Bram Stoker

His only child, Noel Thornley Stoker, was born in 1879. Both Stoker and Oscar Wilde competed for the affections of the lovely Florence Balcombe, who eventually married Stoker. Over 100 years later two of Stokers and Wildes most famous characters, Mina Harker and Dorian Gray, would appear in the same film, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen .

The character of Prof. Abraham Van Helsing is modeled after Stoker.

Contrary to popular belief, Stoker did not base his most famous character, Count Dracula, on Prince Vlad II of Romania (at the time called Wallachia). Most of his novel was completed and his vampire protagonist was to be named Count Wampyr. Then, during his research, he came across William Wilkinsons "An Account of the Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia". In this book were brief passages about "Voivode Dracula" (never referred to as Vlad), who crossed the Danube to fight the Turks and helped to drive them out of Wallachia, but was betrayed to them by his brother. What intrigued Stoker was a footnote that in Romanian, Dracula meant Devil. Liking the name for that reason, Stoker changed the name of his vampire from Wampyr to Dracula. Another story is that the Dracula character is actually based on actor Henry Irving , for whom Stoker served as Personal Manager and with whom he did not get along. This story is given some credence by the fact that the Dracula character in the play, which Stoker did not write, is quite different from the Dracula character in the book, which Stoker did write, and most film versions of the story are based on the play, not the book.

Great-great-grandfather of actress Alberta Mayne.

His father was Abraham Stoker, a civil servant at Dublin Castle, and his mother was Charlotte Stoker (nee Thornley), a lieutenants daughter from Sligo.

He was the third of seven children. His siblings were William, Matilda, Thomas, Richard, Margaret and George.

Childhood illness meant he was unable to walk until he was seven years old. An explanation for the illness was never found.

A fan of poet Walt Whitman , with whom he corresponded.

Worked as a Petty Sessions clerk in the civil service at Dublin Castle.

Worked for the Dublin Evening Mail as a theatre critic.

During his lifetime he was known mostly for being the Business Manager of the Lyceum Theatre in London and the Personal assistant to actor Henry Irving , the manager of the Lyceum. When Stoker died, not a single obituary of his mentioned "Dracula".

Friends with Ellen Terry , the leading lady of the Lyceum Theatre. She joined the Lyceum the same day Stoker did.

His death was overshadowed by the sinking of the Titanic which occurred the same week.

While part of Dracula is famously set in Transylvania, Stoker never actually went there, learning about it by researching Transylvanian history and culture at the British Museum.

His novel "Dracula" was an early inspiration for author Stephen King. Kings first novel, "Carrie", while it tells a completely different story, uses much of the same style. "Dracula" was an epistolary novel, which means that rather than relying solely on an omniscient narrator, much of the story is related from first-hand accounts, such as journal entries, newspaper articles and, in one case, a recording made on wax cylinders. Much of the story in "Carrie" is related the same way. Kings second novel was "Salems Lot", which parallels "Dracula" quite closely. "Dracula" begins with the Count looking into buying a house in London, while the vampire Barlow buys a house in the town of Salems Lot. Included in those who hunt down Dracula are John Seward, a doctor, and his medical school professor, Abraham Van Helsing, who is an expert on vampires. "Salems Lot" features a doctor, Jimmy Cody, and his former schoolteacher, Matt Burke, who becomes an expert on vampires and is compared to Van Helsing by other characters. The heroes hunt down Dracula to avenge Lucy Westenra, who has been turned into a vampire, and Mina Harker, who will suffer the same fate if Dracula is not killed. In "Salems Lot" they do so to avenge Susan Norton, who has been turned into a vampire.

Great-grand-uncle of Dacre Stoker.

Stoker is buried at Golders Green Crematorium, Greater London (plot: East Columbarium).

Was invited to the White House twice and got to meet Presidents William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt.

Was a friend and distant relation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Did not start writing until he was in his late 20s and did not begin writing novels until age 43.

Wrote eight novels in 20 years.

His character Count Dracula is considered the most famous vampire in all of fiction one of the most famous literary characters of all time.

His creation Count Dracula has been played more times in film and television appearances than any other horror character.

Great grandfather of Noel Dobbs.

Has a literary award named after him.

