While New Orleans might be known for its food and drink scene and party atmosphere, for fans of gothic literature it brings to mind one name: Anne Rice. The best-selling author was born and raised in the city, and would set many of her works there, even featuring the various houses she owned as the residences of characters like Lestat and the Mayfair Witches.

After her husband, poet and painter Stan Rice, died in 2002, Anne sold some of her property and moved to California to be with their son Christopher. Stan was interred in Metairie Cemetery, the resting place of many famous Louisiana residents including Louis Prima. 

The mausoleum also contains the remains of Stan and Anne’s daughter Michele, who died of granulocytic leukemia at the age of five in 1972. The character of Claudia from Anne’s 1976 novel Interview with the Vampire was partially based on Michele, and Anne’s grief is reflected in the sullen tone of the novel.

Anne died from complications of a stroke in December 2021. Her body was brought from California back to New Orleans in January 2022, to be interred alongside her husband and daughter.

One side of the tomb has three poems engraved in it that were written by Stan Rice. Two in the form of Psalms as a”False Prophet” and one as “Some Lamb. “