Abraham 'Bram' Stoker was born in Marino Crescent in Clontarf, Dublin, on November 8th in 1847, had a very troubled childhood, riddled with illness and suffering from the late development of speech until the age of 8, when he finally regained the use of his legs and went on to become an athlete and soccer-star for the University of Dublin. A Protestant Dubliner, he was the son of a civil servant, and he was expected to follow in his father's footsteps.
Bram Stoker went on to become a highly popular member of trinity college, where he was also a very successful sportsman. In 1870 he graduated with honours in mathematics. His first working duty was as a civil servant in Dublin Castle. At this time, he also worked as a free lance journalist, a drama critic and editor of the "Evening Mail. However after seeing the actor Henry Irving act on one of his tours of Ireland, Bram Stoker became the manager of the Lyceum theatre in London shortly after his marriage to Florence Balcombe in 1878. Stoker remained there throughout his career and it was his careful management, providing a contrast to Henry Irving's theatrical excesses, that was probably a major reason for the Lyceum's success.
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Bram Stoker wrote a number of short stories and novels. His first horror writing, The Chain Of Destiny, appeared as a serial in the Shamrock magazine in 1873. .
Some of his other works include, Under The Sunset (1882); The Snakes Pass (1890); Miss Beauty (1898); The Mystery of the Sea (1902); The Jewel of Seven Stars (1903); The Man (1905); Lady Athlyne (1908); The Lady of the Shroud (1909); The Lair of the White Worm (1911); His other work includes Duties of Clerks of Petty Sessions in Ireland (1879), and Personal Reminiscences of Henry Irving (1906). .
In 1890 he met the Hungarian professor Arminius Vanbéry, who told him the legend of the Romanian prince Vlad Tepes, better known as Dracula. This person became Count Dracula, the vampire in Stoker's fictional novel.
