Anne Rice

Anne Rice (1941–2021) was an American author whose Vampire Chronicles transformed the literary vampire from a figure of pure menace into a brooding, philosophically complex anti-hero. Born Howard Allen Frances O'Brien in New Orleans, Louisiana, she adopted the name Anne and later married poet Stan Rice. Her debut novel Interview with the Vampire (1976) launched one of the most beloved and commercially successful supernatural fiction series in publishing history. Rice's body of work extended well beyond vampires to include the Mayfair Witches series, the Lives of the Mayfair Witches series, novels about the life of Christ (the Christ the Lord series), and erotica published under pseudonyms. Her novels are celebrated for their lush, gothic prose, their New Orleans settings, and their meditation on immortality, faith, sin, and the nature of evil. Prince Lestat (2014), Rice's return to the Vampire Chronicles after a long hiatus, won the Goodreads Choice Award for Horror in 2014. Rice was a beloved figure in popular culture and horror fiction until her death in December 2021. Her son, Christopher Rice, has continued the Mayfair Witches series.