Sumiko Saulson

Anne Rice

As Women in Horror Month draws to a close, I am very pleased to have the opportunity to ask one of the most successful and prolific women in the genre about her upcoming book reveal, which will be taking place live on The Dinner Party Show on Sunday, March 9 at 5pm PST/8pm EST, in addition to getting her perspective on Women in Horror Month.

As Ms. Rice astutely notes, women have been a force to be reckoned with in horror from the very start.

“ I’m glad to see women honored for horror writing,” says Anne Rice. “We have always excelled in this genre. You could say the genre was created by a woman, Mary Shelley, with her stunning novel, “Frankenstein.” Not enough people have actually read the novel, in which the monster speaks for himself for pages and pages… It’s a stunner. And of course the great gothic novelists, Emily and Charlotte Bronte, have also shaped horror writing with their classics. Shirley Jackson’s horrifying story, “The Lottery” was in mid-twentieth century textbooks when I was in college. I’m glad to see women saluted for their involvement with the genre.”

Mary Shelley is widely credited with starting the science-fiction genre and was probably the first to cross over from traditional and gothic horror into the modern horror literary genre. Released in 1818“Frankenstein” predated the works of her contemporary Edgar Allen Poe by close to a decade. Other writers who would follow in her footsteps over the next seventy years, including Bram Stoker, Oscar Wilde, and Robert Louis Stephenson. Many of the early writers of modern horror were women, as Anne points out above. Emily Bronte’s “Wuthering Heights” was a poignantly moving ghost story as well as a tale of love gone horribly awry.

These women went on to influence other women, and so we have writers like Anne Rice, whose “Interview with a Vampire,” “Witching Hour,” and “Wolf Gift,” among others, carry on in the gothic horror tradition, regaling the reader with tales of supernatural and frequently deadly creatures. Like Shelley, Rice often tells the tale through the eyes of her monsters. Fans were exhilarated by her 2012 return to the genre with “The Wolf Gift,” and will be excited to know that she has a new novel in the works, currently under wraps.

Fans on her Facebook page (which has close to 1 million followers) are anxiously awaiting the announcement regarding what exactly the new book will be about. Many are wondering if we can hope to be revisited by any old friends from her literary past in the new story, and are titillated by the mystery. All will be revealed Sunday, March 9 on The Dinner Party Show, an internet radio show hosted by her son Christopher Rice and his friend, another bestselling author, Eric Shaw Quinn.

“I think the Dinner Party Show is providing me with a terrific opportunity to really talk about my new book as I reveal it,” said Rice. “I’ll be there live in the studio. I’ll be able to take questions posted on FB during the broadcast. I’ll be able to get into the whole thing. This is far better than a print announcement for me. And of course I love the show’s format, the easy exchange with Christopher and Eric, etc. So that’s why I’m very excited about revealing on the show. Since the show will air live at 5 p.m. California time, lots of people can tune in at the same time. This is infinitely more fun say than releasing a Youtube film. It’s kind of the best of the new world of technology and the old world of radio and in the flesh press conferences. “

How to Join The Online Reveal at The Dinner Party Show

The Dinner Party Show

If you would like to be a part of the big reveal on March 9, tune in to The Dinner Party Show. You can ask Anne questions on their Facebook Page or on Twitter @DinnerPartyShow. Make sure to submit your questions on Facebook and Twitter along with the hashtag #AnneRiceReveal

~ by Sumiko Saulson on February 27, 2014.

Posted in Announcements, Women in Horror Month
Tags: Anne Rice, Author, Christopher Rice, Eric Shaw Quinn, Horror, The Dinner Party Show, Women in Horror