Sheridan le Fanu was born in Dublin to a noble family. He was the great-nephew of the playwright [Richard Brinsley Sheridan]?. He studied law at [Trinity College]? in Dublin and began to practice law in 1839. Not long after, le Fanu gave up the legal profession to become a journalist. Throughout his later life until his death he published stories, both novels and short stories in magazines. From 1861--1869, le Fanu edited Dublin University Magazine, which also published many of his works. He owned several periodicals (including the Dublin University Magazine and the Dublin Evening Mail) in his late life.
He specialised in tone and effect rather than shock horror, yet to the delicate sensibility, tales such as the vampire novella Carmilla can be profoundly effective. Carmilla was to greatly influence Bram Stoker in the writing of Dracula. [Green Tea]? is an equally unsettling story.
Other fiction by le Fanu includes: The Purcell Papers, volumes one, two, and three, and In a Glass Darkly, a five-story anthology.
E-text?s of many le Fanu stories and information on his life is available at [[1]].
An electronic version of Carmilla is available at [[2]].
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