Though he was shy and sickly as a child, Bram Stoker grew up to be a man with many talents and interests, and a seemingly endless supply of energy. He was simultaneously an amateur athlete, a businessman, a journalist, and an impresario; he maintained countless friendships and read widely, particularly in subjects related to spiritualism and the occult. Stoker was also the author of nine novels, most of which are ignored today-and justifiably so. But Stoker's best book, the extensively researched Dracula (1897), effectively combines macabre atmospherics with high suspense, and not only set the standard for subsequent novels in the horror-mystery genre but also helped establish the vampire as one of the most recognizable figures in the popular arts.

Stoker--the third of seven children--was born in Clontarf, north of Dublin Bay, on 8 November 1847. His father, Abraham Stoker, was a civil servant; his mother, Charlotte Thornley Stoker, was a...