Who Was Dracula?

The acclaimed author of The Last Greatest Magician in the World sleuths out literature's iconic vampire, uncovering the source material—from folklore and history, to personas including Oscar Wilde and Walt Whitman—behind Bram Stoker's lord of the undead.

Praise for Who Was Dracula?
 
“A fantastic, well-documented story.” —Library Journal (starred review)
 
“[A] well-researched and entertaining take on Dracula’s origin story.” —Publishers Weekly
 
“Who Was Dracula? chronicles the misadventures of Bram Stoker and his numerous friends and colleagues, both famous and obscure, hoping to unearth the recipe for a truly iconic character.” —San Francisco Book Review
 
“Who Was Dracula? is a book you’ll want to sink your teeth into.” —“The Bookworm Sez”“A fantastic, well-documented story.”
—Library Journal (starred review)
 
“[A] well-researched and entertaining take on Dracula’s origin story.”
—Publishers Weekly
 
“Who Was Dracula? chronicles the misadventures of Bram Stoker and his numerous friends and colleagues, both famous and obscure, hoping to unearth the recipe for a truly iconic character.”
—San Francisco Book Review
 
“Who Was Dracula? is a book you’ll want to sink your teeth into.”
—Terri Schlichenmeyer, Frontiers

"[A] fiendishly readable study...provocative."
—Elizabeth Lowery, Wall Street Journal

"The author does a solid job analyzing the birth and development of Dracula and illustrating the character traits Stoker cherry-picked from his wide circle of friends."
—Kirkus Review

"Steinmeyer's Who Was Dracula? ... may keep you up late reading all about the true origins of the character."
—Glenn Seber, A&E Books

"Author Rating: 5. I loved it!  Who Was Dracula? is everything Dracula isn’t - lushly written, even toned, and thoroughly engaging. It is quite simply a delight!"
—Jessie Patken, Celebrity Cafe

"Who Was Dracula? is for anyone who is interested in the elements that create a character such as Dracula; anyone interested in the historical situations that surrounded Bram Stoker and influenced him; and those interested in the reasons why it is still so popular 100-plus years after its publication."
—Before It's News

JIM STEINMEYER is one of today’s most renowned historians of stage magic. He is the acclaimed author of The Glorious Deception and Hiding the Elephant, a Los Angeles Times bestseller. He is also a leading designer of magic illusion who has done work for television, Broadway, and many of the best-known names in modern magic, such as Doug Henning, Siegfried & Roy, and David Copperfield. Steinmeyer has also developed attractions and live shows for the Walt Disney Company, Universal Studios, and Dreamworks, and has twice received fellowships from the Academy of Magical Arts. He lives in Los Angeles.