Uncle Silas
Le Fanu's best-known Gothic novel and a strong introduction to his psychological suspense.
Author guide
J. Sheridan Le Fanu Books in Order
Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu (1814–1873) was an Irish writer of Gothic fiction, ghost stories, mystery novels, historical romances, poetry, and journalism. Writing also under the names Charles de Cresserons and Francis Purcell, he published influential supernatural fiction in the Dublin University Magazine and later in book form. His major works include The House by the Churchyard, Wylder's Hand, Uncle Silas, The Wyvern Mystery, and In a Glass Darkly, whose stories include the vampire novella Carmilla. His early Irish historical fiction and later psychological Gothic writing helped shape the Victorian ghost story and later horror literature.
gothic fictionghost storiesmysteryhistorical fictionsensation fictionpoetry
Catalog record updated .
Not sure where to begin?
Start with one of these
In a Glass Darkly
His defining supernatural collection, including Green Tea, The Familiar, and Carmilla.
The House by the Churchyard
A major Irish Gothic novel combining history, mystery, comedy, and supernatural atmosphere.
Outside the series
Bibliography by category
Novels (15)
- The Cock and Anchor
novel · 1845
- The Fortunes of Colonel Torlogh O'Brien
novel · 1847
- The House by the Churchyard
novel · 1863
Sheridan Le Fanu's historical mystery novel The House by the Churchyard was written in 1863. A skull unearthed in a churchyard show signs of violent blows to the head and, even more disturbingly, the small hole caused by trepanning. One…
- Wylder's Hand
novel · 1864
First pub 1864. Le Fanu was one of the best sellers of the 1860s-80's occupying a place of his own in the field of the sinister and the supernatural.
- Uncle Silas
novel · 1864
One of the most significant and intriguing Gothic novels of the Victorian period and is enjoyed today as a modern psychological thriller. In UNCLE SILAS (1864) Le Fanu brought up to date Mrs Radcliffe's earlier tales of virtue imprisoned…
- Guy Deverell
novel · 1865
- All in the Dark
novel · 1866
- The Tenants of Malory
novel · 1867
- Haunted Lives
novel · 1868
- A Lost Name
novel · 1868
- The Wyvern Mystery
novel · 1869
As genteel Miss Alice Maybell enters the Vale of Carwell, she notices, in a passing carriage, a tall, mysterious female who stirs in her a chilling sense of foreboding. Alice is plunged into a tale of rural terror, centered on Carwell…
- Checkmate
novel · 1871
- Chronicles of Golden Friars
novel · 1871
- The Rose and the Key
novel · 1871
The foremost teller of scary stories in his day and a profound influence on both the novelists and filmmakers of the 20th century, Anglo-Irish author JOSEPH THOMAS SHERIDAN LE FANU (18141873) has, sadly, fallen out of scholarly and…
- Willing to Die
novel · 1873
Short fiction (4)
- Ghost Stories and Tales of Mystery
short-story-collection · 1851
- In a Glass Darkly
short-story-collection · 1872
In a Glass Darkly collects together five short stories from gothic horror and mystery writer Sheridan Le Fanu. The book, published in 1872 a year before Le Fanu's death, is named from a passage in Corinthians which speaks of humankind…
- The Purcell Papers
short-story-collection · 1880
- The Watcher and Other Weird Stories
short-story-collection · 1894
Essays and speeches (1)
Poetry (1)
- The Poems of Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
poetry-collection · 1896
Frequently asked questions about J. Sheridan Le Fanu
Who was J. Sheridan Le Fanu?
Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu was an Irish writer of Gothic, supernatural, mystery, and sensation fiction, best known for helping shape the Victorian ghost story.
Sources: academic.oup.com (opens in a new tab)us.macmillan.com (opens in a new tab)
Was J. Sheridan Le Fanu his real name?
His full name was Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu. He also published some early supernatural stories under the pseudonym Father Francis Purcell.
What did Sheridan Le Fanu do besides write fiction?
He studied law at Trinity College Dublin but built his career mainly as a journalist, newspaper owner, and editor, including work with the Dublin University Magazine.
Sources: academic.oup.com (opens in a new tab)encyclopedia.com (opens in a new tab)
What influenced Sheridan Le Fanu's Gothic writing?
His fiction was shaped by the Romantic and Gothic movements, Irish political and cultural concerns, and writers such as Sir Walter Scott, Charles Dickens, and Wilkie Collins.
Sources: academic.oup.com (opens in a new tab)encyclopedia.com (opens in a new tab)
Why is Sheridan Le Fanu still important today?
Le Fanu was central to the development of the nineteenth-century ghost story and helped establish psychological supernatural horror. His vampire story Carmilla also influenced the later tradition represented by Bram Stoker's Dracula.
Sources: academic.oup.com (opens in a new tab)us.macmillan.com (opens in a new tab)