At one point Hammer movies planned a biopic of Stoker, with a script by Don Houghton and featuring Christopher Lee as Henry Irving.

His brother Tom had a grandson Daniel Farson who became Brams biographer.

I suppose that we women are such cowards that we think a man will save us from fears, and we marry him.

These infinitesimal distinctions between man and man are too paltry for an Omnipotent Being. How these madmengive themselves away! The real God taketh heed lest a sparrow fall. But the God created from human vanity seesno difference between an eagle and a sparrow.

We learn from failure, not from success!,Fe es aquello que nos permite creer en cosas que sabemos que no son ciertas.

Remember my friend, that knowledge is stronger than memory, and we should not trust the weaker,There is a reason that all things are as they are, and did you see with my eyes and know with my knowledge, you would perhaps better understand.

Do you not think that there are things which you cannot understand, and yet which are; that some people see things that others cannot? But there are things old and new which must not be contemplate by men´s eyes, because they know -or think they know- some things which other men have told them. Ah, it is the fault of our science that it wants to explain all; and if it explain not, then it says there is nothing to explain.

I am all in a sea of wonders. I doubt; I fear; I think strange things, which I dare not confess to my own soul.

Even if she be not harmed, her heart may fail her in so much and so many horrors; and hereafter she may suffer--both in waking, from her nerves, and in sleep, from her dreams.

How blessed are some people, whose lives have no fears, no dreads; to whom sleep is a blessing that comes nightly, and brings nothing but sweet dreams.

But we are strong, each in our purpose, and we are all more strong together.

Euthanasia" is an excellent and comforting word! I am grateful to whoever invented it.

I could not resist the temptation of mystifying him a bit, I suppose it is some taste of the original apple that remains still in our mouths.

There was one great tomb more lordly than all the rest; huge it was, and nobly proportioned. On it was but one word, DRACULA.

What a fine fellow is Quincey! I believe in my heart of hearts that he suffered as much about Lucy’s death as any of us, but he bore himself through it like a moral Viking. If America can go on breeding men like that, she will be a power in the world indeed.

I have cried even when the laugh did choke me. But no more think that I am all sorry when I cry, for the laugh he come just the same. Keep it always with you that laughter who knock at your door and say, ‘May I come in?’ is not true laughter. No! He is a king, and he come when and how he like. He ask no person, he choose no time of suitability. He say, ‘I am here.

for I determined that if Death came he should find me ready,Our toil must be in silence, and our efforts all in secret; for this enlightened age, when men believe not even what they see, the doubting of wise men would be his greatest strength.

Faith, that faculty which enables us to believe things which we know to be untrue.

There are darknesses in life and there are lights, and you are one of the lights, the light of all lights.

Do not think that I am not sad, though I laugh.

a wind howling began, which seemed to form all over the country, as far as the imagination could grasp it through the gloom of the night.

It is wonderful what tricks our dreams play us, and how conveniently we can imagine.

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.

It all seems like a horrible tragedy, with fate pressing on relentlessly to some destined end. Everything that one does seems, no matter how right it may be, to bring on the very thing which is most to be deplored.

It is only when a man feels himself face to face with such horrors that he can understand their true import.

Are we to have nothing tonight?" said one of them, with a low laugh, as she pointed to the bag which he had thrown upon the floor, and which moved as though there were some living thing within it. For answer he nodded his head. One of the women jumped forward and opened it. If my ears did not deceive me there was a gasp and a low wail, as of a half smothered child. The women closed round, whilst I was aghast with horror. But as I looked, they disappeared, and with them the dreadful bag.

preserve my sanity, for to this I am reduced. Safety and the assurance of safety are things of the past. Whilst I live on here there is but one thing to hope for, that I may not go mad, if, indeed, I be not mad already. If I be sane, then surely it is maddening to think that of all the foul things that lurk in this hateful place.

And when he had crossed the bridge, the phantoms came to meet him.

These friends - and he laid his hand on some of the books - have been good friends to me, and for some years past, ever since I had the idea of going to London, have given me many, many hours of pleasure. Through them I have come to know your great England; and to know her is to love her. I long to go through the crowded streets of your mighty London, to be in the midst of the whirl and rush of humanity, to share its life, its change, its death, and all that makes it what it is.

There is reason that all things are as they are, and did you see with my eyes and know with my knowledge, you would perhaps better understand.

