Bram Stoker Popular Books

Bram Stoker Biography & Facts

Abraham Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912) was an Irish author who is celebrated for his 1897 Gothic horror novel Dracula. During his lifetime, he was better known as the personal assistant of actor Sir Henry Irving and business manager of the Lyceum Theatre, which Irving owned. In his early years, Stoker worked as a theatre critic for an Irish newspaper, and wrote stories as well as commentaries. He also enjoyed travelling, particularly to Cruden Bay where he set two of his novels. During another visit to the English coastal town of Whitby, Stoker drew inspiration for writing Dracula. He died on 20 April 1912 due to locomotor ataxia and was cremated in north London. Since his death, his magnum opus Dracula has become one of the most well-known works in English literature, and the novel has been adapted for numerous films, short stories, and plays. Early life Stoker was born on 8 November 1847 at 15 Marino Crescent, Clontarf, on the northside of Dublin, Ireland. The park adjacent to the house is now known as Bram Stoker Park. His parents were Abraham Stoker (1799–1876) from Dublin and Charlotte Mathilda Blake Thornley (1818–1901), who was raised in County Sligo. Stoker was the third of seven children, the eldest of whom was Sir Thornley Stoker, 1st Bt. Abraham and Charlotte were members of the Church of Ireland Parish of Clontarf and attended the parish church with their children, who were baptised there. Abraham was a senior civil servant. Stoker was bedridden with an unknown illness until he started school at the age of seven, when he made a complete recovery. Of this time, Stoker wrote, "I was naturally thoughtful, and the leisure of long illness gave opportunity for many thoughts which were fruitful according to their kind in later years." He was privately educated at Bective House school run by the Reverend (William Woods).After his recovery, he grew up without further serious illnesses, even excelling as an athlete at Trinity College, Dublin, which he attended from 1864 to 1870. He graduated with a BA in 1870, and paid to receive his MA in 1875. Though he later in life recalled graduating "with honours in mathematics", this appears to have been a mistake. He was named University Athlete, participating in multiple sports, including playing rugby for Dublin University. He was auditor of the College Historical Society (the Hist) and president of the University Philosophical Society (he remains the only student in Trinity's history to hold both positions), where his first paper was on Sensationalism in Fiction and Society. Early career Stoker became interested in the theatre while a student through his friend Dr. Maunsell. While working for the Irish Civil Service, he became the theatre critic for the Dublin Evening Mail, which was co-owned by Sheridan Le Fanu, an author of Gothic tales. Theatre critics were held in low esteem at the time, but Stoker attracted notice by the quality of his reviews. In December 1876, he gave a favourable review of Henry Irving's Hamlet at the Theatre Royal in Dublin. Irving invited Stoker for dinner at the Shelbourne Hotel where he was staying, and they became friends. Stoker also wrote stories, and "Crystal Cup" was published by the London Society in 1872, followed by "The Chain of Destiny" in four parts in The Shamrock. In 1876, while a civil servant in Dublin, Stoker wrote the non-fiction book The Duties of Clerks of Petty Sessions in Ireland (published 1879), which remained a standard work. Furthermore, he possessed an interest in art and was a founder of the Dublin Sketching Club in 1879. Lyceum Theatre In 1878, Stoker married Florence Balcombe, daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel James Balcombe of 1 Marino Crescent. She was a celebrated beauty whose former suitor had been Oscar Wilde. Stoker had known Wilde from his student days, having proposed him for membership of the university's Philosophical Society while he was president. Wilde was upset at Florence's decision, but Stoker later resumed the acquaintanceship, and, after Wilde's fall, visited him on the Continent. The Stokers 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. On 31 December 1879, Bram and Florence's only child was born, a son whom they christened Irving Noel Thornley Stoker. The collaboration with Henry Irving was important for Stoker and through him, he became involved in London's high society, where he met James Abbott McNeill Whistler and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (to whom he was distantly related). Working for Irving, the most famous actor of his time, and managing one of the most successful theatres in London made Stoker a notable if busy man. He was dedicated to Irving and his memoirs show he idolised him. In London, Stoker also met Hall Caine, 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 never visited Eastern Europe, a setting for his most famous novel. Stoker enjoyed the United States, where Irving was popular. With Irving he was invited twice to the White House, and knew William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt. Stoker set two of his novels in America, and used Americans as characters, the most notable being Quincey Morris. He also met one of his literary idols, Walt Whitman, having written to him in 1872 an extraordinary letter that some have interpreted as the expression of a deeply-suppressed homosexuality. Bram Stoker in Cruden Bay Stoker was a regular visitor to Cruden Bay in Scotland between 1892 and 1910. His month-long holidays to the Aberdeenshire coastal village provided a large portion of available time for writing his books. Two novels were set in Cruden Bay: The Watter's Mou' (1895) and The Mystery of the Sea (1902). He started writing Dracula there in 1895 while in residence at the Kilmarnock Arms Hotel. The guest book with his signatures from 1894 and 1895 still survives. The nearby Slains Castle (also known as New Slains Castle) is linked with Bram Stoker and plausibly provided the visual palette for the descriptions of Castle Dracula during the writing phase. A distinctive room in Slains Castle, the octagonal hall, matches the description of the octagonal room in Castle Dracula. Writings Stoker visited the English coastal town of Whitby in 1890, and that visit was said to be part of the inspiration for Dracula. He began writing novels while working as manager for Irving and secretary and director of London's Lyceum Theatre, beginning with The Snake's Pass in 1890 and Dracula in 1897. During this period, Stoker was part of the literary staff of The Daily Telegraph in London, and he wrote other fiction, including the horror novels The Lady of the Shroud (1909) and The Lair of the White Worm (1911). He published his Personal Reminiscences of Henry Irving in 1906, after Irving's death, which proved successful, and managed productions at the Pr.... Discover the Bram Stoker popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Bram Stoker books.

