Ironically, Lee became increasingly active as a
horror writer after that genre had begun its recent
decline, and only about half of her subsequent
novels have found a publisher in the United
States. Heart-Beast(1993) is a historical novel
about an unpleasant young man who is trans-
formed into a particularly nasty werewolf, and
Reigning Cats and Dogs(1995) describes a battle
between a secret society of magic users and a sur-
reptitious demonic entity. Since 1995 most of Lee’s
horror fiction has once more been confined to
short stories.
Lee’s output of short fiction has been phenom-
enal throughout her career, and the dozen or so
published collections represent only a portion of
her work. Among the best not already mentioned
are Cyrion (1982), Dreams of Dark and Light
(1986), and Forests of the Night(1989). Lee won a
second World Fantasy Award for “ELLE EST TROIS
(LA MORT)” in 1984. Lee’s occasional science fic-
tion novels have also been moderately successful.
Le Fanu, J. Sheridan (1814–1873)
The Irish writer and journalist Joseph Sheridan Le
Fanu wrote comparatively little fantasy and horror
fiction and is perhaps most significant in the mys-
tery field for inventing the locked room mystery.
The most memorable of his supernatural stories is
the often-filmed CARMILLA(1871), the tale of a se-
ductive female vampire, almost certainly an influ-
ence on Bram STOKER, who knew Le Fanu
personally. Le Fanu was more interested in the psy-
chology of his characters than were most of his fel-
low writers, so his stories are usually less overtly
sensational.
“Schalken the Painter” (1839) is another of
his better-known stories. The young female protag-
onist is forced into an arranged marriage with a
particularly unresponsive and distressing man, who
we subsequently learn is actually dead. There is a
doppelgänger in “Spalatro, from the Notes of Fra
Giacomo” (1843). Although there is some ques-
tion about whether Le Fanu was actually the au-
thor of “The Mysterious Lodger” (1850), it is
generally attributed to him and is a very effective,
atmospheric piece about an evil curse. “Squire
Toby’s Will” (1868) resolves a quarrel over an in-
heritance by means of a series of disturbing dreams
and ghostly appearances. “Green Tea” (1869) an-
ticipates the occult detectives of Lord DUNSANY,
Seabury QUINN, William Hope HODGSON, and oth-
ers, investigating a supernatural manifestation
brought on by drinking too much tea. A cat serves
the function of a banshee in “The White Cat of
Drumgunniol” (1870), and “Sir Dominick’s Bar-
gain” (1872) is an early and amusing variation of
the deal-with-the-devil story.
The Haunted Baronet(1870) is a slow-moving
but otherwise effective tale of supernatural revenge.
An aristocrat thoughtlessly and incorrectly fires one
of his employees after accusing him of theft and
then unwisely disregards the warning by a psychic
to reconcile their differences. The other man has
undergone some unspecified supernatural transfor-
mation, and the two are then engaged in a pro-
tracted and not entirely clear partnership involving
reconciliation and a deal with the devil, eventually
leading to their mutual downfall. This was Le
Fanu’s only book-length work of fantasy or horror.
A very few of Le Fanu’s short stories are fan-
tasy rather than supernatural. “Laura Silver Bell”
(1872), which involves fairies, is one of the best of
these. Also of interest is “Stories of Lough Guir”
(1870), which appear to be adaptations of folk
tales. His fiction has been assembled and reassem-
bled in various combinations, of which the best se-
lections are Best Ghost Stories (1964) and The
Haunted Baronet and Other Stories(2003).“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”
Washington Irving(1820)
Although there is a hint of ambiguity at the con-
clusion of this classic story, the most likely inter-
pretation is that nothing fantastic really occurred,
and therefore Irving’s wry little tale technically
should not be included here. Certainly the Disney
animated version supports that contention, and
the recent live-action Sleepy Hollow (1999),
though a marvelous reinterpretation, bears only
passing resemblance to the original story. Irving
refrains from suggesting the mundane explanation
until quite late, however, so readers might well be-
lieve it is genuinely supernatural until the final
pages.210 Le Fanu, J. Sheridan