"J. Sheridan Le Fanu (1814-1873). Irish journalist, novelists, and short story writer, called the father of the modern ghost story. Although Le Fanu was one of the most popular writers of the Victorian era, he is not so widely read anymore. Le Fanu's best-known works include Uncle Silas (1864), a suspense story, and The House by the Churchyard (1863), a murder mystery. His vampire story 'Carmilla, ' which influenced Bram Stoker's Dracula, has been filmed several times." -- Books and Writers.