Stoker, Bram (1847-1912), an Irish author, wrote Dracula (1897), one of the most famous horror stories of all time. Count Dracula, the book’s main character, is a nobleman who is really a vampire. He lives in Transylvania (now part of Romania) and is several hundred years old. At night, he changes into a huge bat, and flies about the countryside drawing blood from the necks of sleeping victims. Dracula moves to England and terrorizes the people there. He is finally caught during the day and killed. Stoker wrote other novels and some nonfiction, but none of his other books approached the success of Dracula. See Dracula.
Abraham Stoker was born on Nov. 8, 1847, in Dublin, Ireland. He was theater manager for actor Sir Henry Irving and wrote Personal Reminiscences of Henry Irving (1906). He died on April 20, 1912.
