Gibbet Hill and Bram Stoker. Photos: Public Domain, Surrey Hills National Landscape.
There is a strange indescribable feeling of elation when an author whose work you enjoy reading, releases something new. Bram Stoker is one of the most well-known and celebrated writers of gothic fiction. And in true gothic literature fashion, 112 years after his passing, a brand-new short story of his has been unearthed.
Gibbet Hill was lurking between the pages of the archives of the Dublin Daily Express at the National Library of Ireland. It was first published on Dec. 17, 1890, as part of the Dublin Daily Express’ Christmas supplement. It remained forgotten in the shadows for 134 years until amateur historian and Stoker enthusiast Brain Cleary discovered it by chance while browsing the library archives.
The title borrows its name from an actual location in England. Gibbet Hill lies at the zenith of the Devil’s Punch Bowl in Surrey. Devil’s Punch Bowl seems an ominous enough name in itself, but so is Gibbet Hill.
Gibbeting was a form of public execution that was also meant to function as a warning. Bodies of criminals were suspended in a cage-like container from a gallows-like structure. They would be left to die, exposed to the elements, or succumb to hunger or thirst — whichever came first. Since the cadavers were hung in public places, it would often reek, functioning as a secondary cause of deterrent against criminal activities.
Gibbet Hill is named after the method of execution and many of the criminals were displayed there.
The Devil’s Punch Bowl and Gibbet Hill are also home to the unfortunate tale of the Unknown Sailor. On Sept. 24, 1786, the Unknown Sailor was en route to Portsmouth from London to join his ship. During a brief pitstop at the Red Lion Inn, Thursley, he befriended three other mariners and left with them.
Sailor’s Stone in Gibbet Hill. Photo: BTP51, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
That was the last time anyone saw the Unknown Sailor alive, for he was murdered shortly after in the Devil’s Punch Bowl. It was a gruesome death, the head of the Unknown Sailor was nearly decapitated, stripped of his possessions and his corpse was discarded.
The story does have a happy ending. Justice was served, the murderers were caught and hung in chains on a gibbet close to the scene of the crime.
The Unknown Sailor has three memorials. A gravestone in the Thursley churchyard, the Sailor’s Stone which is situated near the scene of the crime and finally the Celtic Cross on Gibbet Hill. The Celtic Cross was erected by Sir William Erle to put an end to the superstitions and fear the locals harbored towards the ill-fated location.
Gibbet Hill and the Unknown Sailor have been referenced in various works of literature, most notably Charles Dickens’ Nicholas Nickleby and as we now know, Bram Stoker’s Gibbet Hill.
While Nicholas Nickleby only mentions Gibbet Hill and the murder of the Unknown Sailor in passing, the story of the Unknown Sailor is deeply tied to the events in Bram Stoker’s short story Gibbet Hill.
Gibbet Hill (the short story) is a first-person account of an unknown, unnamed narrator traveling from London. After a brief stop at an inn, he decides to pay a visit to the Devil’s Punch Bowl and Gibbet Hill.
A Celtic Cross on Gibbet Hill. Photo: Public Domain/Wikimedia
While admiring the view, he comes across three curious children looking at the grave of the Unknown Sailor. The narrator offers to take the children to the Memorial Cross on Gibbet Hill, and there begins his downfall.
Without going into details (to avoid spoilers), there are strong parallels between the tale of the Unknown Sailor and the Unnamed Narrator. In typical Stoker fashion, there is an unexplained, supernatural undercurrent that runs through the story. The use of vividly described real-world locations adds another layer of immersion and unease.
Stoker wrote Gibbet Hill around the same time he began working on his magnum opus, Dracula. There is no sign however, of vampirism or the fanged Count. But make no mistake, this story is just as sinister.
Adults often tell children not to talk to strangers, adults in particular. This cautionary tale instead subverts this lesson, perhaps adults should not talk to strange children. Danger exists in all forms, sometimes taking on the appearance of a distinguished Count. Sometimes it takes on the appearance of children as innocuous as a group of sprightly young tarantulas.
To paraphrase Count Dracula, read freely and of your own free will.
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