In this year of 2022, marks an incredible remembrance for one of the premier authors, Abraham “Bram” Stoker (November 8, 1847 – April 20, 1912) in just seeing those dates he would have been 175-years-old and his death marks 110-years-ago, and his significance to the cinematic horror genre is without a doubt extremely impactful has it also aided in the music genres of Metal and Gothic, the entire vampiric subculture scene and finally many numerous artistic inspirations of painters and authors, including Stephen King. This Irish author who is well known primary for his gothic rich novel Dracula, and this article shall inform one about his life, the impact of the book, and his family.

He was the third child of seven, however unlike his siblings, he was bedridden with an unknown illness until the age of 7 before making a full recovery, he always kept a journal even at a young age to write his thoughts on wonderous things some which were incorporated into his future tales. It wasn’t until late in his life that any illness would ever affect him again and afforded him the opportunity of becoming an adventurous athlete enjoying every day of life to the fullest.

One of first opportunities to work in the artistic field came about as a critic in theater works for the Dublin Evening Mail which was co-owned by the famed author Sheridan Le Fanu, who wrote gothic stories, and well often critics received lowly respect, he rose above it with thoroughly detailed analysis in his reviews. In 1876, he became friends with Henry Irving after he read his review of the production of Hamlet, this would later lead Bram as the personal assistant of the famed actor.

After several years of courting Florence Balcombe, and competing against Oscar Wilde for her hand, they married 1878, and would later have one son named Irving Noel Thornley Stoker, the family move to London for Bram to work more closely with Irving; this will all become important in a little bit.

The Journey to Design and write Dracula from the Darkness

Among Stoker’s travels he visited the coastal town of Whitley in 1890 and used parts of it for further foundation of his famed novel, namely stopping at the harbor and spoke to a member of the Royal Coast Guard, who provided details of a sailing vessel Dmitri that years ago ran aground on the beach, with a few of her crew alive. The vessel, from their knowledge, Bram’s journal notes, was from Varna an Eastern European port its cargo was crates of earth. Curious, huh, it’s often customary for makers of wine to transplant the richness of minerals of earth for a new vineyard, then sometimes not everyone drinks wine. The rescuers spoke of the legend of the Yorkshire myth known as Barghest a large black dog/wolf that ran out of thew hull and into the cemetery of St. Mary’s Church. Already sounding mysterious, it was noted that Bram met a noblewoman from that region who told of inquisitive insights of the region and dark old tales, perhaps this conversation aided him greatly in details of his book, especially knowing he never visited that region. He then visited the Whitley Museum to again sign in for permission to review a series of maps to figure the route from London to a mountain-top in Romania.

In the summer of 1890, the 45-year-old Bram Stoker entered the Subscription Library in Whitby, England, and requested a specific title The Accounts of Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia by William Wilkinson, this is known because he needed to sign his name for permission to view the book. The title was clearly known to the public, and only available upon request, always under a watchful eye, and clearly he never read the whole book, only viewing in certain pages for the purpose to jolt down notes, namely the Count Wampyr before returning the book and never to return. It has been noted that Dracula in Wallachian language roughly translates to Devil leading the person identify by it as one who has cruel actions.

He continued to become a regular visitor to Cruden Bay in Scotland for a month-long stays from 1893 to 1910, using the location as inspiration for two novels The Watter’s Mou’ (1895) and The Mystery of the Sea (1902); but more important in 1895 he began writing on what would become his masterpiece, Dracula, while staying at the Kilmarnock Arms Hotel, proven by a guest book that still survives to this day with his signatures. Nearby is the Slains Castle as it possibly served as a visual reference for the Castle Dracula for and from his book namely the octagonal hall which matches the description of a similar room in the novel.

As all the fans of the novel know, Bram truly blurred the lines of reality and fiction, very well, there’s a graveyard, the Abbey, an oversized black dog, and the ship which was Dmitri, but the book had The Demeter, and a Count now called Dracula. However, one key item for his great book, is that he wanted to bring forth a childhood nightmare of his to warn about the truths concerning evil, than merely fictionized fantasy, his UK publisher declined that avenue of choice. The reason, London was still recovering from the unsolved murders in Whitechapel which occurred 9-years ago, and this book could cause mass panic changes definitely required and many factual elements eliminated as to secure publishing as a fictional book. On May 26, 1897, the book was released with first 101 pages removed and numerous alterations completed as well as Dracula’s fate. One can only wonder what was so alarming and dreadful in those ages.

After suffering a series of strokes Bram died on April 20, 1912.

