I was a sad, broken and despairing atheist when I wrote ‘Interview with the Vampire’ [in 1973, after the death of her daughter from leukaemia]. I pitched myself into writing and made up a story about vampires. I didn’t know it at the time but it was all about my daughter, the loss of her and the need to go on living when faith is shattered. But the lights do come back on, no matter how dark it seems, and I’m sensitive now, more than ever, to the beauty of the world – and more resigned to living with cosmic uncertainty.
Vampires are the best metaphor for the human condition Here you have a monster with a soul that’s immortal, yet in a biological body. It’s a metaphor for us, as it’s very difficult to realise that we are going to die, and day to day we have to think and move as though we are immortal. A vampire like Lestat in Interview… is perfect for that because he transcends time – yet he can be destroyed, go mad and suffer; it’s intensely about the human dilemma.
Not a show, but a book and a movie adaptation: Interview with A Vampire is actually about Anne Rice’s daughter.