Anne Rice was a popular author with a fascinating personal and professional life. Read on to learn more about her and her work.

Most popular books by Anne Rice

Anne Rice’s novels have a massive cultural appeal, especially since the Interview with the Vampire movie and its revival as a show.

Here we’ll introduce you to the author’s fascinating biography and look at some of her most popular books.

Anne Rice biography

Anne Rice was an American author of gothic fiction, erotica, and Christian literature, best known for her books about vampires and other supernatural creatures. Rice was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, and grew up in an Irish Catholic family. Her parents were Howard O’Brien and Katherine Allen.

Although christened Howard Allen Frances O’Brien, Rice never liked this name and changed it to Anne Rice when she was in the first grade. When Rice was 15, her mother died of complications due to alcoholism, and shortly afterward, Rice disavowed her faith in God.

Rice finished high school in Texas, attended Texas Woman’s University, and got married to Stan Rice at the age of 20. She received her B.A. and M.A. from San Francisco State University.

In 1966, Anne and Stan had a daughter Michele. Unfortunately, she died of leukemia when she was five. Rice wrote her first novel (Interview with the Vampire) in just five weeks. The novel features a Michele-like character who becomes immortal after turning into a vampire.

This novel was the first in what would become a series called The Vampire Chronicles. Rice brought multiple innovations to the genre, one of the most significant being the sympathetic treatment of dysfunctional supernatural characters.

After spending most of her life as an atheist, Rice eventually returned to the Roman Catholic Church. She wrote several books dedicated to the life of Jesus Christ, including:

• Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt
• Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana
• Called Out of Darkness: A Spiritual Confession
• Angel Time
• Of Love and Evil: The Songs of the Seraphim.

Anne Rice has received numerous awards for her work, such as:

• The Locus Award for The Witching Hour for the best horror/dark fantasy novel
• The World Horror Convention Grand Master Award for an outstanding contributor to the horror genre
• The Bram Stoker Award for lifetime achievement

Rice had a sister named Alice Borchardt, who wrote historical fiction, horror, and fantasy. Anne’s son, Christopher Rice, is also an author, and the two worked on several books together before she passed away in Rancho Mirage, California, in December 2021.

The Vampire Chronicles

The Vampire Chronicles is a series about Lestat de Lioncourt, a French nobleman who turned into a vampire in the 18th century. Here’s a short overview of the series:

1. Interview with the Vampire - The first book of the series was supposed to be a short story but eventually developed into a book. It tells the story of Louis de Pointe du Lac, who was turned into a vampire by Lestat de Lioncourt.
2. The Vampire Lestat - This book follows Lestat de Lioncourt on his journey, revealing a sympathetic figure in search of his origins.
3. The Queen of the Damned - We follow three stories: the rockstar vampire Lestat, a mysterious dream of red-haired twins, and Lestat’s journey to Greece.
4. The Tale of the Body Thief - Lonely and depressed, Lestat meets Raglan James, a mortal, who proposes that they switch bodies.
5. Memnoch the Devil - Lestat is approached by a ghost asking him to take care of his daughter Dora. Meanwhile, Lestat grows paranoid that he’s being stalked and eventually meets the devil.
6. The Vampire Armand - Here, we learn the story of Armand, who first appeared in the Interview with the Vampire.
7. Merrick - David Talbot recounts the tale of a beautiful witch named Merrick, who is a descendant of the Great Mayfair Witches.
8. Blood and Gold - This book centers on the great vampire Marius and the secrets and adventures of his 2,000-year existence.
9. Blackwood Farm - The main character is Tarquin Blackwood, a child of the Blackwood clan. He’s haunted by a mysterious doppelganger, Goblin. Tarquin tells his life story and discovers who Goblin really is.
10. Blood Canticle - This book depicts the world of vampires and witches and describes Lestat on his quest for goodness, redemption, and conquering the love of Rowan Mayfair.
11. Prince Lestat - With the vampire world in crisis, Louis de Pointe du Lac, Armand, and the vampire Lestat must discover who or what is causing the chaos.
12. Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis - The story focuses on Lestat as he learns more about the mysterious spirit called Amel.
13. Blood Communion: A Tale of Prince Lestat - Lestat tells the story of the formation of blood communion and how he became the prince of the vampire world.

Other notable works by Anne Rice

Besides the immensely popular The Vampire Chronicles series, Anne Rice has written other notable works.

• The Lives of the Mayfair Witches series crossovers with The Vampire Chronicles series and introduces characters and concepts relating to the story. The series includes three books: The Witching Hour, Lasher, and Taltos.
• The Sleeping Beauty series (Rice used the pseudonym A. N. Roquelaure) - The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty, Beauty's Punishment, Beauty's Release, and Beauty's Kingdom
• Exit to Eden (under the pseudonym Anne Rampling)

• Belinda (under the pseudonym Anne Rampling)
• New Tales of the Vampire series (Pandora and Vittorio the Vampire)
• Ramses the Damned: The Passion of Cleopatra
• The Mummy, or Ramses the Damned.
• Ramses the Damned: The Reign of Osiris
• Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt
• Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana
• Called Out of Darkness: A Spiritual Confession
• Angel Time
• Of Love and Evil: The Songs of the Seraphim
• Servant of the Bones
• Violin
• Cry to Heaven
• The Feast of All Saints
• The Wolf Gift Chronicles (The Wolf Gift and The Wolves of Midwinter)

Her books made The New York Times Bestseller list several times. Many have been adapted into movies and TV series. For example, The Young Messiah is a movie based on the novel Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt.

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FAQ

What did Anne Rice think of fanfiction?

Anne Rice stated that she didn’t like fanfiction and that it upset her to even think about it.

Why did Anne Rice stop writing?

Anne Rice passed away in December 2021.