Editing Sheridan Le Fanu (section)

===''The Purcell Papers''===
His earliest twelve short stories, written between 1838 and 1840, purport to be the literary remains of an 18th-century Catholic priest called Father Purcell. They were published in the ''Dublin University Magazine'' and were later collected as ''[[The Purcell Papers]]'' (1880).<ref>''The Purcell Papers'' (1880) [https://books.google.com/books?id=FCM7tYvYrfAC Vol. 1], [https://books.google.com/books?id=piVLAAAAIAAJ Vol. 2], [https://books.google.com/books?id=QqUHAQAAIAAJ Vol. 3], Richard Bentley and Son, London</ref> They are mostly set in Ireland and include some classic stories of Gothic horror, with gloomy castles, supernatural visitations from beyond the grave, madness, and suicide. Also apparent are nostalgia and sadness for the dispossessed Catholic aristocracy of Ireland, whose ruined castles stand as a mute witness to this history. Some of the stories still often appear in [[anthology|anthologies]]:
# "The Ghost and the Bonesetter" (January 1838), his first-published, jocular story
# "The Fortunes of Sir Robert Ardagh" (March 1838), an enigmatic story which partially involves a [[deal with the Devil|Faustian pact]] and is set in the Gothic [[wikt:ambiance|ambiance]] of a castle in rural Ireland
# "The Last Heir of Castle Connor" (June 1838), a non-supernatural tale, exploring the decline and expropriation of the ancient Catholic gentry of Ireland under the [[Protestant Ascendancy]]
# "The Drunkard's Dream" (August 1838), a haunting vision of [[Hell]]
# "Passage in the Secret History of an Irish Countess" (November 1838), an early version of his later novel ''Uncle Silas''
# "The Bridal of Carrigvarah" (April 1839)
# "Strange Event in the Life of Schalken {{sic}} the Painter" (May 1839), a disturbing version of the [[The Daemon Lover|demon lover]] motif. This tale was inspired by the atmospheric candlelit scenes of the 17th-century Dutch painter [[Godfried Schalcken]], who is the model for the story's protagonist. [[M. R. James]] stated that "{{-'}}Schalken' conforms more strictly to my own ideals. It is indeed one of the best of Le Fanu's good things."<ref>{{cite book |last1=James |first1=M. R. |author-link=M. R. James |editor-first=V. H. |editor-last=Collins|title=Ghosts and Marvels: A Selection of Uncanny Tales from Daniel Defoe to Algernon Blackwood |year=1924|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=London |chapter=Introduction}} Rpt. in {{cite book |last=James |first=M. R. |editor1-first=Christopher |editor1-last=Roden |editor2-first=Barbara |editor2-last=Roden |title=A Pleasing Terror: The Complete Supernatural Writings |year=2001 |publisher=Ash-Tree Press |location=Ashcroft, B.C. |isbn=1-55310-024-7 |page=488}}</ref> It was adapted and broadcast for television as ''[[Schalcken the Painter]]'' by the [[BBC]] for Christmas 1979, starring [[Jeremy Clyde]] and [[John Justin]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/1154981/index.html |title=Schalcken the Painter (1979) |last1=Angelini |first1=Sergio |website=BFI Screenonline |publisher=British Film Institute |access-date=2 June 2013}}</ref>
# "Scraps of Hibernian Ballads" (June 1839)
# "Jim Sulivan's Adventures in the Great Snow" (July 1839)
# "A Chapter in the History of a Tyrone Family" (October 1839), which may have influenced [[Charlotte Brontë]]'s ''[[Jane Eyre]]''. This story was later reworked and expanded by Le Fanu as ''[[The Wyvern Mystery (novel)|The Wyvern Mystery]]'' (1869).
# "An Adventure of Hardress Fitzgerald, a Royalist Captain" (February 1840)
# "The Quare Gander" (October 1840)

Revised versions of "Irish Countess" (as "The Murdered Cousin") and "Schalken" were reprinted in Le Fanu's first collection of short stories, the very rare ''Ghost Stories and Tales of Mystery'' (1851).<ref>[https://archive.org/details/ghoststoriesand00fanugoog ''Ghost Stories and Tales of Mystery''] (1851) With illustrations by "Phiz", James McGlashan, Dublin</ref>