Le Fanu worked in many genres but remains best known for his mystery and horror fiction. He was a meticulous craftsman, with a penchant for frequently reworking plots and ideas from his earlier writing in subsequent pieces of writing. (Many of his novels are expansions and refinements of earlier short stories). He specialised in tone and effect rather than "shock horror", often following a mystery format. Key to his style was the avoidance of overt supernatural effects: in most of his major works, the supernatural is strongly implied but a possible "natural" explanation is left (barely) open...for instance, the demonic monkey in "Green Tea" could be a delusion of the story's protagonist, who is the only person to see it; in "The Familiar", Captain Barton's death seems to be of supernatural causes, but is not actually witnessed, and the ghostly owl may just be a real bird. This approach has proven important for later horror writers and also for other media (it is surely an antecedent to the film producer Val Lewton's principle of indirect horror). Though other writers have since chosen blunter approaches to supernatural fiction, Le Fanu's best tales, such as the vampire novella "Carmilla", remain some of the most chilling examples of the genre. He had enormous influence on the 20th century's most important ghost story writer, M. R. James. Although his work fell out of favour in the early part of the 20th century, towards the end of the century interest in his work increased and still remains comparatively strong.
The Purcell Papers
His earliest twelve short stories, written between 1838 and 1840 purport to be the literary remains of an 18th-century Catholic priest called Father Purcell. They were published in the
Dublin University Magazine and were later collected as
The Purcell Papers (1880). They are mostly set in Ireland and include some classic stories of gothic horror, featuring gloomy castles, supernatural visitations from beyond the grave, madness and suicide. Also apparent is an elegiac political dimension concerning the dispossession of the former Catholic aristocracy of Ireland, whose ruined castles stand as mute witness to this history. The stories include some widely anthologised pieces:
- "The Ghost and the Bonesetter" (1838), his first published story, in a jocular vein.
- "The Fortunes of Sir Robert Ardagh" (1838), an enigmatic story involving a Faustian pact, set in the gothic surroundings of a castle in rural Ireland.
- "The Last Heir of Castle Connor" (1838), a non-supernatural tale, symbolic of the decline and expropriation of the ancient Catholic gentry of Ireland under the Protestant Ascendancy.
- "The Drunkard's Dream" (1838), of Hell.
- "Strange Event in the Life of Schalken the Painter" (1839), a disturbing story of a revenant coming back from beyond the grave to claim his bride: the old folkloric motif of the demon lover. This tale takes its inspiration from the atmospheric candlelit scenes of the 17th-century Dutch painter Godfried Schalcken, who is the hero of the story. It was adapted and broadcast for television by the BBC for Christmas 1979.[1].
- "Passage in the Secret History of an Irish Countess" (1839), an early version of his later novel Uncle Silas.
- "A Chapter in the History of a Tyrone Family" (1839), which may have influenced Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre. This story was later reworked and expanded by Le Fanu as The Wyvern Mystery (1869).
Revised versions of "Irish Countess" and "Schalken" were reprinted in Le Fanu's first collection of short stories, the very rare
Ghost Stories and Tales of Mystery (1851).
Spalatro
An anonymous novella
Spalatro: from the notes of Fra Giacomo published in the
Dublin University Magazine in 1843 was added to the Le Fanu canon as late as 1980, being recognised as being by Le Fanu by W.J. McCormack in his biography of that year.
Spalatro has a typically Gothic period Italian setting, featuring a bandit as hero, in the mode of Ann Radcliffe (whose 1797 novel
The Italian includes a repentant minor villain of the same name). More disturbing, however, is the hero Spalatro's necrophiliac passion for an undead blood-drinking beauty, who seems to be a predecessor of Le Fanu's later female vampire Carmilla. Like Carmilla this undead femme fatale is not portrayed in an entirely negative light and attempts, but fails, to save the hero Spalatro from the eternal damnation which seems to be his destiny.
Le Fanu wrote this story after the death of his elder sister Catherine in March 1841. She had been ailing for about ten years, and her death came as a great shock to him.
Historical fiction
Le Fanu's first novels were historical, in the mode of Sir Walter Scott, though with an Irish background. Like Scott, Le Fanu gave a sympathetic account of the old Jacobite cause:
- The Cock and Anchor (1845), a story of old Dublin. It was reissued with slight alterations as Morley Court in 1873.
