Bram Stoker's Gibbet Hill

[@franken-pattern]

I've said it before, but it's worth repeating: Is it even a holiday without a great story from Tony Walker?? Thank you, dear sir! May this find you happy and peaceful ✌️

[@leoniem6920]

Unsettling but incredible story. What a dazzling array of tropes! Snakes, gibbets, strange (psychopathic) children and a weird ending. I enjoyed your commentary immensely. Definitely one of those stories to contemplate indefinitely.

[@lesleykaygosson315]

That was certainly a different kind of story. I liked it and it was definitely filled with symbolism. I very much look forward to your response & opinions of every story. Your narrations are magnificent and at the end of the stories you give us something to think about. I like that. Story ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Narration ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐❤️

[@merlapittman5034]

This story is marvelous. The atmosphere it creates just draws you in

[@laurencercone3199]

Tony, would you think about leaving a few seconds between the end of the story and your "no ads" bit? It's rather jarring to have no time to absorb the ending.

[@pinstripesuitandheels]

Oh, yes please!

[@mediamogul6643]

Err ... just hit pause?

[@perilouspalms2497]

Or you could use the KZbin website via Firefox browser with ad-block add-on and never see ads

[@deborahdarling1799]

Bravo! I learn so much from your comments! My majors included criminal justice and social sciences. Rarely did I visit literature. Brams Stoker in my imagination was written by a soul of those black mountains. To learn he was Irish! Wow! Your narration is superb. Thank you.

[@carmellarkin4803]

What a wonderfully atmospheric story. The descriptive passages are wonderful. Thank you.

[@tammyb8742]

what a strange story! Love Bram Stoker

[@donaldmccleary9015]

Great story and narration. Leaving another comment because KZbin did not save my other one. Very "unsettling" and unique story (as others have commented). I like your chat, as always, and can see Machen writing something like this. Oh...love your bit at the end about thinking before we speak. Thanks!

[@AmandaS18]

I miss the classic opening 😢

[@amyjones8114]

@@kahnlivesI say it soundlessly with a cocked eyebrow😂

[@Aiko2-26-9]

Moody, creepy story. Well chosen and well read. Thank you, Tony.

[@sarge4455]

Awesome story much appreciated 🫡

[@Lucy-ym8ch]

It reads like a fever dream... hearing that he died from exhaustion, it makes sense. I wonder if he had some sort of seizure whilst walking and this happened when he was unconscious. Absolutely wonderful that this has surfaced now.

[@aimslygirl]

New Year's Eve & I'm home alone listening to ghost stories. Just wanted to thank you, your work is appreciated.

[@ClassicGhost]

Happy new year!

[@SouthernBelle1959]

Amazing! Im so glad I clicked on this one. As per usual Tony, just a chilling and scary 😨 reading.

[@glosteiger2517]

This is why I don’t delve too deep into stories. Letting you do it seems easier. You teach me and at the same time I can hold onto the story by not overthinking while I’m enjoying it. That’s a little muddled but you get the gist of it.

[@ClassicGhost]

i do

[@lyndabrennan4560]

Thank you Tony, fantastic story and your narration is as usual beyond reproach, 👏👏👏

[@robertbruce7686]

The Devil's Punchbowl literally at Hindhead is a strange place. Almost bought property on the edge (3 storey garret). Thankfully it was not to be...

[@rathnaitmullen8541]

I used to live not far from this site in Halifax, which was called Gibbet Street. 1:23

[@Ann-sj4pt]

Must revisit that creepy place.

[@leonaheraty3760]

Thank you Tony! Excellent narration as usual! Happy Holidays everyone! 🎄😀

[@mariameere5807]

Thank you Tony ❤❤❤

[@ClariceleBell]

The snake could be symbolic for betrayal of expectation. Usually we think of the snake as the predator in a story, and yet here, somewhar subversively, the snake is the prey for the three children. Similarly, the narrator, an adult, is prey for the three children. I think having the snake somehow put into his heart both contributes to identifying the narrator with the snake and thus the "prey" class and to establishing that this subversion, this betrayal of expectation is at the heart of the story.

[@Bequeefed]

Fascinating analysis Tony, could listen to an in-depth deep dive for hours

[@fetlock]

❤❤❤ So weird in all the best ways. The commentary is fantastic, don't let 'em tell you otherwise. I'm going off to research twin and dual female deities; I'm fascinated.

[@ClassicGhost]

It's good stuff

[@Josephinejefferies]

Enjoyed this

[@tyramasters-heinrichs921]

Thank you, very nicely read. I don't think they were children, I think they had put on a glamour to appear as children.

[@THEPAGEBURNER1979]

Sir Tony Walker great job on that podcast

[@triumphrider572]

We have a hill which used to have the same name near my home in Durham Oddly, it doesn't appear on Googlemaps

[@StoryVoracious]

There is a Gibbet Hill, near Perth Tasmania, (my home State). It was the last place in the British Empire to gibbet an offender. Old habits die hard down here. 😬

[@sirmintyclack]

54:12 I think to understand or not understand art needs to be determined by the individual. For some individuals things gain meaning by understanding them and taking a deep drive

[@KristinChoruby]

38:50 There's also the name "Dracula" to consider--it means something along the lines of "little dragon" or "son of the dragon," and dragons were often pictured as an especially large kind of serpent in olden times and other cultures. Less so in the modern West, of course.

