Sheridan Le Fanu
Sheridan Le Fanu | |
|---|---|
Portrait by Brinsley Le Fanu (1916), National Gallery of Ireland | |
| Born | Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu 28 August 1814 Dublin, Ireland |
| Died | 7 February 1873 (aged 58) Dublin, Ireland |
| Resting place | Mount Jerome Cemetery, Dublin |
| Pen name | J. S. Le Fanu |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Language | English |
| Citizenship | British |
| Alma mater | Trinity College, Dublin |
| Period | Victorian era |
| Genre | Gothic horror, mystery |
| Literary movement | Dark romanticism |
| Notable works | Carmilla (1872) Uncle Silas (1864) The House by the Churchyard (1863) In a Glass Darkly (1872) |
| Spouse |
Susanna Bennett
(m. 1844; died 1858) |
| Children | Eleanor Le Fanu, Emma Lucretia Le Fanu, Thomas Philip Le Fanu, George Brinsley Le Fanu |
Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu (/ˈlɛfən.juː/; 28 August 1814 – 7 February 1873), popularly known as J. S. Le Fanu, was an Irish writer of Gothic literature, mystery novels, and horror fiction. Considered by critics to be one of the greatest ghost story writers of the Victorian era, his works were central to the development of the genre during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Le Fanu was a key figure in the dark romanticism movement, and M. R. James described him as "absolutely in the first rank as a writer of ghost stories". He is best remembered for the locked-room mystery Uncle Silas (1864), the historical novel The House by the Churchyard (1863), and the collection of five stories In a Glass Darkly (1872), which includes Carmilla, one of the earliest works of vampire fiction and highly influential as a seminal work in the lesbian vampire genre.