- The Fortunes of Colonel Torlogh O'Brien (1847).
- The House by the Churchyard (1863), the last of Le Fanu's novels to be set in the past and, as mentioned above, the last with an Irish setting. It is noteworthy that here Le Fanu's historical mode is blended with his later Gothic mode, influenced by his reading of the classic writers of that genre, such as Ann Radcliffe. This novel was later an important source for Joyce's Finnegans Wake and is set in Chapelizod, where Le Fanu lived in his youth.
Sensation novels
Le Fanu published many novels in the contemporary sensation fiction mode of Wilkie Collins and others:
- Wylder's Hand (1864).
- Guy Deverell (1865).
- All in the Dark (1866), satirising Spiritualism.
- The Tenants of Malory (1867).
- A Lost Name (1868).
- Haunted Lives (1868).
- The Wyvern Mystery (1869).
- Checkmate (1871).
- The Rose and the Key (1871), which describes the horrors of the private lunatic asylum, a classic gothic trope.
- Willing to Die (1872).
Major works
His best-known works, still widely read today, are:[[Image:carmilla.jpg|thumb|right|The seductive vampire Carmilla attacks the sleeping BerthaRheinfeldt.]]
- Uncle Silas (1864), a macabre mystery novel and classic of gothic horror. It is a much extended adaptation of his earlier short story "Passage in the Secret History of an Irish Countess", with the locale switched from Ireland to England. A film version of the same name was made by Gainsborough Studios in 1947, and a remake entitled The Dark Angel, starring Peter O'Toole as the title character, was made in 1987.
- In a Glass Darkly (1872), a collection of five short stories in the horror and mystery genres, presented as the posthumous papers of the occult detective Dr Hesselius:
- *"Green Tea"
- *"The Familiar"
- *"Mr Justice Harbottle" (perhaps better known in its earlier, very different version, "An Account of Some Strange Disturbances in Aungier Street")
- *"The Room in the Dragon Volant", not a ghost story but a notable mystery story that includes the theme of premature burial
- *"Carmilla", a compelling tale of a lesbian vampire, set in darkest central Europe. This story was to greatly influence Bram Stoker in the writing of Dracula. It also served as the basis for several films, including Hammer's The Vampire Lovers (1970), Roger Vadim's Blood and Roses (1960), Danish director Carl Theodor Dreyer's Vampyr (1932) and Harry Kümel's Daughters of Darkness in 1971.
Other short-story collections
- Chronicles of Golden Friars (1871), a collection of short stories set in the imaginary English village of Golden Friars, including:
- * "A Strange Adventure in the Life of Miss Laura Mildmay", within which is incorporated the story "Madam Crowl's Ghost".
- * "The Haunted Baronet", a novella.
- * "The Bird of Passage".
- The Watcher and Other Weird Stories (1894), another collection of short stories, published posthumously.
- Madam Crowl's Ghost and Other Tales of Mystery (1923), uncollected short stories gathered from their original magazine publications and edited by M. R. James:
- *"Madam Crowl's Ghost", from All the Year Round, December 1870.
- *"Squire Toby's Will", from Temple Bar, January 1868.
- *"Dickon the Devil", from London Society, Christmas Number, 1872.
- *"The Child That Went with the Fairies", from All the Year Round, February 1870.
- *"The White Cat of Drumgunniol", from All the Year Round, April 1870.
- *"An Account of Some Strange Disturbances in Aungier Street", from the Dublin University Magazine, January 1851.
- *"Ghost Stories of Chapelizod", from the Dublin University Magazine, January 1851.
- *"Wicked Captain Walshawe, of Wauling", from the Dublin University Magazine, April 1864.
- *"Sir Dominick's Bargain", from All the Year Round, July 1872.
- *"Ultor de Lacy", from the Dublin University Magazine, December 1861.
- *"The Vision of Tom Chuff", from All the Year Round, October 1870.
- *"Stories of Lough Guir", from All the Year Round, April 1870.
- The publication of this book, which has often been reprinted, led to the revival in interest in Le Fanu, which has continued to this day.