Dracul

Author/Guide: Dacre Stoker

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1868: Dracul reveals not only the true origins of Dracula himself, but also of his creator, Bram Stoker

ISBN: 978-0593080108
Genre: Ghost/supernatural, Gothic, Horror

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What you need to know before your trail

It is 1868, and a 22-year-old Bram Stoker has locked himself inside an abbey’s tower to face off against a vile and ungodly beast. He is armed with mirrors and crucifixes and holy water and a gun – and is kept company by a bottle of plum brandy. His fervent prayer is that he will survive this one night – a night that will prove to be the longest of his life.

Desperate to leave a record of what he has witnessed, the young man scribbles out the events that brought him to this point – and tells an extraordinary tale of childhood illness, a mysterious nanny, and stories once thought to be fables now proven true.

Locations

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Ireland - Dublin
A: 5 Marino Crescent - Bram Stoker's House
B: Bram Stokers CASTLE DRACULA
C: Artane
D: Trinity College

Romania - Transylvania
I: Bran Castle

Travel Guide

Dublin

Stoker was born on 8 November 1847 at 15 Marino Crescent, Clontarf, on the northside of Dublin. He was the third of seven children and his father Abraham was a senior civil servant.

Stoker was a sickly child but seemed to make a full recovery once he started school.When he attended Trinity College in Dublin, he even took part in sports. As president of the University Philosophical Society, his first paper was on Sensationalism in Fiction and Society.

Stoker became interested in the theatre while a student and became the theatre critic for the Dublin Evening Mail, which was co-owned by Sheridan Le Fanu, an author of Gothic tales. He became friends with Henry Irving during this time.

London – Lyceum Theatre

In 1878 Stoker married Florence Balcombe, daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel James Balcombe of 1 Marino Crescent.

The family moved to London, where Stoker became acting manager and then business manager of Irving’s Lyceum Theatre, London, a post he held for 27 years. Stoker met Hall Caine during his time in London, who became one of his closest friends – he dedicated Dracula to him.

In the course of Irving’s tours, Stoker travelled the world, although he apparently never visited Eastern Europe, a setting for his most famous novel!