The 8th of November marked the 171st birthday of the Irish born author, Abraham “Bram” Stoker. Stoker is most famous for his gothic tale, “Dracula” published in 1897 which tells the tale of a Transylvanian Count (who the book is named after) and his evil doings as a blood-sucking vampire. Everyone and their grandmother knows about the character of Dracula, he has become a pop icon, but a lot of planning and research went into the crafting of the character we know and fear today.

Born and educated in Dublin, Stoker’s love of theatre drew him to London, where he became the business manager for the Lyceum Theatre. Here, Stoker worked with the famed actor Henry Irving (who he had met in Dublin whilst reviewing his performance as ‘Hamlet’). Irving is allegedly Stoker’s inspiration for the ‘Dracula’ character-commanding,demanding and mesmerizing. In fact, ‘Dracula’ originally started as a play, in which Stoker wished Irving to star as the titular character. After Irving declined, Stoker turned the play into the novel we all know and love.

One of the places that Stoker used to carry out research was the London Library, who have recently (ironically within the week of Halloween) discovered what might be Stoker’s notes on Dracula, scribbled in the margins of its books. Stoker was a member of the library (having paid the subscription of £3 and 3 shillings) and joined in 1890, when he started preparation for Dracula. However, in 1897, Stoker cancelled his subscription to the library- coinciding within 4 days of Dracula’s publication. The London Library has found 28 books (that visitors are allowed view) that have the scribblings of the writer, but we can’t be certain it is actually Stoker as the library has never kept borrowing records (however, it is highly likely, as they correspond with Stoker’s own personal notes).

The reason why you probably haven’t heard of any other books from Stoker is because they are dreadful, and not in the way you would want a horror story to be.  What makes Dracula so influential is Stoker’s merging of mythology and reality- the ideas of vampires being brought into real life locations (such as Whitby and Transylvania in the book) give it a sense of grounded magic. In fact, Stoker wished to sell ‘Dracula’ as a true story.

Furthermore, those well-versed in vampiric history may be aware of the character of ‘Nosferatu’, A.K.A. ‘Count Orlock’ who first appeared in the silent film ‘Nosferatu’ in 1922. Both Count Dracula and Count Orlock are similar characters: both Counts living in Transylvania and vampires of a malicious nature. In fact, the synopsis of ‘Nosferatu’ and ‘Dracula’ read almost exactly the same, just with different names for the characters. Strange right? This is because Nosferatu was an unauthorized adaptation of Stoker’s classic. The word ‘vampire’ was changed to ‘Nosferatu’ (an archaic Romanian-Hungarian word for ‘vampire’). The film differs from Stoker’s novel as Count Orlock doesn’t turn people into vampires, does burn up in the sunlight and unlike Dracula, isn’t trying to get to 1890s Britain, but 1838 Germany. Stoker’s widow (Florence Balcombe-of whom Stoker’s Irish contemporary, Oscar Wilde, was a former suitor) is well-known for her legal dispute with the makers of the film. The widow wanted financial reparation and all prints of the film to be destroyed (even though she would never see it as it was a German release). The case succeeded with all but one print surviving.

Dracula is a novel that took a lot of dedication and hard-work to create. Stoker’s efforts gave us a character that is recognizable a little over 120 years from his first appearance, and who stills stalks the minds of audiences today.