Author Christopher Rice has announced that his mother, best-selling author Anne Rice died of complications from a stroke.
Anne Rice was born Howard Allen Frances O’Brien October 4, 1941 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. She adopted the more feminine nickname Anne in parochial school, although she did not legally change her name until 1947. She died December 11, 2021 in Rancho Mirage, California.
She was predeceased by her husband, poet and painter Stan Rice, and their daughter Michele. She is survived by her son Christopher Rice and her sister Alice Borchardt, both of whom are also authors.
Anne Rice was best known for her vampire novels: Interview with a Vampire, The Vampire Lestat, and Queen of the Damned. “Rice’s books have sold over 150 million copies, making her one of the most popular and best-selling authors not only of the 20th century, but “of all-time.” She wrote nearly forty books, mostly fantasy-horror novels, but also erotica and Christian fiction. From 1983 to 2015, under the pen name A. N. Roquelaure, Mrs. Rice wrote the Sleeping Beauty quartet of novels: The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty, Beauty’s Punishment, Beauty’s Release, and Beauty’s Kingdom. Under the pen name Anne Rampling, she wrote two BDSM novels, Exit to Eden and Belinda.
In addition to the fourteen novels and stories of The Vampire Chronicles, the three books of the Mayfair Witches series, the three books of the Rameses the Damned series, and the six books of her other three series (Christ the Lord, Songs of the Seraph9im, and the WolfGift Chronicles), she wrote four standalone novels and one work of nonfiction, a memoir chronicling her oft-publicized struggles with faith and organized religion: Called Out of Darkness: A Spiritual Confession
Words of Anne Rice
- The Vampire Chronicles
- Interview With the Vampire
- “Interlude with the /Undead” Memnoch the Devil
- The Vampire Lestat
- The Queen of the Damned
- The Tale of the Body Thief
- Memnoch the Devil
- The Vampire Armand
- Merrick
- Blood and Gold
- Blackwood Farm
- Blood Canticle
- Prince Lestat
- Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis
- Blood Communion: A Tale of Prince Lestat
Since 1976 , Anne Rice has had as much influence on how we look at vampires as Bram Stocker.
Anne Rice was born and raised in New Orleans, the city that was the setting for many of her novels. The Crescent City was almost a supporting character in her books. Her body will be returned there to be laid to rest in the family mausoleum.
From Marc Biagi, voice actor and SCIFI.radio correspondent:
So sad to hear the news that one of my favorite authors, Anne Rice, has left us. Her son, also an author & a collaborator with her, Christopher Rice, shared the sad news and also the truth of her quest in life to find the greater truths which she is on her way to know with certainty.
I’m glad she got to see the start of plans for adaptations in series form of The Vampire Chronicles and The Mayfair Witches before her passing. As a gay man, her works were important to me to have LGBTQ+ characters that were at the center of her stories. And her detailed worlds that she created drew me as well as the thorough research she incorporated into her books and stories.
I was blessed to have met her twice, even though briefly at signings at Vroman’s in Pasadena, and was able to share with her how much I’ve enjoyed her work. I stood in line several hours to meet her while reading The Witching Hour for its signing, and admitted to her that I’d debated coming or staying home and continuing to read since I was hooked. It perked her up, piqued her interest and we chatted about where I was at and what I loved best so far. My signed books from her are among my special treasures on my bookshelves that I will never part with.
RIP Anne. You’ve left an amazing trove of stories behind for us to read and re-read.
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Susan Macdonald is the author of the children’s book “R is for Renaissance Faire”, as well as 26 short stories, mostly fantasy in “Alternative Truths”, “Swords and Sorceress #30”, Swords &Sorceries Vols. 1, 2, & 5, “Cat Tails” “Under Western Stars”, and “Knee-High Drummond and the Durango Kid”. Her articles have appeared on SCIFI.radio’s web site, in The Inquisitr, and in The Millington Star. She enjoys Renaissance Faires (see book above), science fiction conventions, Highland Games, and Native American pow-wows.
