During his recovery from a stroke which occurred soon after Irving's death, Stoker wrote a book of non-fiction which he called Personal Reminiscences of Henry Irving (1906), a volume about both the famous English actor and Stoker himself. Meanwhile, Stoker had earlier published The Mystery of the Sea, in 1902, and he produced another romantic novel, The Man, in 1905. Both novels are interesting reading, primarily for their examination of the roles of women in society, as well as for Stoker's characterization of women.
Stoker did not cease to write stories of horror and mystery after he finished Dracula. After Dracula, his novels of mystery and horror include The Jewel of Seven Stars (1903), a compelling Rider Haggard-like tale of adventure and romance set in Egypt, The Lady of the Shroud (1909), and The Lair of the White Worm (1911), both of which are interesting novels and deserve more than a passing glance, though they are not near the achievement that Dracula is. Some of Stoker's short tales of horror, particularly "Dracula's Guest," an episode cut from the final version of Dracula, as well as the Poe-like "The Judge's House," are very good and well worth reading.
Regardless of which novel Stoker himself considered his best, Dracula remains his most popular work, and it has spawned countless adaptations and spin-offs in plays, novels, and movies, as well as comic books. Critical analyses and psychological interpretations of Dracula abound.
In his last years, Stoker's health declined rapidly, and the cause of his death, though clouded by mystery, has generated some substantial amount of discussion. His biographers have been reticent to discuss it. Recently, though, Daniel Farson, Stoker's grandnephew, in his biography, cites Stoker's death certificate, which has as the cause of death the medical phrase Locomotor Ataxy — also called Tabes Dorsalis — known in those days as general paralysis of the insane, which implies, therefore, that Stoker had contracted syphilis, presumably around the turn of the century, and died of it. If Stoker died of syphilis, it will probably remain only speculation, since the truth of the matter hinges on whether or not Locomotor Ataxy can be construed as being syphilis.
Stoker's literary efforts certainly hold some degree of achievement, and these efforts probably represent those things by which he should be remembered. Stoker died on April 20, 1912, at the age of sixty-four.
