‘Interview with the Vampire’ author dies aged 80

American gothic novel writer Anne Rice, best known for her book ‘Interview with the Vampire’, has died at the age of 80 after suffering complications from a stroke.

The author died at a hospital in California, surrounded by her family and loved ones, including son Christopher Rice, who announced her passing on her Facebook page on Sunday.

“In her final hours, I sat beside her hospital bed in awe of her accomplishments and her courage, awash in memories of a life that took us from the fog laced hills of the San Francisco Bay Area to the magical streets of New Orleans to the twinkling vistas of Southern California,” he wrote.

Anne Rice was perhaps best known for her novel ‘Interview with the Vampire’, which was released in 1976 and later saw a popular film adaptation in 1994, starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt. It was her first published novel, and following its release she also wrote several sequels, which collectively became known as the Vampire Chronicles. Another book from that series, 1988’s ‘The Queen of the Damned’, also saw a Hollywood adaptation in 2002.

Over her life Rice wrote several dozen books, and explored different genres. While she was most commonly known as a gothic novelist, she also released a series of erotic novels under the pseudonyms Anne Rampling and A.N. Roquelaure, such as ‘Exit to Eden’ and the ‘Sleeping Beauty’ series.

The author is survived by her son Christopher, who is also a writer with whom she occasionally collaborated on books, as well as her sisters Karen O’Brien, Micki Jenkins, and Tamara Tinker.

“As a writer, she taught me to defy genre boundaries and surrender to my obsessive passions,” her son Christopher said.