About The Author
STOKER, BRAM
On November 8, 1847, Abraham (Bram) Stoker was born in a small town near Dublin, Ireland. Bram Stoker suffered from a long childhood illness that kept him weak most of the time, and he was not even able to walk until he was eight years old.
After spending his entire early childhood in bed, and after doctors had used leeches in an attempt to cure his illness, it is understandable that the adult Stoker’s Dracula would contain themes of rising from the dead and blood-letting. It is also understandable that Stoker made up for lost time by becoming an outstanding athlete. Upon Stoker’s miraculous recovery, he went on to lead a healthy life which included participating in sports at Trinity College at the University of Dublin.
He graduated in 1868 with a Master’s degree in Mathematics, but his heart was not in that field. Stoker’s passion was the theatre, and he wanted to be an actor. At his family’s urging, Bram Stoker worked at Dublin Castle as a clerk even though it was not what he really wanted to do.
In 1871, Stoker began writing theatre reviews for The Dublin Evening Mail. Although he received no compensation for his work, it was a creative outlet for his passion.
Stoker also began writing and publishing short stories in various magazines. His first story, The Crystal Cup (1872), was published by The London Society. This was followed by a four-part serial called The Chain of Destiny (1875) and his first novel The Primrose Path (1875).
While continuing to act as a drama critic, Stoker met the famous actor, Henry Irving, and the two became life-long friends. In 1878, Irving hired Bram Stoker as the manager of his London theatre the Lyceum, and Stoker held that position for the next twenty-seven years.
Before moving to London, however, Bram Stoker managed to woo Florence Balcombe away from playwright Oscar Wilde, and the two were married in Dublin. The Stokers only had one child in their thirty-four year marriage, their son Noel.
While working at the Lyceum Theatre, Stoker continued to write. In 1881 he published Under the Sunset, a collection of short stories, and he followed with the novels The Snake’s Pass(1890), The Watter’s Mou’ (1895), and The Shoulder of Shasta (1895). It was in 1897 that Stoker published his masterpiece, Dracula. Although he continued to write throughout his lifetime, none of his other works received the praise or popularity as his chilling tale of the mysterious Transylvanian Count.
When Stoker’s friend and mentor Henry Irving died in 1905, his death supposedly caused Stoker to have a stroke. Although in failing health, Stoker continued to write, and he published, among others, Personal Reminiscences of Henry Irving (1906) and The Lair of the White Worm (1911). Stoker died on April 20th, 1912.
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