Share

cover art for Dacre Stoker - Father of Dracula

House of Mystery Radio on NBC

Dacre Stoker - Father of Dracula

Bram Stoker, his life, his research and writing of Dracula to promote a documentary film called Father of Dracula, being made by an Irish film maker, Jason Figgis, and written by John West.  I have contributed years of research and do the narration on the film. Dracula is the most famous horror character in literature. Over a hundred years after the publication of Bram Stoker's novel Dracula, (1897) the character still has the power to fascinate and horrify us. The image of the undead vampire as a symbol of evil is now firmly embedded in our collective consciousness, thanks to Stoker. Paradoxically, Dracula has also be-come a symbol of forbidden lust thanks to the later portrayals of the character by Bela Lugosi, Christopher Lee, Frank Langella and Gary Oldman etc. etc. 
But what of Bram Stoker, the man behind the creation? Sadly, he left no autobiography and precious little first-hand source material for us to better understand his life and inspirations for his writing of Dracula. For most, he is a shadowy or un-known figure, a man long since eclipsed by the character that he created. However, by examining his private journals, notes, and the memories of those who knew him, we can piece together an account of his life and learn much about the man who became the father of Dracula. 
With this documentary, we aim to reveal the man and how he came to create the Prince of Darkness, Count Dracula. Written by author and historian John West and directed by Jason Figgis, an award-winning IFTA-nominated film and TV director, this unique documentary, narrated by Dacre Stoker, the great-grandnephew of Bram Stoker, looks at the life of his illustrious ancestor. It will cover his early life, his mysterious childhood illness, his days as a student in Dublin, his successful career as Sir Henry Irving’s manager at the Lyceum Theater and, of course, how he came to write Dracula. We will  look into how Bram Stoker gathered his research in different libraries and archives and how he utilized the vampire myth that already existed across Europe and North America to bring to life literature’s greatest horror icon.


More episodes

View all episodes

  • Desmond P. Ryan - Dangerous Assumptions

    34:37|
    Detective Mike O'Shea is spiraling—consumed by painkiller addiction, alcohol, and the crushing weight of unresolved grief. As his personal demons threaten to take control, he’s pulled into a chilling case: a woman is found dead, her son rotting beside her, discovered only when neighbors are alerted by the unbearable stench of decay.Meanwhile, O'Shea’s obsession with the killer of his former partner, Sal, continues to haunt him. The elusive murderer has evaded justice for years, but O'Shea has always suspected something more—an untold truth buried beneath the surface. As he digs further, he uncovers a terrifying reality: the killer’s freedom isn’t just a coincidence—it’s the result of high-level corruption that runs far deeper than he ever imagined.As the conspiracy begins to unravel, the threat intensifies, drawing in those closest to O'Shea. Detective Sergeant Amanda Black, one of the few who knows the whole story, becomes the target of an assassination attempt. With her pending promotion and O'Shea’s growing addiction-fueled paranoia, he starts to wonder if he can still trust her—especially if she’s crossing over.Haunted by years of policing that have left him physically and emotionally scarred, O'Shea is worn down by the weight of it all. Torn between his duty and an overwhelming sense of exhaustion, he struggles to hold on as the stakes rise and the lines between right and wrong blur. He must decide whether to keep fighting—or walk away, knowing the cop killer who took Sal’s life still roams free.
  • Paul Vidich - The Poet's Game

    33:12|
    A hall of mirrors with no exits, The Poet's Game is a sophisticated portrait of a spy working to uncover layers of deceit behind a Russian plot on the American president.Alex Matthews thought he had left it all behind: his CIA career, the viper's den of bureaucracy at headquarters, the deceits of the cat-and-mouse game of double agents, and the sudden trips to Russia, which poisoned his marriage and made him an absentee husband and father, with tragic results.But then the Director came asking for a favor. Something that only Alex could do because it involved the asset Byron—a Russian agent whom Alex had recruited. Byron had something of great interest to the CIA; the Director said it was a matter of grave national security that implicated the White House, and that Byron would hand over the kompromat once he was extricated from Russia.But Alex is a different man than when he had run Moscow station: he has pieced his life back together after a tragic accident killed his wife and daughter—but the scars remain. He left the agency; started a financial firm that made him wealthy; and met a new woman, Anna, who works as an interpreter in the CIA. Anna is beautiful and supportive and helps him find love again after years of drowning in grief alongside his son. Throughout the last years, Alex has remained, in his mind, a patriot, and so he begrudgingly accepts the Director's request.Something, though, doesn’t feel right about the whole operation from the start. The Russians seem one step ahead and the CIA suspects there is a traitor in the agency, passing along secrets to the Russians. Alex realizes that, by getting back into the game, he has risked everything he has worked for: his marriage, his family’s safety, and the trust of his closest colleagues—one of whom is betraying him. As the noose tightens around Alex, and the FSB closes in on Byron, the operation becomes a hall of mirrors with no exits. To find redemption, Alex must uncover Byron’s secrets or risk losing everything.The Poet’s Game is a remarkably sophisticated and emotionally resonant portrait of a spy from a renowned master of the genre.
  • Pat Black-Gould - All The Broken Angels

