 via her Facebook page. There, she explained that although she will always love God, she had too many issues with the church’s position on many important matters, and therefore could never really be a part of the church.

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4. Her husband was also a writer and creative artist

Anne’s late husband, Stand Rice, who passed in 2002, was also an accomplished writer in his own right. He published his first book of poems, Some Lamb, in 1975, inspired by the loss of their daughter, Michelle. The following year, Stan published his second book, Whiteboy, which went on to win an Edgar Allan Poe Award. Stan published four other books, one of which was released posthumously in 2003. Painting is another art Stand was in love with, however, he refused to sell any of his painting works.

5. She interacted directly with her fans 

Anne didn’t shy away from her fans and derived a great deal of fulfillment from interacting with them. Through the Facebook fan page, named People of the Page, Rice engaged with her fanbase. She frequently called for discussions about her literature (both old and new) and welcomed reviews from her readers. The page also served as the place for authentic Anne Rice news. She broke important news first and had daily exchanges with her fans there. Her novel, The Wolf Gift, which was released in 2012, was dedicated to the page, and she was ever grateful for how it availed her an opportunity to bond and have a real relationship with her fans.

As Anne Rice passes, her legacy lives on, and her son Christopher keeps the writing trade going. He is also a published author of many books and has, in fact, been nominated twice for the Bram Stoker Award.

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