[@cxntrxband7412]

Hello Tony! I've only recently started listening to your narrations and I must say I am ENTHTALLED by your voice. The cadence with which you speak and even *change* depending on which character you're reading for have had me swoon. So much so that my autism has decided to take hold of it and read my books even on my lonesome with your voice, and persists even when I'm reading aloud to my beloved. I've come to realize that I, too, have a passion for narration with your inspiration. If one were to start a channel wherein they read classic literature, where would they start? What kind of equipment would one use to get the kind of closeness and crystalline quality your audiobooks have? What might be some books to start with, and how do you keep such a steady tone throughout? Thank you for your time, and thank you again for your voice and excellent narrations. I can hardly go to work without it anymore.

[@ClassicGhost]

i am pleased that you enjoy my work ! To begin with perhaps a Blue Yeti microphone and you can edit in Audacity. If you want to publish it on youtube you would need a video editing program. if you use a mac you could use imovie. If a PC then Da Vinci which is free

[@cxntrxband7412]

@ClassicGhost Thank you Tony! I truly truly appreciate your response.

[@niefali]

Your monologue reminds me of Peter Pan and how ruthless and even murderous he was portrayed in the novel.

[@ClassicGhost]

Very interesting. Yes, Peter is an interesting character indeed.. A childish psychopath

[@stardust949]

It's an okay story...nice and short for you to read. I always enjoy your interpretation of the characters and voice in general...but this story is mainly interesting as an example of his early days of writing. It surely doesn't sound like his writer's voice as developed in 'Dracula', which has such long passages of commentary on morality. Makes me wonder...so many things can be hoaxed these days. Still---I appreciate being made aware of it, thank you so much.

[@ClassicGhost]

I’ve seen the facsimile of the 1890 paper but you’re right

[@Pappy214]

Tony, is “City of Light” anywhere on the horizon? Just wondering ✌️

[@AND-od5jt]

46:30 Why evil magicians (and not druids or spiritualists in general)? Any associations? ;) Quite a funny outro -- tyvm

[@AND-od5jt]

51:21 Addendum: Not so much heretical, more gnostic imo. Also, the snake doesn't give the fruit. It just tells the truth (that they won't die, if the eat from that tree) -- thus, temptress yes; but the truth should be more tempting than falsehood, so...

[@pinstripesuitandheels]

I once woke to the sound of a dagger being drawn out of it's sheath. It wasn't real, of course. The whole knife play in the story made think of that, and it reminds me of sleep paralysis, which makes me think of succubi, which brings me back to snakes and temptation. The girls also looking older than they are, more (sexualy?) mature...

[@perilouspalms2497]

Replace the word dagger with 'my uncles penis' and it makes more sense for you. Your last sentence about young girls looking mature is very creepy, you should not be around children.

[@sirmintyclack]

Could we say that the children are really fairies coming to a place of power to do things to humans? Just a thought, it wouldn't be the first time fairies in literature posed as human children. I mean human children are generally thought to be innocent and need protection. What better form to take if a character is a corrupt being?? Just my two cents/opinion

[@nomansgoddess]

What if the worm to him signifys his own death (?) The worms have been spoken of in reference to the burial or the grave? Interesting that he died right after The Lair Of The White Worm which is my favorite.

[@thurayya8905]

When he first sees the girls, they have their arms resting on the murdered seaman's grave, twinning each other's posture. Is the snake they use the one they killed? At first, I thought they did it to feed on his life's essence, but later changed to they did it because they could. That's evil for you.

[@devoradamaris]

🤲👑🤲

[@julierobinson3633]

ARE the children really children?

[@DeannaGilmore-i7n]

This one is creepy

[@ropeburnsrussell]

Very odd story, what does the racial component signify? That was certainly added for a reason.

[@davidwhite7294]

Really l think this story shows the best and worst of You Tube. It’s recently come to light after being overlooked ( or rejected) by the author. Now just because it’s by Bram Stoker a dozen narrators on here have brought a version out of what l find a pretty hopeless effort. There is no story, the characters have no connection and l,m sure that Stoker ( or his publishers ) realised what a poor effort this is and rejected it.

[@StoryVoracious]

I see your point, but there is so much dross out here now that this one shines like Antimony in the crucible. Not gold but still valuable.

[@kahnlives]

I have to disagree. I find this story highly disturbing and troubling, which by the way should be the real aim of any true horror story. The premise is simple, a hiker in a remote country side of England encounters three extremely weird children, who at first seem to be the perfect embodiment of childhood innocence, but in fact are far from it. I’ve listen to it countless times and each time I find something new it’s macabre speculations of childhood, and the occult. Far better written than the crap turned out to day.

[@StoryVoracious]

Quite a doozy this one. Thanks Tony, you are keeping it weird for us out here. So much "other"ness in this story. I guess that only Stoker himself would ever have known its true connotations. These are very personal aversions. Perhaps even outdated now. I for one like snakes and all reptiles; respectfully of course. I have to admit to a mid story diversion to research Kaali, traditional Indian dance and the earliest photos of tribal women of India. Just to accompany my visions of the story. As always top notch in every way. 🪱