» Bram Stocker Biographyby Marion Phillips - August 5, 2003 |
Anne Rice may be the mother of the modern human-like vampire,
but the father of all the modern vampires is Bram Stoker.
Early days
Born in Ireland in 1847, Abraham Stoker had a middle-class life, being in his childhood a sick child, and for this reason, he wasn't a very active one.
However when he grew up, he became an athlete who played soccer at the Trinity College and took part in marathons, although he was still shy and bookish, and was such a good student that he graduated with honors in Mathematics.
Although Bram Stoker wanted to be a writer, as his father was a civil servant, he got a job for him at Dublin Castle. His first book was far from being an interesting fiction, it was the guide "Duties of clerks of petty sessions in Ireland" and would only be published in 1879, when Stoker was already famous for more amusing writings.
He worked for eight years as such, and published a few stories like "The crystal cup" in 1872 and "The chain of destiny", his first horror story. Also by this time, he became a theater critic for Dublin's "Evening Mail", and later on became the editor of the "Irish Echo".
A Change of Airs
Being a great fan of theater his whole life, Bram Stoker got acquainted with the actor Henry Irving, one of the greatest Shakesperian actors of all times, after writing a review for his "Hamlet" that was so appreciated by Irving that he invited Stoker to a meeting and thus started a 30 years friendship.
In 1878 Irving called him to be his manager in London's Lyceum
Theater. He promptly gave his job up and moved to England after marrying
Florence Balcombe, who mothered his only son, Noel.
Between his duties in the theater, he continued to write stories, as "Under the sunset" (1882) and "The snake's pass" (1890). Also in this year he started the 7 years research for his masterpiece "Dracula".
Bram Stoker obviously based himself on the Hungarian legends about the Prince Vlad Tepes, the "Dracula" (son of the dragon).
His book was very popular at the time, but only after his death it would start a mania throughout the world, making the name Dracula become a synonym of vampire.
After that book, Bram Stoker published "The Jewel Of Seven Stars" in 1904 and a few others, before his death in 1918.
Download "Dracula" now! (ZIP file: 343 kb)
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