Le Fanu, (Joseph) Sheridan (1814-1873)

Irish writer. He wrote tales of mystery and suspense, included in Ghost Stories and Tales of Mystery 1851 and In a Glass Darkly 1872, and the dark psychological novel Uncle Silas 1864. He excelled in writing about the uncanny and the supernatural and with his work the tradition of the gothic novel took on a new psychological and literary power.

His first successful book was The House by the Churchyard 1863. Other works include Wylder's Hand 1864, The Tenants of Malory 1867, The Wyvern Mystery 1869, The Rose and the Key 1871, and Willing to Die 1873.

Le Fanu was born in Dublin, a grand-nephew of the playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan. Educated at Trinity College, Dublin, he became a journalist and newspaper proprietor. He amalgamated the Warden, the Evening Post, and the Dublin Evening Mail as the Evening Mail. Later in life he took over and edited the Dublin University Magazine.