Anne Rice, the author of "Interview with the Vampire", died from complications of a stroke at the age of 80.
ADVERTISEMENTAmerican gothic novelist Anne Rice has passed away at the age of 80.
Her son Christopher Rice wrote in a social media post that she had died due to complications from a stroke.
"In her final hours I sat beside her hospital bed in awe of her accomplishments and her courage," Rice wrote.
Anne Rice was best known for her 1976 novel "Interview with the Vampire" which was later made into a film starring Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt and a young Kirsten Dunst.
Over her decades long career, she sold over 150 000 books and wrote sequels to her famous vampire novel creating a series called "The Vampire Chronicles".
Another one of the books from the vampire series, "Queen of the Damned", was also made into a film in 2002 but it didn't receive the same critical acclaim as the 1994 blockbuster.
Using various pseudonyms, Rice also published erotic fiction.
The famous novelist is expected to be interred at her family's mausoleum in New Orleans at an unclosed date. A public celebration of her life will take place next year.
"As a writer, she taught me to defy genre boundaries and surrender to my obsessive passions," her son Christopher, also a best-selling author, added in his post.