J. Sheridan Le Fanu

Joseph Le Fanu

Sink your teeth into the cult classic vampire novella that inspired Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Fear sweeps the countryside as people fall victim to a strange illness. After a peculiar accident, beautiful Mircalla becomes a ward at Laura’s family home. Soon, friendship blooms between the mysterious Mircalla and curious Laura. Love is in the air, but so is something deadly. Will Mircalla’s secret cost Laura her life? Carmilla, originally published in 1872, is one of the first vampire novels ever written, predating Dracula by twenty-six years. Carmilla, with its themes of vampirism and homosexuality, shocked the standards and stereotypes for women set in the Victorian era. Today, Carmilla is considered the original archetype of female and LGBTQ vampires, and Le Fanu’s influence is seen throughout vampire fiction./

Carmilla

Carmila

Madam Crowl's Ghost & Other Stories

Uncle Silas is a Victorian Gothic mystery/thriller novel by the Anglo-Irish writer J. Sheridan Le Fanu. It is notable as one of the earliest examples of the locked room mystery subgenre. It is not a novel of the supernatural (despite a few creepily ambiguous touches), but does show a strong interest in the occult and in the ideas of Swedenborg. Like many of Le Fanu's novels, it grew out of an earlier short story, "A Passage in the Secret History of an Irish Countess" (1839), which he also published as "The Murdered Cousin" in the 1851 collection Ghost Stories and Tales of Mystery. The setting of the original story was Irish; presumably it was changed to Derbyshire for the novel because this would appeal more to a British audience.

Uncle Silas

Yeşil Çay

J.S. Le Fanu's Ghostly Tales, V3

J. S. Le Fanu's Ghostly Tales V1

The Vampire Collection

Young and lonely, Laura lives with her widowed father in a castle in Austria. When a carriage breaks down on their estate the mysterious Carmilla is brought into Laura’s life, who welcomes a potential friend. The girls become fast friends, although Laura can’t help but notice Carmilla’s strange behaviour – sleeping most of the day, sleepwalking, and refusing to talk about her family or past. And then there are the dreams of a large beast entering her room. Carmilla stands as a pioneering work in the vampire genre, predating even Bram Stoker’s Dracula and influencing generations of Gothic literature. Le Fanu’s narrative, with its haunting beauty and sensuous dread, explores themes of love, identity, and the macabre, leaving an indelible mark on the landscape of horror fiction. Prepare to be seduced and unnerved by this timeless tale of forbidden passion and the darkness that lurks within the shadows. JOSEPH SHERIDAN LE FANU [1814-1873] was an Irish mystery and horror author. He had an enormous influence on the horror genre in the 19th and 20th century, especially through his championing of tone and effect rather than shock factor. Among his most noted work is the lesbian vampire novella Carmilla [1872] and mystery Uncle Silas [1864].

Dave Williams

The protagonist tells us how her life goes from ordinary to disconcerting and frightening when Carmilla appears, a beautiful young woman who turns out to be a vampire. Laura is a young woman who lives with her father and servants in an old castle in Styria, Austria.Laura remembers that when she was a little girl she was asleep in the arms of a young girl and she woke up feeling two needles in her neck. When they found her, she was alone. Her life takes a turn when, in front of the castle where they live, a carriage suffers an accident and the lady and her daughter, who were traveling in it, settle in the castle until they can undertake, again, trip. Laura and the young woman, Carmilla, quickly become friends, even though the new tenant shows oddities in her behavior: she wakes up after noon and locks herself in her room without showing signs of being in it.She seems to be in love with Laura, given the interest she shows towards her ...

'Well, a corpse is a natural thing; but this was the dreadfullest sight I ever sid...' Sheridan Le Fanu is one of the indispensable figures in the history of Gothic and horror fiction-the most important such writer in English, certainly, between Poe and M. R. James. While a number of his sensation and mystery novels were popular with mid-Victorian readers, it was in shorter forms that he truly excelled, and most showed himself an innovator in the field of uncanny fiction. Tales such as 'Carmilla' and 'Green Tea' prompted M. R. James to remark, 'he succeeds in inspiring a mysterious terror better than any other writer'. This landmark critical edition includes the original versions of all five stories later collected in the superb In a Glass Darkly, along with seven equally chilling tales spanning the length of Le Fanu's career, from 'Schalken the Painter', a pioneering story of the walking dead, to 'Laura Silver Bell', a haunting exploration of the dark side of fairy lore. Aaron Worth's introduction discusses the paranoid, claustrophobic world of Le Fanu's fiction as a counterpoint-one in its own way equally modern-to the cosmic horror tale as practiced by such writers as H. P. Lovecraft.

and Other Weird Stories

Green Tea

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Uncle Silas, a Tale of Bartram-Haugh - Scholar's Choice Edition

