Background and publication[edit]

In 1970, while Anne Rice was attending a graduate program in Creative Writing at
San Francisco State University, her daughter Michelle, then about four years ol
d, was diagnosed with acute granulocytic leukemia.[1] Michelle died of the illne
ss about two years later,[1][2][3] and Rice fell into a deep depression, turning
to alcohol in order to cope.[4] Later reviewers and commentators identified Mic
hele as an inspiration for the character of Claudia.[5]
In 1973, while still grieving the loss of her daughter, Rice began reworking a p
reviously written short story, which she had written in 1968 or 1969.[nb 1] Thir
ty pages long, the short story was written from the interviewer's perspective.[6
] She decided to expand "Interview with the Vampire" into a novel at the encoura
gement of one of her husband's students, who enjoyed her writing.[6][7] It took
her five weeks to complete the 338-page novel: she did research on vampires duri
ng the day and often wrote during the night.[6]
After completing the novel and following many rejections from publishers, Rice d
eveloped obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). She became obsessed with germs, thinki
ng that she contaminated everything she touched, engaged in frequent and obsessi
ve hand washing and obsessively checked locks on windows and doors. Of this peri
od, Rice says, "What you see when you're in that state is every single flaw in o
ur hygiene and you can't control it and you go crazy."[9]
In August 1974, Rice attended the Squaw Valley Writer's Conference at Squaw Vall
ey, conducted by writer Ray Nelson.[10] While at the conference, she met her fut
ure literary agent, Phyllis Seidel. In October 1974, Seidel sold the publishing
rights to Interview with the Vampire to Alfred A. Knopf for a $12,000 advance of
the hardcover rights, at a time when most new authors were receiving $2,000 adv
ances.[11] Interview with the Vampire was published in May 1976. In 1977, the Ri
ces traveled to both Europe and Egypt for the first time.[12]
Upon its release, Interview with the Vampire received mixed reviews from critics
.[13] A reviewer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch gave the book a positive review
, describing the prose as "hypnotically poetic in tone, rich in sensory imagery,
"[13] while other reviews were more negative. "To pretend that it has any purpos
e beyond suckling eroticism is rank hypocrisy," wrote Edith Milton of The New Re
public.[13] As of February 2008, the novel had sold 8 million copies worldwide.[
14]
The book spawned a total of nine sequels, collectively known as The Vampire Chro
nicles, and the spin-off series New Tales of the Vampires. The first sequel, The
Vampire Lestat, was published in 1985 and sold more than 75,000 copies in its f
irst printing, garnering largely favorable reviews.[13] 1988's The Queen of the
Damned improved on Lestat's numbers, receiving an initial hardcover run of 405,0
00 and topping the New York Times Best Seller list.[13] Rice's vampire books sha
re a fictional universe with her series Lives of the Mayfair Witches and the nov
el The Mummy, or Ramses the Damned.[citation needed]