Biografie

His death was overshadowed by the sinking of the Titanic which occurred the same week.

Contrary to popular belief, Stoker did not base his most famous character, Count Dracula, on Prince Vlad II of Romania (at the time called Wallachia). Most of his novel was completed and his vampire protagonist was to be named Count Wampyr. Then, during his research, he came across William Wilkinson's book "An Account of the Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia". In this book were brief passages about "Voivode Dracula" (never referred to as Vlad), who crossed the Danube to fight the Turks and helped to drive them out of Wallachia, but was betrayed to them by his brother. What intrigued Stoker was a footnote that in Romanian, Dracula meant Devil (although it actually means "of the dragon", in reference to Vlad's father's membership in the Order of the Dragon). Liking the name for that reason, Stoker changed the name of his vampire from Wampyr to Dracula. Another story is that the Dracula character is actually based on actor Henry Irving, for whom Stoker served as Personal Manager and with whom he did not get along. This story is given some credence by the fact that the Dracula character in the play, which Stoker did not write, is quite different from the Dracula character in the book, which Stoker did write, and most film versions of the story are based on the play, not the book.

His character Count Dracula is considered the most famous vampire in all of fiction one of the most famous literary characters of all time.

The character of Prof. Abraham Van Helsing is modeled after Stoker.

His creation Count Dracula has been played more times in film and television appearances than any other horror character.