Historian Stumbles Upon 'Dracula' Writer's 134-Year-Old Lost Tale in a National Library
Library archives contain many treasures; all one needs is a great eye for detail. Amateur historian Brian Cleary proved this when he located the legendary Bram Stoker's decades-old lost tale, Smithsonian Magazine reported.
Stoker is known in popular culture as the author of Dracula, and this long-lost story, located by Cleary, was written just before the masterpiece. Some experts believe the story was a sort of precursor to Dracula regarding themes. Cleary discovered the tale in the archives of the National Library of Ireland.
Cleary was looking at the newspaper archives of the library and came across an interesting 1891 advertisement in the Dublin Daily Express, Smithsonian Magazine reported. The ad referenced a previously published story by Stoker.
This intrigued Cleary, and he began looking into the past issues of the newspaper. In the December 17, 1890 edition of the Dublin Daily Express, he found the story, "Gibbet Hill" in full. After some personal research, he was almost sure he had the famous author's 134-year-old lost story in his hands.
Cleary was ecstatic but wanted to confirm with professionals. "I was just gobsmacked," Cleary shares. "I went and checked all the bibliographies, and it was nowhere. I wanted to turn around and shout, 'Guess what I found?' but there were proper researchers and academics there, and I was just an amateur."
Paul Murray, author of From the Shadow of Dracula: A Life of Bram Stoker helped Cleary in verifying his doubts, Smithsonian Magazine reported. Murray confirmed that no other author had referenced this story, neither had it appeared in any of the Stoker archives. He concluded that the story could have been missing for more than a century.
Gibbet Hill contains many dark themes similar to Dracula. It follows an unnamed narrator and is centered on his ominous encounter with three strange children near a murdered sailor’s grave. "It’s a classic Stoker story," Murray explained. "The struggle between good and evil—evil which crops up in exotic and unexplained ways."
Cleary began exploring the library after suffering a sudden onset of hearing loss in 2021, BBC reported. In 2023, he located Gibbet Hill in an 1890 Christmas supplement, of the Dublin Daily Express. He informed the library's director, Audrey Whitty, about the finding. Whitty believes this astonishing discovery is a testament to the importance of the library's archives. "There are truly world-important discoveries waiting to be found," she said.
Gibbet Hill is set to be published for Stoker fans and literary enthusiasts, BBC reported. The story will be accompanied by artwork from the Irish artist, Paul McKinley. All proceeds from the sale will go to the newly formed Charlotte Stoker Fund – named after Bram Stoker’s mother who was a hearing loss campaigner. The fund's objective is to finance research on infant hearing loss. The discovery will also be highlighted in Dublin's Bram Stoker festival.