What are the greatest parts about fall? The crisp smell of apples, the chill in the air, the colors of the leaves… and the somewhat spooky feeling all around us! Just kidding, that’s just near Halloween. But you must admit, there is something about this season that may inspire you to revisit some of Poe, of the gothic masters, or of our blog subject for today – Bram Stoker.
Stoker is, of course, best known for his novel Dracula – a tale of a blood-thirsty beast in love (classic), but who was he otherwise? Here are some facts that you probably didn’t know about this Irish author!
1. He was Irish. I realize I gave that away in the previous sentence, but still. Stoker was born in Dublin in 1847, and lived in the county of Dublin all his life, even attending Trinity College for his higher education. Though graduating with a degree in mathematics, he showed prominence in the humanities as the auditor of the College’s Historical Society and president of the University Philosophical Society.
2. Interested in theater from a young age, Stoker became a theater critic for the Dublin Evening Mail early on. After writing a favorable review of Henry Irving’s Hamlet, he was invited to London to become his new friend Irving’s theater business manager at the Lyceum Theater.
3. Bram Stoker’s wife Florence Balcombe was a previous suitor of Oscar Wilde. It may be strange for me to be so impressed by this, but nevertheless…
4. Stoker worked on several novels while managing the Lyceum, Dracula being one of his first. After its publication, the novel received quite a bit of literary and critical acclaim, but did not shoot him to fame, despite the fact that it is now a story known worldwide. There are over 200 films and over 1000 novels written about Dracula alone!
5. Most people assume that Vlad the Impaler was the inspiration for the character of Dracula. However, recent scholarship suggests that, though Stoker may have borrowed the somewhat gothic and creepy name from the historical Romanian, he most likely based more of the facts on his own ancestor, Manus O’Donnell – or Manus the Magnificent – an Irish clan leader.
6. Complications and vagueness around Stokers death has sparked all kinds of discussion in his fans – some say he died from another stroke (after living several years after his first), others say syphilis. Even others say he is not dead at all… but still walks along the living! (Only at night, of course.)
Bonus fact: Through his friend and employer Henry Irving, Stoker met two US Presidents – William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt. Crazy!
This fall we invite you to grab a cup of tea, cozy up next to the fire, and pick up a scary classic… we promise you will thank us for it!
