The imaginative mind behind the vampire that is Dracula, is celebrated each year in Dublin during the Bram Stoker Festival. Despite writing 18 fictional novels, its Stoker’s story of Dracula published in 1897, that caught the eye of the world bringing a new light into the world of the undead.
So what is widely unknown about Bram Stoker? Here’s 5 things you probably don’t know about the horror fiction writer.
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In 1878 Bram married Florence Balcombe in St Ann’s Church on Dawson St. What you might not know is that she is the former girlfriend of novelist and playwright Oscar Wilde!
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Some might say this is an obvious one, but not all of us know this…. Bram is short for… wait for it… ABRAHAM.
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The term Dracula is a variation of the Irish word ‘Droch Ola’ which translates as Bad Blood
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When we think bedtime stories, we usually think heroes and happy endings, but this wasn’t the case for Bram. It’s been said that his obsession with the undead and horror stories came from his mother. She used to tell him horror stories when he was unwell!! Talk about scaring someone to sleep!!!
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He introduced the Victorian Society to the world of vampires. This began an obsession with the undead that remains now, over 100 years later.
Here’s a few more facts that you should know about Abraham ‘Bram’ Stoker…
He was born on 8 November 1847 in Clontarf, Dublin and educated at Trinity College from 1864-1870. It was his love of the theatre that started his obsession with writing as it led him to become an unpaid drama critic for the Dublin Evening Mail, which was co-owned by the gothic writer Sheridan Le Fanu. He later began writing novels when living in London and his book Dracula received global recognition.
Now that you know a little more about the man himself, celebrate his strange and wonderful mind during the Bram Stoker Festival running from October 28th to 31st. You can find out more about the festival here.
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