Abraham (Bram) Stoker was born on November 8th, 1847 in one of the suburbs surrounding Dublin, Ireland. A great deal of his childhood was spent in bed for he remained quite sick as a child. Perhaps it is this fact that inspired his imagination and his eventual sideline career as an author. He finally grew out of his illness and attended Trinity College in Ireland. He graduated Trinity College in 1870 and worked in the Irish Civil Service for ten years. While he worked with the Civil Service, he submitted theater reviews to the Dublin Mail newspaper. He became Sir Henry Irving's manager in 1879 after he wrote several complementary reviews of Sir Henry's performances for the “Mail”. In 1878 Bram Stoker married an actress of the Irish stage by the name of Florence Balcombe before he moved to London to continue his management of Sir Henry. He and his wife also had a son, Irving before traveling to London with Sir Henry Irving. He also performed several other duties for Sir Henry such as secretary and director during this time and while in London, started writing and publishing short stories and novels. The first novel Bram Stoker wrote was “The Snake's Pass” in 1890 and eventually wrote “Dracula" in 1897. He wrote several more novels but “Dracula” was and is the most famous and is usually the only novel still read today. Mr. Stoker died in 1912 with his wife Florence and his son Irving, surviving him.


The reviews of his other novels were sometimes less than complimentary stating that Bram Stoker had a tendency toward melodrama but had an excellent ability to describe places. This ability highlighted the melancholy sepulcher of the monster and set the scene for the drama occurring in the novel. Dracula however, although written in the usual gothic style he used in his other novels, also included aspects of modern times. It was the modern setting Mr. Stoker utilized that was said to endear the novel to the masses. Although "Dracula" was certainly not the first novel written about the folkloric vampire creature, it is certainly the most famous. The horrid creature depicted in Stoker's novel bears little resemblance to the modern vampire depicted in films since.

The first film made of the legend of the vampire was a very loose adaptation of Stoker's novel. The 1922 German silent film “Nosferatu-Symphony of Horror” was made after Stoker's widow was approached by the silent filmmaker F.W. Murnau to adapt Stoker's novel into film. Florence refused and most certainly thought that was the end of the matter. However, Mr. Murnau decided to continue with the film despite Mrs. Stoker's denial. The filmmaker changed the name of the creature and a few other details from the novel and commenced with filming. The creature portrayed was not the sleek Count of today but the monster of the grave that Stoker had written about. Through stop motion photography and other non-conventional techniques of the day, “Nosferatu-Symphony of Horror” was completed. Mr. Murnau, however, followed the books plot a little too closely and after Stoker's widow saw the film, sued Mr. Murnau. Her basis for the suit was the fact that Mr. Murnau plagiarized her husband's novel and intellectual ideas for the plot of the film. The verdict was in her favor and the judgment of the court was all copies of the film were to be destroyed. However, some missed being destroyed for it is still shown today as a wonderful example of silent films. The film has been restored to the best of modern film restorer's ability to the copy of the film we see today. Even though the film is silent, it is still chilling to watch the first “Dracula” film of it's day.


Later films were made not so much using the idea of the horrible creature that Bram Stoker wrote about but about a suave, debonair Count who could make the ladies swoon with his appearance as well as his powers of glamor which every vampire worth his salt claims to have. Later films starring Bela Lugosi and Christopher Lee depicted the count as such a vampire. All the ladies fearful of losing their hearts as well as their blood to the Count, would flock to the cinema to witness the Count's latest exploits. The first actor to portray the idea of the suave Count was Bela Lugosi. Unfortunately, Bela Lugosi despite being the first modern actor to make the Count famous in 1931, was to go on to poverty, drug and alcohol addiction and an early grave. He died in 1956 and was buried in his Dracula cape in honor of his most famous role. He was so deep in poverty at the time of his death that Frank Sinatra silently paid for his funeral and thus the "Count" was laid to rest.

Christopher Lee, the next actor who portrayed Count Dracula, has fared much better. He portrayed the Count in quite a few films including seven for the Hammer Film Productions of England with the last portrayal for the studio being in 1973 in the film entitled “The Satanic Rites of Dracula”. Mr. Lee was knighted in recent years by the Queen of England and became Sir Christopher Lee. Sir Christopher has said of vampires in general “There are many vampires in the world today - you only have to think of the film business.” He has continued his career and still appears in many movies today including a role in Star Wars and the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

I'm sure Mr. Stoker never would have dreamed of his fearsome creature becoming such a creature as was portrayed by these gentlemen. However, Mr. Stoker will forever be associated with the novel that started a cascade of vampire films and will be continue to be read by lovers of horror for many years to come.


In honor of Mr. Stoker and his singular achievement, The Horror Writer's Association, which was founded in 1987, instituted the Stoker Award shortly after the Association's inception. The Horror Writer's Association (HWA) website states that the award is “non-juried and any work of horror may be submitted during the year of it's publication”. The only caveat is that it must have been first published in the English language. The award is given “for superior achievement” and not for “best of the year”. According to the website “The award itself is an eight-inch replica of a fanciful haunted house, designed specifically for HWA by sculptor Steven Kirk. The door of the house opens to reveal a brass plaque engraved with the name of the winning work and it's author.” Surely Mr. Stoker would be very pleased indeed to have such a prestigious award named after him and his excellent portrayal of a folklore legend.

The idea of the vampire continues to inspire writers today with films being produced quite often. Modern vampires are quite different than those portrayed by Bram Stoker but he certainly got the literary ball rolling when it comes to the idea of the folkloric creature of the night. The genre wouldn't be the same without Mr. Stoker's contribution to our nightmares.