Anne Rice, the bestselling author of Interview With the Vampire and many other beloved horror novels, has passed away due to complications from a stroke.
The novelist’s son, Christopher Rice, said in a statement on Sunday morning that Rice had “passed away due to complications resulting from a stroke”,
“The immensity of our family’s grief cannot be overstated.”
The family is not alone in their grief as horror writers and fans all over the world share their condolences.
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Her son also shared his experience as a writer learning from one of the greats: “As a writer, she taught me to defy genre boundaries and surrender to my obsessive passions.”
Rice wrote more than 30 books but was most famously known for her debut novel, Interview With the Vampire.
The book was published in 1976 and in 1994 was made into a film starring Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt and Kirsten Dunst. It was commonly referred to as Rice’s masterpiece.
Rice’s words were as funny and honest as they were brilliant and thrilling. She was hilariously dismissive of the sparkly and brooding version of vampires that featured in Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series, saying she felt “sorry for vampires that sparkle in the sun” and that her own vampire protagonist, Lestat “would never hurt immortals who choose to spend eternity going to high school over and over again in a small town”.
Rice was also incredibly vulnerable in her public denouncement of Christianity, writing on her Facebook page: “In the name of Christ, I refuse to be anti-gay. I refuse to be anti-feminist. I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control. I refuse to be anti-Democrat. I refuse to be anti-secular humanism. I refuse to be anti-science. I refuse to be anti-life. In the name of Christ, I quit Christianity and being Christian. Amen.”
She was a real champion and inspiration.
Christopher Rice said in his statement: “In her final hours, I sat beside her hospital bed in awe of her accomplishments and her courage,”
