Masters of Horror

Abraham Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912) was an Irish writer, barrister, literary critic, and theatre manager. He was the author of the Gothic horror novel Dracula (1897) and the creator of the fictional character Count Dracula. The work and its antagonist are regarded as milestones in the fields of Gothic and vampire literature. Stoker was the third of seven children and was bedridden for the first seven years of his life with an undiagnosed illness. He received his initial education at home, before enrolling at Trinity College Dublin in 1864. He excelled as a rugby athlete and was a prominent member of both the university's student union and its philosophical society. It was during this period that Stoker was initially introduced to literature, eventually becoming the auditor of the College Historical Society and writing his first paper. At the outset of his career, Stoker spent ten years in the civil service at Dublin Castle, during which time he was also a drama critic for the Dublin Evening Mail. Following this, he was employed as a theatre critic for several newspapers, including the Daily Telegraph, and occasionally wrote short stories and theatre commentaries. He also served as the personal assistant of the actor Sir Henry Irving and the business manager of the West End's Lyceum Theatre, which Irving owned. While a theatre critic, Stoker founded the "Dublin Sketching Club" in 1879, which dealt mostly with art collections. He regularly travelled during his free time, particularly to Cruden Bay in Scotland, which was the setting for two of his novels and also served as the inspiration for writing Dracula. He was friends with both Arthur Conan Doyle and Oscar Wilde and collaborated with other authors for experimental novels such as The Fate of Fenella (1892). Stoker wrote a dozen horror and mystery novels and novellas, including The Mystery of the Sea (1902), The Jewel of Seven Stars (1903) and The Lair of the White Worm (1911), but his reputation as one of the most influential writers of Gothic horror fiction rests solely with Dracula. Since the early 20th century, the novel has become one of the best-selling works of vampire fiction, with Count Dracula entering the public imagination as one of the best-known fictional figures of the Victorian era. The work also shaped future representations of vampiric characters and themes, making Stoker "the father of vampire fiction."