It’s been a little more than 30 years since the major motion picture “Interview with the Vampire” was shot in Southeast Louisiana. It brought major movie stars like Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt to the city for months of filming. Anne Rice’s novel gave rise to vampire fan clubs all over the world. And it was here in New Orleans, her hometown, where her fans recently gathered to pay respects in a grand memorial celebration.
Full story on wwltv.com @wwltv@farris.meg
Christopher here. In producing the anthology of documentary films that went into ‘Anne Rice, An All Saints’ Day Celebration’, we were incredibly touched by the generosity of Gregor Fox, the new owner of the house at 1239 First Street. He opened his doors for us and sat for an interview about what it’s like to own a location that still contains such power and resonance for my mother’s readers. This house tour played at the live event after the conclusion of the show. @ericshawquinn and I are grateful to be able to share it with all of you here. It’s incredibly emotional for me to see these hallways again. They bring back a flood of memories both joyous and sad, ranging from the gorgeous parties we had under a tent in the side yard, to entering the second floor hallway to hear Anne’s furiously typing fingers singing across the keyboard in her office, to the last time we carried my paralyzed father down the long staircase for what would be his final trip to the hospital. This is the house where Anne wrote every entry in the Vampire Chronicles ranging from ‘the Tale of the Body Thief’ to ‘Blood Canticle’, and the entire Lives of the Mayfair Witches in addition to ‘Violin’ and ‘Servant of the Bones’. If walls could talk. Better yet, if walls could write, what a story they’d tell. Love, @christopher.rice.writer #CelebrateAnneRice #AnneFans #DinnerPartners #LivesoftheMatfairWitches
🖤🥀 Commemorating 50 years of Anne Rice’s genre-defining, bestselling sensation, INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE.
Coming 10.6.26 🩸 Now available to preorder.
Indulge in this decadently styled, special edition hardcover, which includes a foil-printed case, blood-red sprayed edges, marbled endpapers, a new foreword from #1 New York Times bestselling author Leigh Bardugo, and a new afterword from New York Times bestselling author Christopher Rice—plus never-before-seen bonus pages from the original manuscript.
🔗 Link in bio to preorder
📖 Design by Kevin Cantrell
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#AnneRice
#InterviewWithTheVampire
#ABorzoiBook
Attention, please. Lestat, Louis, & Claudia would like a word. 🥀
A lush new recording of INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE is out today, featuring the fabulous Dan Bittner narrating!
We are thrilled to announce that the first three audiobooks in the Vampire Chronicles are being re-released with an all new cast at @audible .
IWTV is a featured Daily Deal on @audible at a very special price (May 7th). Pre-orders for THE VAMPIRE LESTAT and QUEEN OF THE DAMNED are also live.
🥀 “In its unceasing flow of spellbinding storytelling, of danger and flight, of loyalty and treachery, Interview with the Vampire bears witness of a literary imagination of the first order..“
📖 Big News From the Anne Archive!
The exact date that INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE was published has been much debated online. Was it April 12th or May 5th?
We went to the source at the Anne Rice archive at Tulane and found the answer in Anne’s own hand. A diary entry, written six days after publication, settles a question that’s been quietly drifting around for years. April 12th has been the date most often cited online, but as you can see from her own diary entry, the official publication day was May 5th, 1976.
“Last week was madness. Official publication date was May 5th — Vicky sent a telegram which was phoned Congratulations, etc. Nice.”
Vicky Wilson is Anne’s longtime editor at Knopf. You can see from the handwritten entries that a book signing event happened that evening at Minerva’s Owl in San Francisco to celebrate the book release.
Fifty years on, the novel is still finding new readers. Christopher and Eric are so excited to celebrate this publishing milestone alongside you!
The 50th anniversary special edition of INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE arrives October 6th. Available for pre-order now.