    29:48|
    Two cousins. Two paths. One unforgettable era. This award-winning historical fiction novel follows the transformative journey of Cate and Albie. Cousins and best friends, they are raised in 1960s New Jersey under the watchful eyes of their family and strict Catholic school nuns. Their bond seems unbreakable. Then the Vietnam War erupts, tearing them apart.Albie, driven by faith and patriotism, enlists in the military and is stationed at a base along the South China Sea nicknamed Paradise.Cate protests the war, challenges her upbringing, and seeks purpose by immersing herself in the bohemian counterculture of New York’s Greenwich Village while enduring life in a low-rent tenement in the gritty Hell’s Kitchen district.Tragedy strikes, and her world unravels. With the support of her family and an eclectic group of friends—artists, activists, and veterans—Cate embarks on a journey of resilience and personal transformation. Travel back to a pivotal era when men marched off to war and women burned their bras. Demonstrators protested for peace as the silent majority rallied around the flag and the American president’s call-to-arms. This compelling novel explores the:Emotional toll of the Vietnam WarRise of feminism and LGBTQ+ movementsConflict between faith, patriotism, rebellion, and personal freedomStrength in kinship, friends, found family, and communityAll the Broken Angels is a profound exploration of love, loss, and the indomitable spirit of a generation that resonates far beyond the final page.
  • Tara Hodgson - Chasing Through Time

    24:13|
    In the tumultuous world of high school, Emma grapples with a devastating breakup, a damning social media scandal that threatens her reputation, and an overwhelming sense of isolation. Her parents are distant, she has no true friends, and her despair deepens with each passing day.One fateful night during a sudden snowstorm, Emma forges a connection with Sarah, a girl who navigates the treacherous high school terrain of 2001. In this improbable friendship, they bond through the digital ether, supporting each other's struggles at the same school, in the same town, while separated by two decades.The friendship becomes a lifeline for both girls. Their lives bear striking similarities, yet the differences are equally profound. While Sarah is spared from the perils of social media, she gains self-assurance and begins to discover herself. In contrast, Emma’s struggles intensify as she faces dire consequences for her actions online and misguided romantic entanglements.Sarah watches helplessly as Emma's life unravels, yearning to help but bound by the constraints of time. Emma’s perilous descent accelerates, and the danger of not receiving the help she desperately needs looms large. Sarah, trapped twenty years in the past, must find a way to intervene before it’s too late.This gripping tale of bridging the gap between eras explores the enduring power of human connection, the complexities of teenage life, and the lengths to which a stranger will go to save a life.
  • Hannah Mary McKinnon - The Revenge List

    52:39|
    The people in Frankie Morgan’s life say she’s angry. Emotionally stunted. Combative. But really, who can blame her? It’s hard being nice when your clients are insufferable, your next-door neighbor is a miserable woman and the cowardly driver who killed your mother is still out living it up somewhere.Somehow, though, she finds herself at her very first anger-management group session—drinking terrible coffee and learning all about how “forgiveness is a process.”One that starts with a list.Frankie is skeptical. A list of everyone who’s wronged her in some way over the years? More paper, please. Still, she makes the pointless list—with her own name in a prominent spot—and promptly forgets about it…until it goes missing. And one by one, the people she’s named start getting hurt in freak accidents, each deadlier than the last.Could it be coincidence giving her the revenge she never dared to seek…or something more sinister?If Frankie doesn’t find out who’s behind it all, she might be next.
  • Caitlin Rother - Down to the Bone

