Sheridan Le Fanu - A Short Story Collection: An anthology from the Irish master of gothic and horror fiction, who's work would greatly influence prominent names such as MR James and Bram Stoker.
Written by Sheridan Le Fanu
Narrated by David Shaw Parker, Elliot Fitzpatrick and Mark Rice-Oxley
()
About this audiobook
The children were tutored but, according to his brother William, the tutor taught them little if anything. Le Fanu was eager to learn and used his father's library to educate himself about the world. He was a creative child and by fifteen had taken to writing poetry.
Accepted into Trinity College, Dublin to study law he also benefited from the system used in Ireland that he did not have to live in Dublin to attend lectures, but could study at home and take examinations at the university as and when necessary.
This enabled him to also write and by 1838 Le Fanu's first story The Ghost and the Bonesetter was published in the Dublin University Magazine. Many of the short stories he wrote at the time were to form the basis for his future novels. Indeed, throughout his career Le Fanu would constantly revise, cannabilise, embellish and re-publish his earlier works to use in his later efforts.
Between 1838 and 1840 Le Fanu had written and published twelve stories which purported to be the literary remains of an 18th-century Catholic priest called Father Purcell. Set mostly in Ireland they include classic stories of gothic horror, with grim, shadowed castles, as well as supernatural visitations from beyond the grave, together with madness and suicide. One of the themes running through them is a sad nostalgia for the dispossessed Catholic aristocracy of Ireland, whose ruined castles stand in mute salute and testament to this history.
On 18 December 1844 Le Fanu married Susanna Bennett, the daughter of a leading Dublin barrister. The union would produce four children. Le Fanu was now stretching his talents across the length of a novel and his first was The Cock and Anchor published in 1845.
A succession of works followed and his reputation grew as well as his income. Unfortunately, a decade after his marriage it became an increasing source of difficultly. Susanna was prone to suffer from a range of neurotic symptoms including great anxiety after the deaths of several close relatives, including her father two years before.
In April 1858 she suffered an "hysterical attack" and died in circumstances that are still unclear. The anguish, profound guilt as well as overwhelming loss were channeled into Le Fanu’s work. Working only by the light of two candles he would write through the night and burnish his reputation as a major figure of 19th Century supernaturalism. His work challenged the focus on the external source of horror and instead he wrote about it from the perspective of the inward psychological potential to strike fear in the hearts of men.
A series of books now came forth: Wylder's Hand (1864), Guy Deverell (1865), The Tenants of Malory (1867), The Green Tea (1869), The Haunted Baronet (1870), Mr. Justice Harbottle (1872), The Room in the Dragon Volant (1872) and In a Glass Darkly. (1872).
But his life was drawing to a close. Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu died in Merrion Square in his native Dublin on February 7th, 1873, at the age of 58.
01 - Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu - A Short Story Collection - An Introduction
02 - The Ghost and the Bone-Setter by Sheridan Le Fanu
03 - Sir Dominick's Bargain by Sheridan Le Fanu
04 - Dickon the Devil by Sheridan Le Fanu
05 - Strange Event in the Life of Schalken the Painter by Sheridan Le Fanu
06 - An Account of Some Strange Disturbances in Aungier Street by Sheridan Le Fanu
Sheridan Le Fanu
J. Sheridan Le Fanu (1814–1873) was an Irish writer who helped develop the ghost story genre in the nineteenth century. Born to a family of writers, Le Fanu released his first works in 1838 in Dublin University Magazine, which he would go on to edit and publish in 1861. Some of Le Fanu’s most famous Victorian Gothic works include Carmilla, Uncle Silas, and In a Glass Darkly. His writing has inspired other great authors of horror and thriller literature such as Bram Stoker and M. R. James.
More audiobooks from Sheridan Le Fanu
Uncle Silas Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Carmilla Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDark Love - Short Stories: Love mixed with vampires, ghosts, murders, abuse & more Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Classic Tales Podcast, Season Five Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related to Sheridan Le Fanu - A Short Story Collection
Related audiobooks
St. John's Eve (Unabridged) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Weird Circle: Mad Monkton Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe House of Mirth (Unabridged) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5EDWY: A Poem, in Three Parts Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Apparition of Mrs. Veal Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A Florentine Tragedy and La Sainte Courtisane Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBarbara of the House of Grebe Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices (Unabridged) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAn Indiscreet Journey Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Dead Hand Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Old Ancient Ship Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Ghost in the Cupboard Room Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jerry Bundler Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Bronze Ring Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5In The Graveyard Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Short Story Press Presents An Illustrated Warning Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Seasons (Librovox) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Biter Bit Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hide and Seek: Unabridged Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Yellow Mask Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Dream Woman Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5The Top 10 Short Stories - The Ghost Story: The top ten ghost stories of all time Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Stolen Bacillus Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5B. J. Harrison Reads A Meeting Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTo Let Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe British Short Story - Volume 9 – James S. Pyke-Nott to William Hope Hodgson Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Frozen Deep Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Woman at the Store Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMy Black Mirror Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Anthologies For You
Marple: Twelve New Mysteries Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Book of Extraordinary Impossible Crimes and Puzzling Deaths: The Best New Original Stories of the Genre Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Shadow Over Innsmouth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5FaceOff Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wavedancer Benefit Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dark Screams: Volume One Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Best American Short Stories 2021 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsChildren Playing Before a Statue of Hercules Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Greatest Short Stories of All Time Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Oz Reimagined: New Tales from the Emerald City and Beyond Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Kink: Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Humour - A Short Story Collection Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Vintage Christmas: A Collection of Classic Stories and Poems Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5MatchUp Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Classic American Short Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Best American Short Stories 2022 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Flight or Fright Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Come Join Us By the Fire: 35 Short Horror Tales from Nightfire Books Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Anonymous Sex Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Stories from Suffragette City Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Timeless Classics Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Reunion Beach: Stories Inspired by Dorothea Benton Frank Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Behaving Badly Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Best of the Best Horror of the Year: 10 Years of Essential Short Horror Fiction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Year of Ravens: A Novel of Boudica's Rebellion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dangerous Women: Original Stories from Today's Greatest Suspense Writers Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Daughters of Latin America: An International Anthology of Writing by Latine Women Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lady Most Willing...: A Novel in Three Parts Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Howls From the Dark Ages: An Anthology of Medieval Horror Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Sheridan Le Fanu - A Short Story Collection
0 ratings0 reviews