Uncle Silas Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

Uncle Silas is told from the account of Maud Ruthyn, an heiress living with her reclusive father, Austin Ruthyn. She learns about her uncle, Silas Ruthyn, and his past reputation marred by gambling and the apparent suicide of a man to which Silas owed a large gambling debt that occurred in a locked room in Silas’ residence. In order to clear the Ruthyn name of the rumors of Silas’ past, Austin names Silas as Maud’s guardian through Austin’s will upon his death. Also noted in Austin’s will, Silas would inherit the fortune left to Maud should she die while under his ward. Maud befriends her cousin Millicent and quickly adjusts to life under Silas’ care, despite his often frightening demeanor. Although Silas has proclaimed that he’s a newly reformed Christian, Maud becomes increasingly suspicious of her uncle’s motives as life for her becomes increasingly unpleasant. The story of Maud Ruthyn and her uncle Silas evolved through multiple iterations, beginning with the short story “A Passage in the Secret History of an Irish Countess” in 1839, before ultimately becoming the three-volume novel published in 1864. This ebook reproduces a revised, two-volume version released a year later.

The letter from the rich cousin came at a low point in the Marston family's finances. The man was as ill-bred and pushing as ever: utterly the model of a noxious relation -- but he was rich, and the Marstons were all but destitute. The family could hardly refuse him. But they would come to rue that letter, and the invitation that followed it; it was the beginning of the end for all of them. Of course it was! Common sense tells us not to take on . . . THE EVIL GUEST

The Evil Guest

Reprint of the original, first published in 1871.

Vol. III

Checkmate

Mary Shelley

Bram Stoker

Arthur Machen

Ann Radcliffe

The iconic Gothic horror classics that gave birth to the monstrous myths that still inhabit our nightmares. Tragic heroines, windswept moors, dark and stormy nights, castle prisons, and forbidden desires realized at the greatest cost—these are the elements of Gothic horror, given its finest expression in these five enduring novels. Frankenstein: Obsessed with the secret of creation, Swiss scientist Dr. Victor Frankenstein cobbles together a body he is determined to bring to life. When the creature opens his eyes one fateful night, the doctor is repulsed: His vision of perfection is a hideous monster. Dr. Frankenstein abandons his creation, but the furious, lonely monster will not be ignored, setting in motion a chain of violence and terror. A gripping story about the ethics of creation and the consequences of trauma, Frankenstein is as relevant today as it is haunting. Dracula: Upon a visit to Transylvania, young English lawyer Jonathan Harker makes a horrifying discovery about Castle Dracula and its resident count, who survives on the blood of human beings. Thus a battle of wits ensues between the vicious count and his various adversaries in this legendary Gothic novel of horror, dark romance, and chilling suspense. Carmilla: Published twenty-five years before Stoker’s Dracula, Carmilla is the passionate, thrilling tale of a mysterious young woman’s dramatic arrival at an isolated castle. The innocent Laura has never seen anyone like the seductive, secretive Carmilla, except in her dreams—and an antique portrait, which resembles the visitor perfectly, down to the mole on her tempting neck. Laura quickly realizes there is something far more dark and sinister about Carmilla than meets the eye. The Great God Pan: When Mr. Clarke agrees to visit his friend Dr. Raymond, he is dubious about the proceedings he is to witness. In pursuit of what Raymond calls “transcendental medicine,” the doctor intends to make a small incision in a woman’s brain, allowing her to see past the world of the senses to a reality beyond imagining—a realm where, Raymond says, one can see the great god Pan. Stephen King has called The Great God Pan “one of the best horror stories ever written.” The Mysteries of Udolpho: Orphaned heroine Emily St. Aubert has been imprisoned by Signor Montoni, her evil guardian, in his gloomy medieval fortress in the Apennines. Terror is the order of the day inside the walls of Udolpho, as Emily struggles against Montoni’s rapacious schemes and the threat of her own psychological disintegration. A bestseller in its day and a potent influence on Walpole and Poe, this dreamlike, nearly hallucinatory classic remains one of the most important works in the history of European fiction. This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.

The Mysteries of Udolpho, The Great God Pan, Frankenstein, Carmilla, and Dracula

Five Gothic Masterpieces

`the ideal reading...for the hours after midnight' Thus Henry James described the style of supernatural tale of which Sheridan Le Fanu was a master. Known in nineteenth-century Dublin as `The Invisible Prince' because of his reclusive and nocturnal habits, Le Fanu was fascinated by the occult. His writings draw on the Gothic tradition, elements of Irish folklore, and even on the social and political anxieties of his Anglo-Irish contemporaries. In exploring sometimes inexplicable terrors, the tales focus on the unease of the haunted men and women who encounter the supernatural, rather than on the origin or purpose of the visitant. This makes for spine-chilling reading. The five stories presented here have been collected by Dr Hesselius, a `metaphysical' doctor, the forerunner of the modern psychiatrist, who is willing to consider the ghosts both as real and as hallucinatory obsessions. The reader's doubtful anxiety mimics that of the protagonist, and each story thus creates that atmosphere of mystery which is the supernatural experience. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

In a Glass Darkly

John Polidori

This collection of vampire fiction includes two classic tales that predate Bram Stoker's masterpiece: John Polidori's The Vampyre and J. Sheridan Le Fanu's Carmilla.

J. Sheridan Le Fanu

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