(1847-1912) Irish writer, civil servant, theatrical manager closely associated with Henry Irving and the actress Ellen Terry, and playwright. He is best known as the author of Dracula (1897), the classic Vampire novel. Although his fantasies are in the weird and occult fields, his writings do contain sf elements. These, however, are generally treated as products of Magic rather than of science, as in The Jewel of the Seven Stars (1903), in which an Egyptian princess, adept in an ancient science, rests in a form of Suspended Animation. Anthropomorphism of an antediluvian and malignly intelligent reptile is the central theme of The Lair of the White Worm (1911; vt The Garden of Evil USA). Other fantasy works include his Ruritanian romance The Lady of the Shroud (1909), The Mystery of the Sea (1902), centered on the Baconian cipher, Under the Sunset (coll 1882), consisting of allegorical fairy tales for children, and Dracula's Guest and Other Weird Stories (coll 1914; vt Dracula's Curse USA), in which the title story is a chapter excised from Dracula.
Although not a direct influence in sf, Stoker is of considerable importance to weird fiction. Dracula has been filmed on many occasions, though never entirely in keeping with the novel, and has often been imitated. The novel's importance as Proto SF lies in its systematization of the vampire mythos as a quasi-scientific scholium which defines Vampires' strengths and weaknesses, and underlies most later sf rationalizations of the theme. [JE/DRL]
see also: Hall Caine; Iron Maiden; The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen; Fred Saberhagen.
Abraham Stoker
born Dublin, Ireland: 8 November 1847
died London: 20 April 1912
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