Best Seller Bram Stoker Books of 2023

  • The Body synopsis, comments

    The Body

    Stephen King

    Set in the fictional town of Castle Rock, Maine#1 New York Times bestselling author Stephen King’s timeless novella “The Body”originally published in his 1982 short story collectio...

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    One Fine Duke

    Lenora Bell

    A Mass Market OriginalAlso Available in a Hardcover Library EditionUSA Today bestselling author Lenora Bell returns with her third book in the sexy School for Dukes series.Ready.Ra...

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    Chasing the Boogeyman

    Richard Chizmar

    The acclaimed New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling novel of smalltown evil that “is genuinely chilling and something brandnew and exciting” (Stephen King) and “unforgettable” (...

  • The Bram Stoker Megapack synopsis, comments

    The Bram Stoker Megapack

    Bram Stoker

    "The Bram Stoker Megapack" assembles 22 classic works by the author of "Dracula," including all of his classic horror novels and a selection of rare and famous stories. Of special ...

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    Heart-Shaped Box

    Joe Hill

    Judas Coyne is a collector of the macabre: a cookbook for cannibals . . . a used hangman's noose . . . a snuff film. An aging deathmetal rock god, his taste for the unnatural is as...

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    From a Buick 8

    Stephen King

    The #1 New York Times bestseller from Stephen Kinga novel about the fascination deadly things have for us and about our insistence on answers when there are none…Since 1979, the st...

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    Frankenstein

    Mary Shelley & Maurice Hindle

    One of the BBC's '100 Novels That Shaped Our World''That rare story to pass from literature into myth' The New York TimesMary Shelley's chilling Gothic tale was conceived when she ...

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    Mr. Mercedes

    Stephen King

    WINNER OF THE 2015 EDGAR AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL #1 New York Times bestseller! In a highsuspense race against time, three of the most unlikely heroes Stephen King has ever created try...

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    Survivor Song

    Paul Tremblay

    A propulsive and chillingly prescient novel of suspense and terror from the Bram Stoker award–winning author of The Cabin at the End of the World and A Head Full of ...

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    The Mist

    Stephen King

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    My Heart Is a Chainsaw

    Stephen Graham Jones

    Winner of the Bram Stoker Award for Best NovelIn her quickly gentrifying rural lake town Jade sees recent events only her encyclopedic knowledge of horror films could have prepared...

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    Horns

    Joe Hill

    Joe Hill's critically acclaimed, New York Times bestselling, Bram Stoker Awardwinning debut chiller, HeartShaped Box, heralded the arrival of new royalty onto the dark fantasy scen...

