Anne Rice, Famous Gothic Novelist, Dies at 80

Joe Scarnici / Getty Images for Entertainment Weekly

Anne Rice, gothic novelist who became known for her groundbreaking 1976 novel Interview with Vampires, According to a social media announcement from her son Christopher, she passed away Saturday night at the age of 80.

The announcement, revealed early Sunday via Twitter and Facebook, notes that the writer “has passed away from complications from a stroke” nearly 19 years on from the day her husband Stan passed away.

Rice, according to her website, has published over 40 titles in her illustrious writing career, serving as a gothic for writing about larger-than-life undead characters. Interview with Vampire appeared on the big screen in 1994 as the vehicle of Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise, and according to Related press, which plans to return to the small screen in 2022 through new AMC and AMC+ series.

Among the celebrities who took to social media to pay their respects to Rice was Darren Hayes, who noted that his band Savage Garden took their name from a phrase he discovered in the novel by Rice. The Vampire Lestat. He reflects, “I loved escaping into the rich, vivid world she had created.”

Author Sarabeth Pollock also mourned Rice, noting, “Anne Rice played an important role in my life. Her work has inspired me to learn as many languages ​​as I can and passionately study history. Interview with Vampire took my life on a whole new trajectory.”

Danielle Binks commented, “Anne Rice is an author who has a really complicated (and fascinating) relationship with her fans and fandom… but she leaves quite a literary legacy, which has helped pull off a genre and monster into the modern era.”

She added, “My condolences go out to those who loved her and her words.”

The rice will be laid to rest in the family mausoleum in New Orleans, and a celebration of her longevity is scheduled in her hometown early next year.