After His Death, His Legacy

In 1914, 17-years after the publication of Dracula, Stoker’s widow, Florence, published a short story collection Dracula’s Guest and Other Weird Stories, then in 1922 the first film adaptation of Dracula was created by director F. W. Murnau called Nosferatu with Max Schreck starring Count Orlok. Florence eventually sued the filmmaker and the studio over her legal complaint not been asked for permission for the adaptation nor paid any royalty; after three years the case was settled, and Mrs. Stoker demanded the film and all copies be destroyed. Somehow the bloodsucker film survived destruction, nevertheless it is still considered a phenomenal movie, but the first authorized film based on the book was Dracula [1931] and the Spanish version both from Universal Studio.

A great grandnephew of Bram Stoker, author Dacre Stoker and screenwriter Ian Holt, wrote a sequel and published it in 2009, entitled Dracula: The Un-dead, all-in effort to attempt to reestablish creative control over the original novel and ease the painstaking frustration over the original copyright disregarded by so many. Their book used Bram’s handwritten notes for characters and plot points that removed from the original edition and incorporated their own research for the sequel.

 

Stephen King Tie-In

Stephen King used the novel Dracula as an early inspiration for his book Carrie, and yes the two storylines are vastly different but it’s the telling of the stories that are similar, instead of using a narrator the story tells itself through firsthand accounts, journal entries and newspapers; it was King’s second novel Salem’s Lot that related more to Bram’s work. In Dracula, the Count seeks to purchase a location in London, and is hunted down by John Seward, a doctor, and Van Helsing while Salem’s Lot features a doctor, Jimmy Cody, and Matt Burke, who becomes the expert on vampires and compared to Helsing.

 

Legendary Status

Bram’s title character Dracula shall continue to forever endure and is considered the most prolific creation and holds the record for the most times appearing on the screen tally over 270 appearances.

 

Novels:

The Primrose Path (1875)

The Snake’s Pass (1890)

The Watter’s Mou’ (1895)

The Shoulder of Shasta (1895)

Dracula (1897)

Miss Betty (1898)

The Mystery of the Sea (1902)

The Jewel of Seven Stars (1903, revised 1912)

The Man (1905); issued also as The Gates of Life

Lady Athlyne (1908)

The Lady of the Shroud (1909)

The Lair of the White Worm (1911)

 

Short story collections:

Under the Sunset (1881) – eight fairy tales for children

Snowbound: The Record of a Theatrical Touring Party (1908)

Dracula’s Guest and Other Weird Stories (1914)

 

Comic Books:

Blood of Dracula – Full Series

 

Selected Feature Films:

The Curse of Dracula [2019]

DOA: Dracula Reborn [2015]

Dracula Untold [2014]

The Mummy Resurrected [2014]

Dawn of Dracula [2013]

Dracula: The Impaler [2013]

The Trail of Dracula [2013]

Apostle of Dracula [2012]

Dracula 3D [2012]

Dracula: Reborn [2012]

Dracula and Stoker [2012]

Dracula’s Stoker [2009]

Dracula’s Guest [2008]

Dracula’s Curse [2006]

Dracula: Pages from a Virgin’s Diary [2002]

Legend of the Mummy [1998]

Shadow Builder [1998]

Dracula: Dead and Loving It [1995]

Monster Mash: The Movie [1995]

Bram Stoker’s Dracula [1992]

The Lair of the White Worm [1988]

The Awakening [1980]

Nosferatu the Vampyre [1979]

Dracula [1979]

Dracula Sucks [1978]

Blood for Dracula [1974]

The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires [1974]

Evil of Dracula [1974]

Drakula Goes to R.P. [1973]

Dracula A.D. 1972 [1972]

Dracula, Prisoner of Frankenstein [1972]

Vampyros Lesbos [1971]

Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb [1971]

Scars of Dracula [1970]

Taste the Blood of Dracula [1970]

Count Dracula [1970]

Jonathan [1970]

Santo in the Treasure of Dracula [1969]

Dracula Has Risen from the Grave [1968]

Gallery of Horror [1967]

Dracula in Pakistan [1967]

The Empire of Dracula [1967]

Dracula: Prince of Darkness [1966]

Horror of Dracula [1958]

The Return of Dracula [1958]

Dracula in Istanbul [1953]

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein [1948]

House of Dracula [1945]

Dracula’s Daughter [1936]

Dracula [1931]

Drácula [1931] [Spanish Version]

Nosferatu [1922]

Dracula’s Death [1921]

 

TV Movies:

Dracula [2006 TV Movie]

Burial of the Rats [1995 TV Movie]

Tomb of Dracula [1980 TV Movie]

Count Dracula [1977 TV Movie]

Dracula [1974 TV Movie]

Dracula [1972 TV Movie]

 

Links:

http://bramstoker.org/

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0831290/