Best-selling author Anne Rice announced on Sunday that her next novel will see the return of the vampire Lestat de Lioncourt in Prince Lestat: The Vampire Chronicles, and will be a sequel to her first five vampire books through the fifth novel, 1995’s Memnoch the Devil and is a “true sequel” to 1988’s Queen Of The Damned.

The new book, which will be released on October 28, 2014 by Alfred A. Knopf, will be part The Vampire Chronicles, Rice’s book series which began with 1976’s Interview With The Vampire. The author broke the news on The Dinner Party with Christopher Rice and Eric Shaw Quinn, a podcast co-hosted by her son and fellow author Christopher Rice.

Below is an audio clip from the podcast along with video of when Rice revealed the news about Prince Lestat.

Part of today’s Kindle ebook deal of the day over at Amazon is The Wolf Gift, the first book in Anne Rice‘s The Wolf Gift Chronicles, available for only $1.99 (that’s 85% off the regular price of $15.00). If you’d like to purchase a physical copy of The Wolf Gift: The Wolf Gift Chronicles, the book is also available in paperback.

Note – this deal is valid only for today, Tuesday, December 31, 2013, until 11:59pm PST.

Be sure to check out this month’s Kindle deals: 100 Kindle Books For $3.99 or Less, which includes Stardust by Neil Gaiman for $1.99; Stephen King’s The Shining for $1.99; The Last Policeman: A Novel by Ben H. Winters for $2.79; and Divergent by Veronica Roth for $3.99.

While video games, Blu-rays, and toys are common gifts to give for the holiday season, nothing brings joy like giving and receiving a good book. This year, there were lots of interesting and enjoyable novels and novelty books from the Star Wars, Star Trek, Game Of Thrones, Doctor Who, and Marvel universes, as well as fun selections for the geek in your life (like a geek’s guide to dating, for instance).

Check out here below our Holiday Geek Gift Guide 2013 for Books and eBooks for our favorite holiday gift picks for this year.

Before the adaptation of Anne Rice‘s popular novel Interview with the Vampire hit the big screen in 1994, there was much controversy surrounding the casting of Tom Cruise as the vampire Lestat. Rice publicly stated her displeasure with the filmmaker’s choosing Cruise over her personal selection, Julian Sands (Warlock).

But before Cruise was locked in for the film, Al Pacino had reportedly expressed interest in playing Lestat, so artist Miles Teves provided a concept sketch of the actor as Lestate for the film studio. Check out the sketch in full here below.

It’s my favorite time of year – Fall is here and Halloween is only days away. And one thing I love to do is curl up on the couch with a good book, especially one that’s a little eerie and spooky.

So, here below are my picks of 2013 books to read for All Hallow’s Read this Fall, which include titles from Neil Gaiman, Stephen King, Joe Hill, and Kim Harrison, as well as H.P. Lovecraft, Frankenstein, and Dark Shadows stories, and more!

All Hallow’s Read: Halloween 2013 Reading Recommendations…