Book Board Chat

Bram Stoker’s Journal

For almost a century Bram Stoker's private journal sat unnoticed in England. Full of notes the unmarked book had probably been lugged down from the attic in Noel Dobbs' home. Dobbs is a descendant of Stoker. Then a researcher working on a project about Stoker got in touch with Dobbs to ask if he might know anything about a journal his famous relative kept. Dobbs looked around and finally popped open this tiny book. It was signed "Abraham Stoker."

Dacre Stoker, is Dobbs' cousin and a professor in South Carolina. He has written a book about Bram Stoker. When the news reached him that the journal had been discovered, he cajoled his cousin into sending him photographs of a few pages. "When I saw it, I was amazed," Dacre Stoker said. Scholars and hard-core fans have wanted to know what made the man who wrote 'Dracula' tick.

The journal will be published next March as The Lost Journal. The publication will mark 100 years since the author died in April 1912. Dacre has worked with Bram Stoker scholars to annotate The Lost Journal, which also offers quirky bits of folklore from Stoker's homeland, Ireland. There are 305 entries, some pages-long, others just a few sentences.

Bram Stoker was in his early 20s when the journal began in 1871. He had graduated from Ireland's Trinity College. It would be more than a decade before he learned about the inspiration for his Count Dracula, "Vlad the Impaler." The real-life prince of Wallachia who ruled during the Ottoman Empire, Vlad earned his nickname by impaling his enemies. His viciousness became notorious in Europe where tales spread of a man-monster who lived off blood. "Dracula" means son of the Dragon.

The last entry of Stoker's journal in 1881 hints at a major character he would use in "Dracula." In the novel, Renfield has delusions that compel him to eat living beings to gain their life force. The vampire Count Dracula seizes on Renfield's weakness and offers him as many creatures as he can eat in exchange for his eternal devotion. It doesn't work out well for Renfield in the end.

In another passage, Stoker seems to be alluding to a vampire's inability to see his own reflection. Stoker's interest in spookiness shows up in other journal entries. "A man builds up his shadow on a wall bit by bit by adding to substance," he wrote. "Suddenly the shadow becomes alive." The journal also contains romantic poems. There are some very sweet moments here. One note in the journal alludes to the writer's fascination with children.

Stoker was fascinated with the theater and the act of observing. He traveled a lot, a rare thing for his time. Journaling and touring are central in "Dracula." The novel's narrator, Jonathan Harker, writes in his journal as he travels across Europe, witnessing and questioning superstitions and trying to make sense of his own bad dreams and supernatural encounters. The novel also centers on Dracula's attempt to move from Transylvania to England.

Bram was curious. He loved to ask the questions: What is real and what is myth, and where do they meet? Though Stoker died before his Count Dracula became internationally famous in film. The author would be flattered by how his character has stayed relevant over the years. From Bela Lugosi to Anne Rice's Lestat and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" to "Twilight" and "True Blood," Stoker's main question: "What does it mean to live forever?" has proved eternal.

And in true Bram Stoker style, he left one more mystery. The author alludes to another diary where he writes about an upcoming trip to London where one can get work as a writer. The journal of writing and notes that was recently found in Noel Dobbs’ home is not that diary. "There's something else out there. Some are dying to know where it is.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/29/world/dracula-journal-discovered/