Anne Rice, author of 'Interview with the Vampire,' dead at 80

Anne Rice, the gothic novelist widely known for her bestselling novel Interview with the Vampire, died late Saturday at the age of 80.

Rice died due to complications from a stroke, her son Christopher Rice announced on her Facebook page and his Twitter page.

“In her final hours, I sat beside her hospital bed in awe of her accomplishments and her courage,” Christopher Rice wrote in the statement.

Anne Rice was the author of the 1976 novel Interview with the Vampire, which was later adapted into a movie starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt in 1994. It was also expected to be portrayed in a TV series on AMC and AMC+ in 2022.

Rice was expected to be interred during a private ceremony at a family mausoleum in New Orleans on an undisclosed date, according to the statement. 

A public celebration of life was to take place next year. - AP