J. Sheridan Le Fanu Article by Matt Cowan

Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu was born in Dublin in 1814.  He was the grandnephew of playwright, Richard Brinsley Sheridan.  He went to law school but decided to take up journalism instead of practicing.  He owned several newspapers for a time and often contributed stories to Dublin University Magazine, of which he eventually took charge.  After his wife Susanna died he became a virtual recluse and devoted himself to full time writing.  His writing, I’ve found, tends to be peopled with extraordinary horrors, which always seem to stand out in my memory, generally due to their oddness.  He is probably best known for his vampire story “Carmilla”, which has been credited as being an inspiration to Bram Stoker who wrote Dracula.  Le Fanu’s impact on modern horror has been extensive.  Ghost story master M.R. James sited Le Fanu as a major influence.  Rich Ristow, author of the new novelette, Into The Cruel Sea, had the following to say about Le Fanu.

    “Older ghost stories, like Le Fanu’s “Carmilla” always interest me because the unease, and the shock, tends to be firmly rooted in character.  These days, sometimes it seems character has fallen by the wayside in the name of graphic description.  Whether this is an influence of cinematic horror or not is a debate best left for another time.  Still, if you think about it, there’s a crafty bit of subtlety to “Carmilla”.  A contemporary writer of lesser talent would have had the lesbianism explicitly stated and paraded in front of the reader with a sex scene.”   

Le Fanu died in Dublin on February 7, 1873. 

   Some of his great tales:  
 
“SCHALKEN THE PAINTER” (1851) – This story is part love story, part horror story.  It is about a young, poor painter named Schalken, who is in love with the daughter of his mentor.  His dreams of marrying her are crushed when her father gives her hand to a rich, but hideous older man, named Minheer Vanderhausen because he can give her unimaginable wealth. The vile man takes her away with him.  When Schalken sees her again in the future, she appears to be in a very bad state.  The implications of this tale lead one to believe that Minheer is something inhuman, and perhaps a demon of some sort.

  
“DICKON THE DEVIL” (1872) – A man is sent to partition a small property in Lancaster by two rich old ladies who inherited it.  The place has a bad reputation since the death of its previous owner, Squire Bowes, 20 years ago.  While there, he encounters a bizarre person called ‘Dickon the Devil’ by the locals.  He is first described in the following text:  

“As side-by-side we walked along this road, hemmed in by two loose stone-like walls, something running towards us in a zig-zag line passed us at a wild pace, with a sound like a frightened laugh or a shudder, and I saw, as it passed, that it was a human figure.  I may confess now, that I was a little startled.  The dress of this figure was, in part, white: I know I mistook it at first for a white horse coming down the road at a gallop.  Tom Wyndsour turned about and looked after the retreating figure.”

The main character is told that Dickon hasn’t slept inside a house in the past twenty years and “never will while grass grows.”  When asked if he is mad, he receives the following response:

“Something that way, sir; he’s an idiot; an awpy; we call him ‘Dickon the Devil’, because the devil’s almost the only word that’s ever in his mouth.”

   As it turns out, Squire Bowes died without making a will, and although he was never unkind to anyone in life, his specter in death has acted much differently.  His ghost has the ability to kill cattle at a touch and carry off young Dickon, which seems to have caused his insanity.  This is a good eerie tale.  
 
“THE DREAM” (1838) – A clergyman relates the strange events of his interactions with a local drunkard who had a horrible dream of falling through the floorboards of his house and landing in Hell.  Once there he is given a chance to leave and return to his life for one year if he promises to return when that time is up.  He spends that year trying to change his life and avoid the fate.  

"AN ACCOUNT OF SOME STRANGE DISTURBANCES IN AUNGIER STREET" (1853) – Two men stay in a house that turns out to be inhabited by a very malicious spirit of a hanged judge.  This ghost has managed to cause several deaths over the years.  In a peculiar dream sequence, one of the men sees a portrait of a sinister man fly up to his window and stick there staring at him.

"NARRATIVE OF A GHOST OF A HAND" (1863) – A spectral hand keeps trying to gain entry into a house.

  "THE CHILD THAT WENT WITH THE FAIRIES" (1870) – Children playing unattended outside encounter a regal carriage pulled by four horses.  Diminutive men dressed in royal décor attended the carriage, and two women are seated within, one a blond beauty, the other dark and mysterious. 

"THE WHITE CAT OF DRUMGUNNIOL" (1870) – This short story includes a cat that is a death omen, a vindictive female ghost, and a corpse that rises up during its wake to stretch its arms impossibly long to try and grasp people by their feet.

"AUTHENTIC NARRATIVE OF A HAUNTED HOUSE" (1861) – Multiple members of a household witness a trio of apparitions on several occasions.  Le Fanu claimed that the story was “absolutely true.”  

"GREEN TEA" (1869) – Dr. Martin Hesselius (a character Le Fanu used multiple times) investigates the plight of a clergyman haunted by a demonic, ethereal monkey that keeps trying to make him kill himself.  Interesting tidbit: Schalken is referenced in this tale briefly.

I enjoyed reading these stories so much there will probably be a future Le Fanu article detailing more of his stories.

Thanks to Rich Ristow for contributing to this article.  You can order a copy of his new novelette, Into The Cruel Sea, at www.skullvines.com/main/page_bookstore.html.

“Carmilla” and “The Evil Guest” by Le Fanu are being combined in a new deluxe edition book that can be found at www.thefullmoonpress.com. 

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