DRACULA'S BRAM STOKER: “THE WRONGS OF GROSVENOR SQUARE,” “BENGAL ROSES,” AND OTHER LOST PERIODICAL WRITINGS

Abstract

Presented here for the first time since their publication over a century ago are two previously unknown, undocumented periodical writings by Bram Stoker (1847–1912). To be sure, this discovery underscores Richard Dalby's assertion, shared too by his co-author, William Hughes, in Bram Stoker: A Bibliography (2004), that “more of [Stoker's] ephemeral stories and articles may still be awaiting discovery in obscure newspapers and magazines” (“Quest for Bram Stoker” 12). But more still, for one like Stoker whose shorter literary works, outside of “Dracula's Guest” (1913), lie on the periphery of a legacy that for many offers little distinction from the world's greatest of vampire narratives, the necessity to examine his periodical writings is twofold. For one, it will aid in the task of elucidating Stoker-as-writer; but more critically, it will allow us to engage in dialogue with scholars like Richard Dalby, William Hughes, and others who call into question our insistent tunnel view of Dracula as Stoker's only legacy worthy of consideration.