What do Ireland and Dracula have in common? One, like myself, would probably think not a whole ton. However, Clontarf, Dublin, Ireland just happens to be the birth place of a certain Bram Stoker, who penned the famous gothic story Dracula. While he was known during his lifetime for owning the Lyceum Theatre, as well as being the personal assistant for actor Henry Irving, it was his novel, Dracula, that brought him international attention. Dracula has become one of the greatest literary characters of all time and has been the influence for numerous authors in their writings of vampires.
Bram was married to Florence Balcombe. Florence was a former lover of Oscar Wilde, and the friendship between Wilde and Stoker fell apart. Bram and Florence had one child, named Irving, named after Bram’s good friend, Henry Irving. Bram went on numerous tours, visiting all over the world. Through Henry, Bram was invited several times to the White House and became acquainted with Theodore Roosevelt and William McKinley. Bram was fond of The United States, and based two novels there.
While being Irving’s assistant, as well as the secretary and director of London’s Lyceum Theatre (which is currently home to Disney’s The Lion King), Bram began to write seriously. It was during this time, in 1897, that Dracula was written. Dracula was not Bram’s only horror/gothic novel. In 1906, after Irving passed away, Bram published the Life of Irving, which was extremely popular.
It was Dracula that really brought Bram’s name into households. Shortly before writing the novel, Stoker met a Hungarian writer and traveller. It appears that the book might have emerged from this writer’s stories of the Carpathian Mountains. Several years went into researching folklore of Europe, and mythological stories of vampires. It is often debated how much Stoker knew about the history and the historical connections that are featured within the novel. The name Dracula was found during Bram’s research.
Dracula has become one of the most popular, and most portrayed, fictional characters of all time. There have been numerous films, television specials, documentaries, books and more all revolving around the famed vampire. Many of these do not portray all of the main characters of the novel, the rare exception being Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
Bram wrote numerous books and short stories after Dracula. After numerous strokes, he passed away on April 20th, 1912. There are numerous different speculations as to what caused Bram’s death, varying from overwork to syphilis. In 1914, Florence, Bram’s widow, published a short story collection, entitled Dracula’s Guest and Other Weird Stories. Irving, Bram’s son, died in 1961, with Florence (Bram’s wife) dying in 1937. In 2012, the great grand nephew of Bram Stoker, Dacre, wrote a sequel to Dracula. Dacre then presented the “lost” Dublin Journal, written by Bram. The Journal presented what may have been clues to the inspiration of several characters in Dracula, including Renfield.
Since its initial publication, Dracula has become one of the world’s most famous novels. It has spawned further movies, books, theories, and so much more. For his 165th birthday, Bram was honoured with a Google Doodle. Bram was very dedicated to his home country of Ireland. His ashes are kept at Golders Green, and visitors must be escorted into the room where his ashes are located, due to the fear of vandalism. Many popular novels and shows, such as Twilight, The Vampire Diaries and perhaps even The Vampire Chronicles can be attributed to the success of Bram and his gothic novel, Dracula.