Happy Irish Fiction Friday! What better way to celebrate the first of only two Friday the 13ths in 2017 (the other in October) than with some classic horror? This week’s featured writer is Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu. Arguably his most famous novella is Carmilla (1872) – the story of a vampire which has been credited as an influence on Bram Stoker. Le Fanu was born on August 28, 1814 to noble parents in Abington, county Limerick. He studied law but was more interested in pursuing journalism. He married Susanna Bennett in 1844 and they had four children, eventually settling in a house on Merrion Square in Dublin. Other notable occupants of Merrion Square include Oscar Wilde and WB Yeats. After his wife’s death in 1858, Le Fanu became a recluse but a productive and successful writer. He died on February 7, 1873. Le Fanu is buried in Mount Jerome Cemetery in Dublin. You will definitely want to visit both Merrion Square and Mount Jerome Cemetery when you are in Dublin!
You can access a great many of Le Fanu’s short stories and longer fiction on The Literature Network. You can also access Carmilla via Project Gutenberg.