  • A Head Full of Ghosts synopsis, comments

    A Head Full of Ghosts

    Paul Tremblay

    WINNER OF THE 2015 BRAM STOKER AWARD FOR SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN A NOVELA chilling thriller that brilliantly blends psychological suspense and supernatural horror, reminiscent of S...

  • The Complete Novels of Bram Stoker synopsis, comments

    The Complete Novels of Bram Stoker

    Bram Stoker

    This carefully crafted collection is formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of contents. The edition includes Bram Stoker's masterpiece Dracula his oth...

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    Dreamcatcher

    Stephen King

    From master storyteller Stephen King comes his classic #1 New York Times bestseller about four friends who encounter evil in the Maine woods.Twentyfive years ago, in their haunted ...

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    The Langoliers

    Stephen King

    Stephen King’s unforgettable novellafirst included in his 1990, awardwinning collection Four Past Midnight and made into a highly acclaimed miniseriesabout a terrifying plane ride ...

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    Five Decembers

    James Kestrel

    Winner of the 2022 Edgar Award for Best Novel  “War, imprisonment, torture, romance…The novel has an almost operatic symmetry, and Kestrel turns a beautiful phrase.”New York T...

  • Four Past Midnight synopsis, comments

    Four Past Midnight

    Stephen King

    Includes the story “The Sun Dog”set in the fictional town of Castle Rock, MaineThe Bram Stoker Prizewinner for Best Fiction Collectionfour chilling novellas from Stephen King that ...

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    Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption

    Stephen King

    #1 New York Times bestselling author Stephen King’s beloved novella, Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemptionthe basis for the Best Picture Academy Award–nominee The Shawshank Redemp...

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    Riding the Bullet

    Stephen King

    From international bestseller Stephen King the first ebook ever publisheda novella about a young man who hitches a ride with a driver from the other side.Riding the Bullet is “a gh...

  • The Complete Works of Bram Stoker synopsis, comments

    The Complete Works of Bram Stoker

    Bram Stoker

    This meticulously edited collection contains complete works by writer Bram Stoker, the pioneer in vampire fiction and the author of the novel Dracula. The edition includes all othe...

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    Full Dark, No Stars

    Stephen King

    From the #1 New York Times bestselling author Stephen King, four “disturbing, fascinating” (The Washington Post) novellasincluding the story “1922,” a Netflix original filmthat exp...

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    The Dark Tower III

    Stephen King

    The third volume in the #1 nationally bestselling Dark Tower Series, involving the enigmatic Roland (the last gunfighter) and his ongoing quest for the Dark Tower, is “Stephen King...

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    20th Century Ghosts

    Joe Hill

    Joe Hill’s awardwinning story collection, featuring “The Black Phone,” soon to be a major motion picture from Universal Pictures and Blumhouse ProductionsImogene is young, beautifu...

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    The Bazaar of Bad Dreams

    Stephen King

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    The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon

    Stephen King

    From international bestseller Stephen King, a classic story that engages our emotions on the most primal level, a fairy tale grimmer than Grimm but aglow with a girl’s indomitable ...

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    1922

    Stephen King

    The chilling novella featured in Stephen King’s New York Times bestselling collection Full Dark, No Stars, 1922 is about a man who succumbs to the violence withinsetting in motion ...

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    Carrion Comfort

    Dan Simmons

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    Summer of Night

    Dan Simmons

    This masterfully crafted horror classic, featuring a brandnew introduction by Dan Simmons, will bring you to the edge of your seat, hair standing on end and blood freezing in your ...

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    Good Neighbors

    Sarah Langan

    Celeste Ng and Liane Moriarty’s enthralling dissection of suburbia meets Shirley Jackson’s creeping dread in this “wickedly funny, unnerving puzzle box of a novel” (Dan Chaon, auth...

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    Finders Keepers

    Stephen King

    The second book in Stephen King’s Bill Hodges trilogy (Mr. Mercedes, Finders Keepers, End of Watch)now an AT&T Audience Original Series!“Stephen King’s superb stayupallnight th...

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    The Greatest Short Stories of Bram Stoker

    Bram Stoker

    This meticulously edited collection of works by the master of horror includes over 40 best stories of the occult and supernatural: Dracula's Guest The Judge's House The Squ...