#Interview With The Vampire Author Anne Rice Has Died At 80

The news of Rice’s passing was met with an outpouring of grief and messages of love from her fans and fellow writers. “Anne’s books literally changed my life,” reads one such comment. “They are what made me fall in love with reading, vampires, and is why I spent a year living in New Orleans.”  

Many others wrote about how Anne Rice had been a personal inspiration to them in their pursuit of writing. “I found Anne’s writing early on in my life,” wrote one commenter. “And while I’m still young I am forever grateful to her for putting words down on paper.” Rapper Kcane Markco wrote, “May my children and their children enjoy your work as I have since childhood!” and called Rice “the Queen of Vamp life” in his own tribute post.

Rice was born in New Orleans in 1941, and the city became the backdrop for many of her novels. On the author’s website, her biography notes that, “Anne has spent more of her life in California than in New Orleans, but New Orleans is her true home.” Per Christopher’s statement, his mother will now return home:

Anne will be interred in our family’s mausoleum at Metairie Cemetery 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 invite the participation of her friends, readers and fans who brought her such joy and inspiration throughout her life.

Anne’s daughter, Michele, passed away at the age of 5 from leukemia. “Interview with the Vampire” was written while Rice was in the immediate grips of grief for her daughter, and published four years after Michele’s death.