One of the most prolific horror novelists of the twentieth century, Anne Rice, passed away yesterday from natural causes at the age of 80. She is succeeded by her son Christopher Rice, who continues the family tradition and is a horror writer himself.

Anne Rice was born in 1941 in New Orleans, Lousiana. She died peacefully yesterday on December 11th surrounded by her family. Her son made a public statement on social media, saying, “In her final hours, I sat beside her hospital bed in awe of her accomplishments and courage.” He continues to explain how his mother was a mentor to him and encouraged him to pursue a career as a novelist, “The immensity of our family’s grief cannot be overstated. As my mother, her support for me was unconditional – she taught me to embrace my dreams, reject conformity and challenge the dark voices of fear and self-doubt. As a writer, she taught me to defy genre boundaries and surrender to my obsessive passions.”

Anne Rice wrote over the course of 42 years 11 installments in The Vampire Chronicles among numerous other books. Her most celebrated work by far is The Vampire Chronicles. As the name implies, it’s centered around vampires, most importantly the vampire Lestat de Lioncourt who lives a melancholy life through the ages. Her first novel, Interview with the Vampire, was published in 1976 and became a Hollywood feature film in 1994 with big-name actors such as Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Antonio Banderas, and Kirsten Dunst. Several other films were adapted from the series including the 2002 hit movie Queen of the Damned starring actor Stuart Townsand as the legendary vampire Lestat and the late R&B artist Aaliyah as the ancient queen of all vampires. Rice also wrote erotic fiction under the pseudonym Anne Rampling and An Roquelaure, including Exit to Eden. Over the many years of her career, she sold over 150 million books and is considered by many as one of the most successful horror novelists of her generation.

Her legacy lives on today as an Interview With The Vampire TV show will be coming out early in 2022. AMC had previously acquired all rights to The Vampire Chronicles and will be recreating Anne Rice’s vision of a world of vampires, treason, shadows, power, and lust.