Considered "the father of the English ghost story," Irish author Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu (1814-1873) is recognized for combining Gothic literary conventions with realistic technique to create tales of psychological insight and supernatural terror. Among his most highly regarded works is In a Glass Darkly (1872), a collection of horror stories that includes the earliest example of a vampire story in English literature.

Biography

Of French Huguenot descent, Le Fanu was born in Dublin on August 28, 1814, the first son of Emma Lucretia Dobbin and Thomas Philip Le Fanu. His father, a clergyman in the Church of Ireland and nephew of the playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan, served as the chaplain of the Royal Hibernian Military School in Phoenix Park during Le Fanu's early childhood. In 1826 the family moved to Abington in county Limerick, where Thomas Le Fanu had been appointed rector and dean of Emly. Le Fanu, who enjoyed the...