Bram Stoker was born in Dublin, Ireland on November 8th, 1847. His fatherwas a civil servant in Dublin Castle, and his mother, Charlotte, was a womens libadvocate. They had seven children in nine years; the third of which was Bram. Thefirst seven years of his life he was bedridden with an undiagnosed disease whichmay have been anything from rheumatic fever, asthma or a form of nonparalyticpolio. During these first years of his life as he laid in his bed he listened to storieshis mother told him of the cholera epidemic of 1832; people buried alive, andentire families dying in a matter of days. At the age of 12 Bram left his home to attend school at Dublins RutlandSquare under Reverend William Wood. During these years he made up for hischildhood sickness by becoming involved in athletics and became an endurancewalker.Following his older brothers lead in 1863, at the age of 17, he enteredTrinity College in Dublin. Only ten years after he took his first steps he was nowsix foot two and 175 pounds. He joined several clubs and groups; he becamepresident of the Philosophical Society, auditor of the Historical Society, he playedsoccer, was unbeatable in his walking marathons, and after two years he becamethe athletics champion of Trinity. In 1866 Bram took a one year leave of absencefrom Trinity to work as a clerk in the Registrar of Petty Sessions at Dublin Castle.Later in the year he saw the play The Rivals playing the lead, Captain Absolute,was the British actor Henry Irving, a person who would play a major role inBrams life. He was so impressed by Irvings performance he wrote:What I saw, to my amazement and delight , was a patrician figure asreal as the person of ones dreams, and endowed with the same poeticgrace. A young soldier, handsome, distinguished, self-dependent;compact of grace and slumberous energy. A man of quality who stoodout from his surroundings on the stage as a being of another socialworld. A figure full of dash and fine ...
