The Vampire Queen - Anne Rice And The Vampire King

Bram (Abraham) Stoker (1847-1912)
His reputation as an author stands almost wholly on his novel "Dracula". Who has not read "Dracula" ? Who has not seen the movies based on his immortal novel ? Though Bram Stoker's novel can be found under "Fiction" in the library, there are many true facts in it. You have to be a historian to notice them though. If you know how to read between the paragraphs, the novel will absorb you totally and will make you want more, it will make you do researches on the historical figure behind the fearful nickname - "Dracula". When you learn everything about him, about Prince Vladislaus, you may even come to love him, his power, and his might. You will come to understand that though a villain in the movies, Dracula was actually a hero, one of the last defenders of the Orthodox Christian faith, one of the last proud leaders, one of the last Knights. But enough of Count Vlad; Who was Bram Stoker, the person who popularized him, who made him a truly rich "man" ?
Bram Stoker was born in the city of Dublin, Ireland, on November 8, 1847. He was the third of seven children. His mother was a charity worker and writer and his father was a civil servant in Dublin Castle. The young Bram was a sickly child and spent a lot of time in bed. Growing up he was told a lot of scary stories by his mother. After a long and incapacitating childhood illness e attended a private day school near home. He studied mathematics at Trinity College Dublin and graduated in 1867. A very interesting fact about his studying at the college was that he became the school's athletics champion. He was the best footballer in the college as well as an unbeatable road walker. After graduation, Stoker followed his father's example and became a civil servant. At this time, he also worked as a drama critic and freelance journalist. At the age of 27, he met his idol, the famous actor - Sir Henry Irving. They had common interests and soon became best friends. Two years later, Abraham accepted a job as a personal secretary to Irving and went to England in 1878. Before he went to England however, he married the beautiful - Florence Balcombe. They had one son - Noel, who was born 1879. An interesting fact about Stoker's relationship with Florence is that before she fell in love with him, she was engaged to the great poet and storywriter - Oscar Wilde. The author of "Dracula" was a close friend to the Wilde family. Rumours say that after his fiancee left him and married Abraham Stoker, Wilde lost his fate in the womankind and became gay. Before he left Ireland, Stoker also published his first book- "The Duties of Clerks of Petty Sessions in Ireland". The novel that made Bram Stoker famous- "Dracula", was first published in 1887. Its price was six penny. The author had a Hungarian friend, who was a history lector in the Budapest University. He was the one who first mentioned to him the name "Draculea"(From Romanian "drac"- "dragon" and "ulea"- "son of"). The name held a hypnotic power to Stoker and after his friend told him the story of Prince Vlad and the East European "un-dead bloodsuckers", he got totally fascinated and decided to write a novel based on the myth. The novel took him 9 years to complete. The great author died in London, in 1912. Stoker died at the age of 64 of exhaustion. Although best known for his "Dracula", Abraham Stoker wrote 18 books before his death.