Bram Stoker

Author profile

born

November 08, 1847 in Fairview, Dublin, Ireland

died

April 20, 1912

gender

male

website

http://www.bramstoker.org

genre

Horror

About this author

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He was born Abraham Stoker in 1847 at 15 Marino Crescent – then as now called "The Crescent" – in Fairview, a coastal suburb of Dublin, Ireland. His parents were Abraham Stoker and the feminist Charlotte Mathilda Blake Thornely. Stoker was the third of seven children. Abraham and Charlotte were members of the Clontarf Church of Ireland parish and attended the parish church (St. John the Baptist located on Seafield Road West) with their children, who were both baptised there.

Stoker was an invalid until he started school at the age of seven — when he made a complete and astounding recovery. Of this time, Stoker wrote, "I was naturally thoughtful, and the leisure of long illness gave opportunity for many thoughts which were fruitful according...more He was born Abraham Stoker in 1847 at 15 Marino Crescent – then as now called "The Crescent" – in Fairview, a coastal suburb of Dublin, Ireland. His parents were Abraham Stoker and the feminist Charlotte Mathilda Blake Thornely. Stoker was the third of seven children. Abraham and Charlotte were members of the Clontarf Church of Ireland parish and attended the parish church (St. John the Baptist located on Seafield Road West) with their children, who were both baptised there.

Stoker was an invalid until he started school at the age of seven — when he made a complete and astounding recovery. Of this time, Stoker wrote, "I was naturally thoughtful, and the leisure of long illness gave opportunity for many thoughts which were fruitful according to their kind in later years."

After his recovery, he became a normal young man, even excelling as an athlete (he was named University Athlete) at Trinity College, Dublin (1864 – 70), from which he graduated with honours in mathematics. He was auditor of the College Historical Society and president of the University Philosophical Society, where his first paper was on "Sensationalism in Fiction and Society".

In 1876, while employed as a civil servant in Dublin, Stoker wrote a non-fiction book (The Duties of Clerks of Petty Sessions in Ireland, published 1879) and theatre reviews for The Dublin Mail, a newspaper partly owned by fellow horror writer J. Sheridan Le Fanu. His interest in theatre led to a lifelong friendship with the English actor Henry Irving. He also wrote stories, and in 1872 "The Crystal Cup" was published by the London Society, followed by "The Chain of Destiny" in four parts in The Shamrock.

In 1878 Stoker married Florence Balcombe, a celebrated beauty whose former suitor was Oscar Wilde. The couple moved to London, where Stoker became business manager (at first as acting-manager) of Irving's Lyceum Theatre, a post he held for 27 years. The collaboration with Irving was very important for Stoker and through him he became involved in London's high society, where he met, among other notables, James McNeil Whistler, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. In the course of Irving's tours, Stoker got the chance to travel around the world.

The Stokers had one son, Irving Noel, who was born on December 31, 1879.

Bram Stoker died in 1912, and was cremated and his ashes placed in a display urn at Golders Green Crematorium. After Irving Noel Stoker's death in 1961, his ashes were added to that urn. The original plan had been to keep his parents' ashes together, but after Florence Stoker's death her ashes were scattered at the Gardens of Rest.
See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bram_Stoker (less)

combine editions
Books by Bram Stoker

Average rating: 3.88 · 149,802 ratings · 7,024 reviews · 318 distinct works

	Dracula by Bram Stoker, Nina Auerbach (Editor), David J. Skal (Editor) 3.88 avg rating — 144,693 ratings — published 1897 — 810 editions	My rating:
	Dracula's Guest and Other Weird Tales by Bram Stoker, Kate Hebblethwaite (Editor) 3.66 avg rating — 758 ratings — published 1914 — 89 editions	My rating:
	Lair of the White Worm 2.90 avg rating — 597 ratings — published 1909 — 73 editions	My rating:
	The Jewel of Seven Stars 3.27 avg rating — 391 ratings — published 1903 — 67 editions	My rating:
	Dracula 4.20 avg rating — 119 ratings	My rating:
	Classics of Horror: Dracula/Frankenstein/2 Books in 1 by Bram Stoker, Mary Shelley 4.15 avg rating — 79 ratings — published 1960 — 12 editions	My rating:
	Dracula's Guest 3.63 avg rating — 82 ratings — published 1971 — 12 editions	My rating:
	The Lady of the Shroud 3.22 avg rating — 100 ratings — published 1909 — 40 editions	My rating:
	The Judge's House 3.66 avg rating — 62 ratings — published 1981 — 5 editions	My rating:
	The Mystery of the Sea 3.41 avg rating — 51 ratings — published 1902 — 9 editions	My rating:

More books by Bram Stoker…

Series by Bram Stoker

The Collected Supernatural and Weird Fiction of Bram Stoker (5 books)
by Bram Stoker

0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings

Quotes by Bram Stoker

“Nothing is too small. I counsel you, put down in record even your doubts and surmises. Hereafter it may be of interest to you to see how true you guess. We learn from failure, not from success!”
― Bram Stoker, Dracula

tags: doubt , experience , learning , mistakes , records , wisdom

246 people liked it

“Listen to them - children of the night. What music they make.”
― Bram Stoker, Dracula

tags: dracula

155 people liked it

“There is a reason why all things are as they are.”
― Bram Stoker, Dracula

126 people liked it

See all Bram Stoker's quotes »

Polls

Vampires. The scary type, not the hoo-hah type. Which novel got your heart beating?
(I know the list is a bit short and everything but complete, but recommendations and comments are welcome.)

Salem's Lot, by Stephen King

35 votes, 41.7%

I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson

13 votes, 15.5%

Dracula, by Bram Stoker

12 votes, 14.3%

Necroscope, by Brian Lumley

9 votes, 10.7%

The Keep, by F. Paul Wilson

7 votes, 8.3%

Interview With the Vampire, by Anne Rice

6 votes, 7.1%

The Traveling Vampire Show, by Richard Laymon

2 votes, 2.4%

Fevre Dream, by George R.R. Martin

0 votes, 0.0%

84 total votes

23 comments

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