Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu

Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu, perhaps the most popular creator of many of the best ghost stories of the Victorian era, was an Anglo-Irish writer born in Dublin in 1814. His literary talent emerged in his childhood when he began writing poetry, but his inclination towards supernatural themes became evident during his university years with the short story "The Ghost and the Bone-Setter," first published in the Dublin University Magazine in 1838. It was later included, along with other early works, in the three-volume "The Purcell Papers" in 1880. He made his debut as a novelist in 1845 with "The Cock and Anchor." He began his career as a journalist at the Dublin University Magazine in 1837 and later became its editor and owner in 1861. In 1844, he married Susanna Bennett, with whom he had four children. Her death in 1858 caused him profound grief, which he channeled into his stories. Due to his shyness and nocturnal lifestyle, he earned the nickname "The Invisible Prince." He lived like a recluse, drawing inspiration from his nightmares and writing his works from dusk till dawn until his death on February 7, 1873. His works were almost forgotten until 1923 when scholar and writer M. R. James published a collection of his stories titled "Madam Crowl's Ghost and Other Tales of Mystery." Other famous works include "The House by the Churchyard," "Uncle Silas," "Wylder's Hand," and the collection "In a Glass Darkly" (which includes "Carmilla").