Unearthing Bram Stoker's lost short story Gibbet Hill at The National Library
In this episode of The Reader Podcaster in Residence Zoë Comyns speaks to Brian Cleary. Cleary, who had taken time off from his job as a pharmacist after suffering sudden hearing loss, was looking through the Stoker archives at the National Library when he came across a reference to a lost Bram Stoker short story. In a Dublin Daily Express advert from 17th December 1890 promoting a supplement, which contained a short story “Gibbett Hill, by Bram Stoker”.
This is the story of that find and includes an excerpt of the short story read by actor Ciaran Reilly.
Gibbet Hill is narrated by a man who meets three strange children standing in front of a memorial to a murdered sailor by Gibbet Hill. The man invites them to see where the murderer would be put and, together, they walk to the top of the hill.
All proceeds from this book go to the newly created Charlotte Stoker Fund. Charlotte was Bram’s mother - she was a campaigner for deaf people in Ireland. She was also associated with the Rotunda Hospital. The funds from the newly published version of Gibbet Hill will go to research around acquired hearing loss in vulnerable newborns as well as research for cochlear implants and sign language.
