In an extraordinary discovery, a long lost short story by Bram Stoker, the legendary author of Dracula, has been unearthed by Brian Cleary, a lifelong Stoker enthusiast.
The story, titled Gibbet Hill, was found in a Christmas supplement of the Dublin Daily Express in 1890 and has remained undocumented for over 130 years.
This rare find, which has never been referenced in any Stoker bibliography or biography, will be brought to the public for the first time as part of Dublin City Council Bram Stoker Festival 2024, where the world premiere public reading of Gibbet Hill will take place on Saturday 26th October, at 1 pm in the Pillar Room at the Rotunda Hospital.
This event will feature a panel discussion hosted by RTÉ’s Miriam O’Callaghan featuring Stoker’s biographer Paul Murray,artist Paul McKinley, Brian Cleary and a special guest for the story’s first ever public reading.
A Book with a Mission
The discovery of Gibbet Hill has culminated in the creation of a unique book, which will be launched at Dublin City Council Bram Stoker Festival. The book will feature:
- A foreword by acclaimed Irish author Roddy Doyle, who brings a personal connection to the project through his own experiences with deafness.
- Brian Cleary’s narrative on finding Gibbet Hill and a biographical sketch: Bram Before Dracula.
- The full text of Gibbet Hill, presented for the first time since its original publication.
- Stoker Biographer Paul Murray’s commentary, Bram Stoker: Master of the Serpentine.
- Artworks by visual artist Paul McKinley, evoking the eerie atmosphere of the story.
- A reproduction of Charlotte Stoker’s 1862 paper, presented at the Dublin Statistical Society, advocating for the education of deaf children – a cause deeply linked to the project’s mission.
Proceeds from the book will benefit the newly-established Charlotte Stoker Fund, dedicated to research on preventable deafness in vulnerable newborns. This fund, administered by The Rotunda Foundation (Brian works at the Rotunda Hospital) honours the legacy of Bram Stoker’s mother, Charlotte, a pioneering social justice campaigner and an advocate for the education of deaf children in her time.
Gibbet Hill by Bram Stoker, published by The Rotunda Foundation, is out on 26 October priced at €18.99. Pre-order and buy on https://rotundafoundation.ie/gibbet-hill/. Also available on buythebook.ie and as an ebook from Amazon.co.uk.
All proceeds from the sale of the book will go to the Charlotte Stoker Fund for research on the prevention of acquired deafness in vulnerable newborn babies. Dublin City Council Bram Stoker Festival takes place in Dublin, Ireland, from 25-28 October.www.bramstokerfestival.com