Back in my fiction reading days, ever since I first read Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, I was hooked on her tales of the undead, and followed each of her continuing novels of Lestat and his exploits. She really created something amazing with those novels and I’ve always agreed with her on the subject of vampires and they’re ambiguity, where they look at humans as beautiful creatures, as well as food, of course. She also beautifully expressed the utter loneliness of immortality, better than most that have tried in all the lore of vampire mythology.
So even while I had stopped reading fiction in general, and following her writing, I was deeply saddened to hear of her passing on Saturday. She did something that very few authors have done in their career, creating a whole world and mythology that continued for decades, attracting millions of followers, all waiting for the next volume to be released. In an interview in 1993, she spoke of how after her young daughter had died of leukemia at the age of 5, “I wanted to write and write and write, and pour out my emotions, and make stories, and create something. That was my response to seeing something die and something pass out of my hands like that, and seeing this beautiful child die, no matter what I did or anybody else did.” This would result in the creation of her first novel, Interview with the Vampire.
In the notice posted by her son, Christopher, of her passing, he stated that “she taught me to embrace my dreams, reject conformity and challenge the dark voices of fear and self-doubt.” I think she did that to more than a few people over the years. Her voice will be missed, but her words and inspirations will live on for generations to come. Our thoughts go out to her fans, friends and family at this difficult time.
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