A LONG LOST short story by the famed Irish author of Dracula, Bram Stoker, has been found in Dublin after 130 years – and is to be unveiled to the public at the Dublin City Council Bram Stoker Festival next week.
Life-long Stoker fan, Brian Cleary, unearthed the story in October 2023 at the National Library of Ireland while examining historical literature and the work of Bram Stoker.
Mr Cleary, who works at the Rotunda Hospital, was on leave following receiving a cochlear implant when he encountered the lost text.
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. It has never been referenced in any Stoker bibliography or biography.
This short ghost story 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.
Speaking on the discovery, Mr Cleary said: “I sat in the National Library of Ireland on October 12th 2023, holding my breath while I gazed at what I had just found: a long lost ghost story from Bram Stoker. As I read this gem of a story, the thought struck me that unless someone had found it and had not shared it, I was possibly the only living person who had read it, followed by “What on earth do I do with it?”.
“After realising the literary and historical significance of the find, I found an amazing collection of people who helped bring Gibbet Hill to the world again after over 130 years in the darkness of the archives.”
One year on from the initial discovery of the story, a unique book has been created featuring the story, a foreword by Irish author Roddy Doyle, and Brian Cleary’s narrative on finding Gibbet Hill. The book also features a biographical sketch of Stoker and original artwork
There is also 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.
Mr Cleary continued: “This beautiful book brings together a fitting foreword from Roddy Doyle; Stoker’s long-lost story; the story of how I found it as a direct result of my sudden hearing loss; an analysis by Stoker biographer, Paul Murray; original artworks by Paul McKinley, and work by Charlotte Stoker, Bram’s mother.
I hope this book will raise vital funds for the newly-established Charlotte Stoker Fund, administered by the Rotunda Foundation, and that the funds raised will support research on preventable hearing loss in vulnerable infants.”
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 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. It can be pre-ordered and bought here.
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.
