Anne Rice was born in New Orleans on October 4th, 1941. She was originally born as Howard Allen Frances O´Brian, but she would legally change her name to Anne O´Brian when she was seven. Growing up Rice was raised heavily religious but she would often find herself wanting to explore ideas outside of the church and she would abandon the church at fourteen. Sadly, when Rice was still fourteen her mother would die of alcoholism, and she would move to Texas with her father. While in high school Anne would meet Stan rice who she would go on to eventually marry. She continued her education to Texas Women's University then to San Francisco where in 1972 she received her M.A. in writing.
A few years earlier Rice had given birth to her daughter, Michele. She was diagnosed with leukemia and would die at the age of five. After her death Rice and her husband were heart broken and would turn to heavy drinking. But, Rice would channel her grief into a story she had once abandoned, Interview with the Vampire in which the character Claudia has many similarities to her daughter. She would publish her novel in 1976 and after its success Rice would continue to write. Soon after publishing she would have her son Christopher, which would push her to keep writing and to recover from Michele's passing. She had two pseudonyms in her time writing, A.N. Roquelaure which was used to produce writing of her erotic fantasies and Anne Rampling which was for more contemporary novels. She wanted to be able to explore her writing while being able to keep the genres separate. Bob Summer in his research paper about Anne Rice expertly explains her clashing identities as an ¨actor playing different roles¨. Almost a decade after Interview with the Vampire she would move back to New Orleans and continue the series of her famed book and go on to write other gothic novels such as, The Witching Hour in 1990. She was heavily influenced by gothic writing styles and would channel her fantasies and life experiences into her writings. Specifically New Orleans is a place of major importance to Rice. She grew up there and it is where she got a lot of her inspiration from for her supernatural books, along with her religious aspects. Interview with the Vampire for a majority of the book takes place there and in New Orleans there is a yearly vampire festival which would heavily influence Rice's writing of the book.
Throughout all of Rice's life she had a constantly changing relationship with religion. She, as stated earlier, would be raised as a religious person, but she didn't always align with the beliefs. She would leave the church at a young age and explore her own beliefs. She even would state that "It struck me as really evil--the idea you could go to hell for French-kissing someone. I just didn't believe it was the one true Church established by Christ to give grace. I didn't believe God existed. I didn't believe Jesus Christ was the Son. I didn't believe one had to be Catholic in order to go to heaven. I didn't believe heaven existed either” (Summer). So for years she would consider herself an atheist. After the death of her daughter she would turn to humanitarianism. She believed that even if our world is godless people just need to find love, maintain it, and believe in it. Despite her beliefs she would have many books that have religious imagery. In Interview with the Vampire she makes many references to religion such as talking about the myth that crossed rebuke vampires. For thirty years she would be considered an atheist and live her life as such but in 1988 that changed. Rice had a spiritual awakening and would convert to a Roman Catholic, and dedicate her works to Jesus. Anne would reflect on the name her family had given her saying ¨the baptizing priest objected that there was no St. Howard, and insisted that the name Frances be added, as there was a St. Francis indeed. But I never knew as a little girl that I had the name of Frances, any more than I knew that I’d been born on the Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi, a saint I came to love more than any other saint¨ (Hartwell). With her new found sense of belief she would write a novel about Jesus's life titled Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt which was published in 2005. She would write a sequel to the book in 2008 called Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana.
Anne Rice's works are hailed as being classics and a monumental name in gothic literature. Even with her husband's passing in 2002 she continued to write and entertained readers for decades with her books. She is a critically acclaimed author for good reason. Her book inspires readers to think past the black and white that society presents and to think deeper. To encourage the macabre and explore parts of humanity that many don't want to delve into. Despite her passing on December, 11th, 2021 she is an iconic figure in gothic writing. She is buried in her home town of New Orleans in the Rice family mausoleum. Her books will be remembered for the profound mark they made on the writing industry. Her book will be carried by readers of all kinds of people and hopefully they will be ¨dog- copies of Interview with the Vampire¨ (Summer). Her books will live on and so will her legacy in her books and in the many people she reached with her writing.