Anne Rice, the gothic novelist best known for her 1976 novel “Interview With the Vampire,” which was adapted into a popular 1994 film starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt, passed away on Saturday. She was 80 years old. Christopher Rice, her son, posted on social media that complications from a stroke were the cause.
His post did not indicate where she passed away. When Anne Rice adapted a short story she had written in the late 1960s into “Interview With the Vampire,” her first published novel, she was a relatively unknown author. It features a solitary vampire named Louis who is recounting his life to a reporter, but Rice stated that the story was also her own.
She told The New York Times in 1986, “I immersed myself in the character.” “I was finally able to describe my reality, the dark, gothic influence on my childhood. It is not fantastical to me. My youth was brought to life for me.” Numerous critics dismissed the book without understanding its tone or its appeal.
- Leo Braudy wrote in The Times that Rice is a “dazzling storyteller” according to publicity.
- However, there is no narrative here, only a series of sometimes effective but always essentially static tableaus from Roger Corman films and some selfconscious soliloquies from Spiderman comics, all wrapped in a bloated, pompous language.” The reading public, however, latched on; “Interview With the Vampire” became a bestseller, and Rice found herself with a sizeable fan base, which she proceeded to entertain with a series of subsequent novels that collectively became known as the Vampire Chronicles.
The books, totaling more than a dozen, are widely credited with reviving interest in all things vampire, which has since been reflected on the big and small screens as well as the stage. But Rice, who published hundreds of novels, was not a single-topic author.
- She authored stand-alone books such as “Cry to Heaven” (1982), which follows the careers of two castrati.
- Under the pen name Anne Rampling, she penned books featuring sex slaves, such as “Exit to Eden” (1985).
- And as A.N.
- Roquelaure, she penned the “Sleeping Beauty” series of sensual novels.
- Rice’s admirers are devoted and prepared to immerse themselves in the universes she has built.
In 1993, she stated on the ABC News program “Day One”: “When I go to my book signings, I am the most boring person there. I adore the fact that everyone else is dripping with silk and lace and giving me dead flowers wrapped in leather handcuffs.” Her works resonated not just with enthusiasts of gothic romance, but also with readers who saw a spiritual aspect in them, as well as LGBT and transgender readers who related with their themes of isolation and alienation.
- Critics may have occasionally dismissed her writing, but she aimed higher.
- In 1990, she told The Times, “What important to me is that people realize that my works are serious, that they are supposed to make a difference, and that they are meant to be literary.” “I couldn’t care less whether that seems foolish or pompous.
They are designed to be in those bags on the Berkeley campus, alongside Castaneda and Tolstoy and anybody else. It drives me insane when I’m dismissed as a “pop” author.” Howard Allen O’Brien was born in New Orleans on October 4, 1941, to parents Howard and Katherine O’Brien.
Strangely, she was named after her father, but by first grade she had taken the name Anne.) Her father was a postal worker, while her mother was a housewife. She grew up in New Orleans, composing plays that she and her three sisters would perform and envisioning ghostly beings in the windows of New Orleans houses as she strolled about the city.
Films such as “Dracula’s Daughter” (1936) left a lasting influence. Her Roman Catholic upbringing and schooling, which was rich in symbolism, fueled her already brilliant imagination. “To sit and listen to the marvels that occurred to this saint or that saint, or how someone flew in the air during prayer, was just par for the course in Catholic school,” she explained.
Who is Anne Rice and what works has she published?
What works has Anne Rice authored? –
- Rice wrote Interview with the Vampire, which became a big seller following its 1976 publication.
- Rice created the script for the 1994 version of the novel, which starred Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, and Kirsten Dunst.
- She then created sequels to the novel, completing The Vampire Chronicles series.
- Queen of the Damned, one of the series’ books, was adapted into a film in 2002.
Under the pseudonyms Anne Rampling and A.N. Roquelaure, Rice published sexual literature, including Exit to Eden. The Vampire Chronicles served as the inspiration for the 2006 musical Lestat, composed by Elton John.
Why is The Vampire Diaries by Anne Rice considered a horror novel?
After its appearance in 1976, Interview with the Vampire got several poor reviews from critics, prompting Rice to briefly withdraw from the supernatural genre. The initial hardback version of The Vampire Lestat sold 75,000 copies and received favorable reviews from both reviewers and consumers when it was published in 1985.
- The Queen of the Damned was published in 1988 with an original hardback edition of 405,000 copies.
- The novel was selected as a primary selection by the Literary Guild of America for 1988 and topped The New York Times Best Seller list for more than four months.
- Several members of the LGBT+ community have seen Rice’s vampire characters as metaphorical images of solitude and social alienation in her works.
Similarly, a Boston Globe critic noted that the vampires in her stories reflect “the walking alienated, those among us who, by choice or not, reside on the margins.” Rice herself weighed in on the matter “Since the beginning, I’ve had homosexual followers and gay readers who viewed my books as containing a prolonged gay allegory.
- It was not my intention, but that is what they perceived.
- I had homosexual readers and gay friends, knew gay people, and lived in the Castro section of San Francisco, which was a gay neighborhood, even when Christopher was a baby.” Additionally, Rice’s books have been acknowledged as having had a significant effect on following developments within the vampire fiction genre.
Rice inverts vampire tropes, according to Susan Ferraro of The New York Times. “Because Rice connects with the vampire rather than the victim (reversing the typical focus), the reader’s fear stems from the awareness that the monster resides within. Moreover, Rice’s vampires are eloquent thinkers who debate the essence of virtue and evil for an eternity.” Additionally, Rice’s writing style has been extensively examined.