SOURCE: Senf, Carol A. Introduction to The Critical Introduction to Bram Stoker, edited by Carol. A. Senf, pp. 1-41. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1993.

In the following excerpt, Senf discusses the defining characteristics of Stoker's short fiction.

Under the Sunset (1881)

Stoker's first book, The Duties of Clerks of Petty Sessions in Ireland (Dublin, J. Falconer, 1879), was not reviewed though Dalby observes that it was for many years “recognized as the standard reference work” (7) for clerks in the Irish civil service. Dalby also cites Stoker's introduction to the work, which refers to the numerous works that he had to consult:

This book has been compiled from all the sources of information at my disposal—Statutes, General Orders, Circulars, Law Opinions, Files of Papers, Registry Books, Returns, etc. The collation of the enormous mass of such, accumulating since 1851 and following the slow growth of the splendid systems now in practice, has...