I must take action of some sort whilst the courage of the day is upon me.

Let me advise you, my dear young friend-- nay, let me warn you with all seriousness, that should you leave these rooms you will not by any chance go to sleep in any other part of the castle. It is old, and has many memories, and there are bad dreams for those who sleep unwisely.

Souls and memories can do strange things during trance.

It is something like the way dame Nature gathers round a foreign body an envelope of some insensitive tissue which can protect from evil that which it would otherwise harm by contact. If this be an ordered selfishness, then we should pause before we condemn any one for the vice of egoism, for there may be deeper root for its causes than we have knowledge of.

I suppose it is that sickness and weakness are selfish things and turn our inner eyes and sympathy on ourselves, whilst health and strength give love rein, and in thought and feeling he can wander where he wills.

I am glad that it is old and big. I myself am of an old family, and to live in a new house would kill me. A house cannot be made habitable in a day; and, after all, how few days go to make up a century. I rejoice also that there is a chapel of old times. We Transylvanian nobles love not to think that our bones may be amongst the common dead. I seek not gaiety nor mirth, not the bright voluptuousness of much sunshine and sparkling waters which please the young and gay. I am no longer young; and my heart, through wearing years of mourning over the dead, is not attuned to mirth. Moreover, the walls of my castle are broken; the shadows are many, and the wind breathes cold through the broken battlements and casements. I love the shade and the shadow, and would be alone with my thoughts when I may.

He came back full of life and hope and determination.

He means to succeed, and a man who has centuries before him can afford to wait and to go slow.

I have read of a gentleman who owned a so fine house in London, and when he went for months of summer to Switzerland and lock up his house, some burglar came and broke window at back and got in. Then he went and made open the shutters in front and walk out and in through the door, before the very eyes of the police. Then he have an auction in that house, and advertise it, and put up big notice; and when the day come he sell off by a great auctioneer all the goods of that other man who own them. Then he go to a builder, and he sell him that house, making an agreement that he pull it down and take all away within a certain time. And your police and other authority help him all they can. And when that owner come back from his holiday in Switzerland he find only an empty hole where his house had been. This was all done en règle; and in our work we shall be en règle too. We shall not go so early that the policemen who have then little to think of, shall deem it strange; but we shall go after ten o’clock, when there are many about, and such things would be done were we indeed owners of the house.

Do you believe in destiny? That even the powers of time can be altered for a single purpose? That the luckiest man who walks on this earth is the one who finds… true love?,I have been so long masterthat I would be master still, or at least that none othershould be master of me.

The blood is the life!,Whatever may happen, it must be of new hope or of new courage to me!,Oh, friend John, it is a strange world, a sad world, a world full of miseries, and woes and troubles, and yet when King Laugh come he make them all dance to the tune he play.

There are things done today in electrical science which would have been deemed unholy by the very man who discovered electricity, who would themselves not so long before been burned as wizards.

I was in doubt, and then everything took a hue of unreality, and I did not know what to trust, even the evidence of my own senses. Not knowing what to trust, I did not know what to do; and so had only to keep on working in what had hitherto been the groove of my life. The groove ceased to avail me, and I mistrusted myself.

In selfish men caution is as secure an armour for their foes as for themselves.

As yet we know nothing of what goes to create or evoke the active spark of life.

I am longing to be with you, and by the sea, where we can talk together freely and build our castles in the air.

And you, their best beloved one, are now to me, flesh of my flesh; blood of my blood; kin of my kin; my bountiful wine-press for awhile; and shall later on be my companion and my helper.

The effect on Lucy was not bad, for the faint seemed to merge subtly into the narcotic sleep. It was with a feeling of personal pride that I could see a faint tinge of colour steal back into the pallid cheeks and lips. No man knows, till he experiences it, what it is to feel his own lifeblood drawn away into the veins of the woman he loves. The Professor watched me critically. "That will do," he said. "Already?" I remonstrated. "You took a great deal more from Art. " To which he smiled a sad sort of smile as he replied, "He is her lover, her fiance. You have work, much work to do for her and for others, and the present will suffice.

There are mysteries which men can only guess at, which age by age they may solve only in part.

No man knows till he has suffered from the night how sweet and dear to his heart and eye the morning can be.