A long-lost short story by Bram Stoker, the author of the classic gothic novel 'Dracula,' has been discovered by an amateur historian in Dublin. The story, titled 'Gibbet Hill,' was found by Brian Cleary while he was browsing the archives at the National Library of Ireland. Cleary stumbled upon a reference to the story in a Christmas supplement of the Dublin Daily Express newspaper from 1890. He made this discovery last year, after taking time off work due to a sudden onset of deafness in 2021.
The short story, published just seven years before 'Dracula,' had remained undocumented for over 130 years. 'Gibbet Hill' had never been referenced in any Stoker bibliography. Cleary contacted Stoker’s biographer, Paul Murray, who confirmed that 'Gibbet Hill' had indeed disappeared for more than a century. Murray stated, 'Gibbet Hill is very significant in terms of Stoker's development as a writer. 1890 was when he was a young writer and made his first notes for Dracula.' He added, 'It's a classic Stoker story, the struggle between good and evil, evil which crops up in exotic and unexplained ways.'
The macabre tale recounts the story of a sailor murdered by three criminals, whose bodies were hung on a gibbet or hanging gallows as a warning to passing travelers. Perfect for reading in the lead-up to Halloween, the Dublin City Council Bram Stoker Festival is set to feature the first public reading of 'Gibbet Hill' on Saturday, 26 October. The story is being published by the Rotunda Foundation, the fundraising arm of Dublin's Rotunda Hospital, where Cleary worked. Proceeds from the book will go towards the newly-established Charlotte Stoker Fund at the Rotunda Foundation, aimed at funding research on preventable deafness in vulnerable newborns.
The Dublin City Council Bram Stoker Festival runs from 25-28 October.
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