Today we celebrate Anne’s love of Taco Bell. Yes. You read that right. Taco Bell. Although navigating her way to her fast food obsession wasn’t always easy as you’ll see in this interview clip. Our complete film of ‘Anne Rice, An All Saints’ Day Celebration’ continues to be available for free at Anne’s website. The three women featured in this interview, Sue Tebbe, Sandra Lassalle and Amy Troxler, were some of Anne’s most beloved staff members during her lifetime and @ericshawquinn and I are so grateful for their willingness to sit down before the cameras in New Orleans last year. Love, @christopher.rice.writer #AnneFans #CelebrateAnneRice #DinnerPartners
When @ericshawquinn first proposed the idea of a receiving line at the end of the celebration of my mother’s life, the intention was to leave attendees with a familial feel. Our inability to hold a public memorial for Mom around her passing due to COVID restrictions was very much a driving horse in how we crafted the entire event. That said, we weren’t entirely sure the attendees would feel the need to shake our hands, but it was still something we wanted to offer. We were bowled over by the love and warmth of all those who stood in line for several hours to share a special, final moment with us. At one point, the theater grew concerned over the length of the line and we told them we’d shake hands and meet people out on the street if we had to. Thanks to the Orpheum for accommodating us and thanks to all of those who took the time to meet us that night. You have us such a loving moment at the end of such an emotional and remarkable night. As always, you can still watch the complete event film for free at Anne Rice dot com. Love, Christopher #CelebrateAnneRice #AnneFans #DinnerPartners
@ericshawquinn and I are so indebted to the many wonderful people from my mother’s past who sat with us and gave extensive interviews about their recollections of life with Anne Rice. We’re including some of the wonderful tidbits we didn’t have room for in the final cut in these social media pieces. Thanks to all of you for your loving comments. Here, Melanie Scott, Anne’s former hairdresser and one of the past presidents of her fan club, talks about a surprise celebrity appearance at one of the fan club’s annual parties. You can watch the complete event film for free at Anne’s website. Love, @christopher.rice.writer #CelebrateAnneRice #AnneFans #DinnerPartners @courtneylove
After the untimely and tragic death of her mother, Anne’s father remarried. Anne played a pivotal role in his courtship of the woman who became her stepmother and who ultimately inspired the entire family’s move to Texas, which changed the course of Anne’s life and introduced her to the young man who would become my father. Here the story of Howard O’Brien and Dorothy von Bever is told by Anne’s sister, Micki Jenkins, who appears throughout the complete film version of ‘Anne Rice, An All Saints’ Day Celebration’, which you can watch for free at Anne Rice dot com. An interesting side note, Dorothy would also purchase Anne her very first typewriter. Love, @christopher.rice.writer and @ericshawquinn #CelebrateAnneRice #AnneFans #DinnerPartners
Dearest People of the Page. Christopher here. Let us take time on this wintry Sunday to celebrate Fan Fashions! Here’s a cinematic tribute @ericshawquinn and I put together that celebrates the amazing costumes, masks and outfits some of you wore to ‘Anne Rice, An All Saints’ Day Celebration’ in New Orleans this past November. Be sure to tag your friends if you spot them in the film! There were too many spectacularly outfitted attendees for us to get into one brief montage, but as always, the complete event film is available to enjoy for free at Anne Rice dot com and shots of the beautiful audience abound. A horizontal version of this film is posted to Anne’s Facebook page and includes some of attendees who were cropped out of the framing here. Love, @christopher.rice.writer #AnneFans #CelebrateAnneRice #DinnerPartners
Here’s a backstage peek at what life was like for @ericshawquinn and I on event day. I’m not sure if I’ve ever been as nervous for any event, moment, day, milestone as I was for my mother’s celebration of life in New Orleans. The expectations, the years of planning, the sense that this was an event we only had one chance to get that right — all those things combined to create what felt like a second pulse being inside my body alongside my heart by the time @ericshawquinn and I got on the bus to go to the theater on event day. We’d managed some sleep but we’d been up before dawn on the mornings immediately prior to November 1st, spreading the word about the celebration on newscasts. Then we stepped inside the theater and saw how much incredible progress our team had made. We also realized that we’d be backstage for the entire show, which meant we’d never get a chance to see how our anthology of documentary films looked the big screen. Our very accommodating production team agreed to let us sit in the theater and watch the opening and closing films in the last few minutes before the doors to the house opened to the audience. Then it was time to head to our dressing room and get dressed and watch the show’s opening moments on a closed circuit television. When the first wave of applause came to us through the in-house audio, I took the first deep breath I had in months. Eric and I both extremely grateful for all the love and support so many of you brought to the Orpheum Theater that night. The entire event film can be watched for free on Anne’s website. Love, @christopher.rice.writer #AnneFans #CelebrateAnneRice #DinnerPartners #annerice
When Anne was a young girl she dreamed of being a concert violinist. Early teachers crushed her spirit, telling her she had no potential, and she retreated into her other passion, words. Those of us who know and love her books today have experienced her passion for music as an art form, and that’s why @ericshawquinn and I knew it had to be an integral part of her celebration of life. The complete event film can be viewed for free at Anne’s website. Here are some clips of some of its fine musical performances from the incredibly talented performers who graced us with their presence that night . Love, @christopher.rice.writer #CelebrateAnneRice #AnneFans #DinnerPartners
