Abraham “Bram” Stoker

Sam writes:
Abraham “Bram” Stoker was a famous Irish novelist, who was well known for his short stories.  His most famous and most well known novel is Dracula.  This chilling and dark gothic novel was published in 1897, and remains a very popular novel to this day.
            Bram was born on November the 8 in 1847, in Dublin Ireland.  He born in into an average family and was the third child out of seven.  However, Stoker was bed-ridden until the age of seven where he began his attending a private school in the area.  Bram then went onto attend Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland from 1864 to 1870.  At Trinity College he was an auditor for the school’s Historical Society, and Philosophical Society.  For these groups he wrote a paper on “Sensationalism and Fiction in Society.”  While he was still at school he became very interested and theatre and through a friend became a theatre citric for the Dublin Evening Mail.  Due to the times these theatre critics were held in low esteem, but Stoker was able to bring praise and attention to himself and his work.  He was able achieved this through quality and honesty in his reviews.  Through the next nine years Stoker had a handful of novels published, such as The Crystal Cup (1872) and The Duties of Clerks of Petty Sessions in Ireland (1879).
            After he married Florence Balcombe in 1878, Stoker continued to peruse his interests in theatre.  When he moved to London Stoker became the acting-manger of the Lyceum Theatre in London.  The Lyceum Theatre was owned by Bram’s friend Henry Irving’s, who was a very well know actor at the time.  On December 31, 1879, Bram’s wife gave birth to their only child, a boy whom they named Noel Stoker.  Stoker connections with Irving, gave the opportunity to visit many different places and meet many interesting people.  Stoker traveled all around the world including two visits to the White house.  He was also able to meet one of his literary idols Walt Whitman.  Bram’s dedication to Irving’s Lyceum Theatre kept him vey busy and well connected, doing something he truly loved.
           While working at the Lyceum Theatre, Stoker slowly became interested in writing novels, including The Snake’s Pass (1890) and most famously Dracula (1897).  Stoker wrote many different types of literature, ranging form novels and uncollected short stories, to non-fiction pieces.  He continued writing up until his death on the 26 of November in 1912, after suffering a number of strokes.  However Bram Stokers legacy lives on through his literary works, and will continue to do so for many years to come.