Sheridan Le Fanu, Irish author (died 1873)

Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu, popularly known as J. S. Le Fanu, was an Irish writer. He was one of the pioneers of early Gothic, mystery and horror literary works, and is considered by critics to be among the greatest ghost story writers of the Victorian era, as his works were central to the development of the genre. Le Fanu is best known for the locked-room mystery-thriller Uncle Silas (1864), the historical mystery novel The House by the Churchyard (1863), and the collection of stories In a Glass Darkly (1872), which includes the novella Carmilla (1872), one of the foundational works of vampire fiction and a landmark in the lesbian vampire genre.