The heavy set fellow above is one Bram Stoker, born this day 1847 in Dublin, Ireland. His main interest in his life started whilst he was a student, and it was theatre. He became the theatre critic for the Dublin Evening Mail, and it was at this job he was to get his big break. This was at a time when theatre critics were held in very low esteem, but Stoker gained attention by the high quality of his reviews. Guess critics have come a long way, since now days people base their entire opinion about a film or show upon the review of a critic. It was as a critic that in December 1876 he gave his most fortunate of reviews. He reviewed Henry Irving's performance of Hamlet, and was invited to dinner by the famous actor, and soon became Mr. Irving's personal assistant. It was this relationship that was to have the deepest impression on Stoker's life. He soon married, and moved to London to become manager of Irving's Lyceum Theatre, a post he held for 27 years. His connection with Irvine got him introduced into high society where he got to hob nob with the snobs of the literary world. He even named his only child after Irving. This was what Stoker was mostly known for while alive, but of course today his fame rests almost entirely upon his novel Dracula. Two points of irony about Mr. Stoker's being chose as today's hero. First, he traveled a great deal as Irvin's assistant, but never to Eastern Europe the setting of his most famous work, and second, today is also Vlad the Impaler's birthday, the man that is now seen as the inspiration for Dracula. The work spawned the entire vampire craze that is still going on today, and I must confess I went through the whole "vampires are cool" phase. Anne Rice has made a fucking killing, and she owes a debt to Mr. Stoker, and recently the Twilight movies have taken there place in the vampire genre. The original manuscript for Dracula was thought to be lost for years and years, but was discovered in a barn in Pennsylvania in the early 1980s. Hand written on the title page were the words "THE UN-DEAD" followed by the author's name. Another bit of irony there I suppose, the most famous horror novel of all time was subject to a last minute title change. So, for kicking off an entire new genre that as a much younger man, I thought was way cooler than I do today, and for inspiring other authors to write some half way decent books, Bram Stoker (November 8th, 1847- April 20th, 1912 at the age of 64), you are my hero of the day.
Sunday, November 08, 2009
The Un-Dead
The heavy set fellow above is one Bram Stoker, born this day 1847 in Dublin, Ireland. His main interest in his life started whilst he was a student, and it was theatre. He became the theatre critic for the Dublin Evening Mail, and it was at this job he was to get his big break. This was at a time when theatre critics were held in very low esteem, but Stoker gained attention by the high quality of his reviews. Guess critics have come a long way, since now days people base their entire opinion about a film or show upon the review of a critic. It was as a critic that in December 1876 he gave his most fortunate of reviews. He reviewed Henry Irving's performance of Hamlet, and was invited to dinner by the famous actor, and soon became Mr. Irving's personal assistant. It was this relationship that was to have the deepest impression on Stoker's life. He soon married, and moved to London to become manager of Irving's Lyceum Theatre, a post he held for 27 years. His connection with Irvine got him introduced into high society where he got to hob nob with the snobs of the literary world. He even named his only child after Irving. This was what Stoker was mostly known for while alive, but of course today his fame rests almost entirely upon his novel Dracula. Two points of irony about Mr. Stoker's being chose as today's hero. First, he traveled a great deal as Irvin's assistant, but never to Eastern Europe the setting of his most famous work, and second, today is also Vlad the Impaler's birthday, the man that is now seen as the inspiration for Dracula. The work spawned the entire vampire craze that is still going on today, and I must confess I went through the whole "vampires are cool" phase. Anne Rice has made a fucking killing, and she owes a debt to Mr. Stoker, and recently the Twilight movies have taken there place in the vampire genre. The original manuscript for Dracula was thought to be lost for years and years, but was discovered in a barn in Pennsylvania in the early 1980s. Hand written on the title page were the words "THE UN-DEAD" followed by the author's name. Another bit of irony there I suppose, the most famous horror novel of all time was subject to a last minute title change. So, for kicking off an entire new genre that as a much younger man, I thought was way cooler than I do today, and for inspiring other authors to write some half way decent books, Bram Stoker (November 8th, 1847- April 20th, 1912 at the age of 64), you are my hero of the day.
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