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"Bram Stoker: The Man Behind Dracula"

© Meg Greene Malvasi

He had always been a sickly boy. No one knew why he couldn't walk. Day after day he lay in his bed, waiting for his mother to bring his meals. Sometimes his brother Thornley came to show him the rocks and insects he had found while playing outside. Watching from his window seat, the young boy gazed at the clouds or admired the clipper ships sailing into Dublin Bay.

His favorite time of the day was when his mother came to sit by his bedside. There, young Abraham Stoker, or "Bram" as he was known, listened to her tales of Irish fairies who kidnaped young children and of hideous creatures called vampires that walked the earth in search of victims to quench their thirst for blood. These and other stories of the supernatural came alive in young Bram's imagination, and he began to make up stories of his own to amuse himself during the long days of illness.

Without warning one day when Bram was seven years old he began to walk! No one could believe it. Bram himself hardly knew what to make of this wonderful turn of luck. But in case his recovery was only temporary, he went for long walks everyday to test himself. Soon his days were filled with activities like those many other young Irish boys enjoyed.

Besides attending school, Bram often went to the theater with his father. After every performance the two would excitedly critique the plays, the actors, even the scenery. Another special activity in which Bram engaged was writing. He busily scribbled accounts of many of the ghost stories his mother told him, as well as creating several of his own. Who could have known then the use Bram would one day make of his two most cherished childhood activities?

By 1871, Bram Stoker was a student at the renowned Trinity College, Dublin. In his spare time, he wrote theater reviews for a local Dublin newspaper. He earned no pay for his writing, but was delighted to accept as compensation the free tickets he received to the performances. His reviews were well received and noted for their detail on every aspect of the from the play, including the appearance, conduct, and response of the audience. It was as if Bram and his father were once again attending the theater together!

Although Bram graduated from Trinity with a degree in science, it was the theater and writing that he truly loved. In between working as a clerk, attending graduate classes, and writing theater reviews, Bram managed to squeeze in writing short stories as well. Before long he even sold some of them to local magazines.

The copyright of the article "Bram Stoker: The Man Behind Dracula" in History For Children is owned by Meg Greene Malvasi. Permission to republish "Bram Stoker: The Man Behind Dracula" in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.