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Abraham Stoker's Life And Work
Abraham Stoker (his family called him Bram), was an Irish writer. Bram was born on November 8, 1847. Bram passed away on April 20, 1912. Bram Stoker came from a large Protestant family. Stoker was child three in a seven child family.
Bram was born with health problems. Bram was confined to his bed, due to unknown causes, until the age of seven. He then made a full recovery. Bram grew up healthy and he was an athlete at Dublin's Trinity college. Bram graduated with full honors in 1870 and Bram earned a degree in mathematics.
Despite his scientific studies, Stoker loved fiction. His early years of illness resulted in numerous hours of fantasizing and thinking. As a young adult he was attracted to the theater. After marrying Florence Balcombe, Bram and his new wife relocated to London. Stoker then became the acting and business manager of the Lyceum Theater.
Florence and Bram had only one child, Noel Thornley Stoker. Stoker worked at the Lyceum Theater for 27 years. Stoker's salary was not sufficient to support him and his family. So Bram began writing to supplement his salary. Stoker spent a number of years researching vampire folklore throughout Europe. Stoker was fascinated with stories of vampires. Bram went to gothic sites such as Slains Castle in Aberdeenshire and the crypts of St. Michan's Church in Dublin. These and other travels only further incited Bram's curiosity with all things morbid.
Stoker went on to pen several horror, gothic, and fantasy works including The Jewel of Seven Stars (1903), The Lady of the Shroud (1909), and The Lair of the White Worm (1911). However, none would obtain the popularity of Bram's 1897 book, Dracula. But Stoker committed a huge error after releasing Dracula. Bram didn't follow copyright law and as a result, Dracula was in the public domain in America from its initial publication.
Dracula was largely unappreciated in it's own time. The story would not see mainstream-success for several decades. In 1922 Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau filmed an unauthorized adaptation of Dracula titled Nosferatu. After the release of the movie, the popularity of Bram's story Dracula increased by a large degree. Stoker's widow tried to have the movie banned, but because Dracula was in the public domain challenges to the movie failed.
Bram Stoker passed away on April 20, 1912 at St. George's Square. Historians believe that the cause of his death was a result of tertiary syphilis. Stoker suffered a number of strokes before passing away. Stoker was cremated and his ashes put in an urn now on display at Golders Green Crematorium. Visitors who want to visit the urn are escorted to the chamber the urn is at, because of fears of vandalism.
In 1914, two years after Bram's death, his wife released the tale Dracula's Guest. Historians believe that this work was the original first chapter of Stoker's Dracula.
About the Author CT Thompson is the creator of Vampire Rave, a social network for those who are fascinated with the vampire. He has a love of science fiction and also developed the Dark Network.
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