    41:34|
    A twisting, deeply engrossing investigation into the many lingering questions surrounding the sudden disappearance of the McStays, a family of four who vanished from their suburban San Diego home without a trace—until their skeletal remains were found in the Mojave Desert nearly four years later—from New York Times bestselling author Caitlin Rother.On February 15, 2010, Joseph McStay, his wife Summer, and their two young sons were reported missing from their new home in San Diego County. They left eggs and fruit rotting on the counter. Their Dodge truck sat in the driveway. Their dogs were abandoned outside without food. But investigators found no blood, signs of a struggle, or clues to their whereabouts. Did the family take an unannounced vacation? Were they running away from personal problems? Or were they victims of foul play? Nearly four years later, a motorcyclist found the McStays’ remains in and around two shallow graves, one hundred miles away in the Mojave Desert. Their skulls showed signs of blunt-force trauma, likely due to the sledgehammer buried with them. Authorities focused on Charles "Chase" Merritt, a close friend and subcontractor for Joseph’s company. Despite a lack of physical evidence, scenarios that defied logic, and numerous unanswered questions, prosecutors convinced a jury of Merritt’s guilt. After an emotional sentencing hearing, the judge imposed the death penalty. But did another possible suspect, who was ignored by investigators and ducked a subpoena to testify, get away with murder?In this twisting, deeply researched true-crime mystery, New York Times bestselling investigative journalist Caitlin Rother hunts for answers to reveal the truth behind a heinous crime that became a nation’s obsession, with a controversial trial in its wake, and lingering questions of justice.
  • Jeffrey Konvitz - The Circus of Satan

    40:16|
    In 1878 a teenage Jew, the Hessex Kid, kills an Irish thug in a Five Point’s bar fight in front of hundreds of drugged and drunken killers, all members of the Whyo Gang, which controls all crime in Manhattan under the aegis of the corrupt Irish politicians at Tammany Hall.The boy is then grabbed by the rabble and murdered.By 1900, the Irish mob has gained control of the police departments, the gangs, and crime in every major American city, and from 1900 to 1910, a political operative named James Monaghan has risen to the pinnacle of power at Tammany, which is the icon of the nationwide Irishsnake.In 1910, a gambler from Chicago named Billy McGuinness, haunted by the legend of the Hessex Kid and the murder of a low-level gambler and his family, arrives in New York. He is connected to mid-west political powers and to gangsters Max and Moses Annenberg, Big Jim Colisimo, and Johnny Torrio, his sole objective: to destroy Monaghan and the Irish political and criminal machine,Arriving in New York, McGuinness begins atorturous maneuver through real historic events and within the confines of New York’s Bowery ghetto and its Tenderloin District, a.k.a Satan’s Circus, manipulating the real politicians and gangsters who marked the period, now long-forgotten.In the end, McGuinness, driven by dark forces, becomes the inadvertent moving force behind prohibition booze smuggling, Murder Inc. and the Cosa Nostra until he is ultimately embraces the hand of God.
  • Rod Sadler - Depraved Obsession

    40:57|
    What drove the inconspicuous sociopath to become a ruthless killer?During his nearly fifteen-year reign of terror, Ronald Lloyd Bailey’s depraved obsession with sexual sadism held communities across southeast Michigan in a shroud of fear. From the early 1970’s to the mid-1980’s, the former patient at one of Michigan’s foremost psychiatric hospitals, abducted as many as fifteen teens and over time became a sadistic serial killer.In this shocking, fast-paced account, retired police officer and true crime author Rod Sadler examines law enforcement's dedicated efforts in connecting the dots to stop an unknown killer, and he poignantly chronicles the determination of the victims' families to triumph over tragedy.Sadler also examines Bailey’s insanity defense that centered on the alleged abuse he endured at the hands of his psychiatrist. In doing so, the bestselling author of KILLING WOMEN asks and answers the question: What drove the inconspicuous sociopath to become a ruthless killer?
  • Bjorn Leesson - Rune of Whispers

    31:02|
    The Dokkrsdottir is not your ordinary Norse woman of the Viking age. One of the great warriors of her time, she soon learns that the hardest battles are not always those fought with a sword and shield. Through countless trials and tests, she is led by visions and omens on numerous adventures with the help of steadfast friends and family to discover her mysterious supernatural destiny, one more extraordinary than anyone could ever have imagined.Myrgjol the Dokkesdottir’s path may be fraught with physical dangers and battle, but some wars are fought with whispered words and deceitful lies. While in Saxon lands, she must learn to maneuver the battlefield as well as her position on the board in the game of Saxon politics. Will she be successful?And though she is blind to all the pieces in The Game, a Saxon gamemaster plays on her behalf as well as his own against many others, and the enormity of the risk spirals out of control for everyone.

Comments