Anne Rice, writer of the supernatural and the macabre, has died. She was 80.
Christopher Rice, her son, posted on Twitter early Sunday: “. . . my mother, Anne Rice, passed away due to complications resulting from a stroke. . . The immensity of our family’s grief cannot be overstated.”
Rice is best known for her Vampire Chronicles books, which included Interview With the Vampire, The Vampire Lestat and The Queen of the Damned. Interview With the Vampire became a movie in 1994, starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt.
AMC Networks is set to premiere a series next year based on Interview with the Vampire. The company has acquired the rights to 18 of Rice’s books. The prolific author wrote over 30 books and had more than a million followers on Facebook, according to her website.
While Rice seemed to relish in the world of the undead, in the late 1990s, she rediscovered her Catholic faith, according to biography.com. That discovery prompted her to write Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt and Angel Time.
Rice was born in New Orleans and the city became the backdrop for many of her books.
Her son said in his Twitter post: “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.”