Actually, I liked Christopher Rice's THE SNOW GARDEN a lot - plenty of atmosphere, a well-rounded heroine, some witty observations, some dodgy goings-on on campus. His style is fluid and natural.

Anne Rice's stuff, on the other hand, is self-indulgent unnutritious drivel. Flimsy characters, no plots, little motivation and lots of needless angst (you LIVE FOREVER, you idiots!! What the eff are you angsting about?!) Her style is as pleasing as fingernails dragged across a chalkboard.

If there's a "writing gene" in Christopher's genetic make-up, he sure as hell did not get it from his mother.