Sheridan Le Fanu’s Uncle Silas Redefined Gothic Horror Through Human Malice and Confinement
J. Sheridan Le Fanu’s 1864 Gothic novel Uncle Silas demonstrates how psychological manipulation, domestic confinement, and human malice can generate enduring terror without relying strictly on the supernatural. While Le Fanu is widely celebrated for his pioneering 1872 vampire novella Carmilla, Uncle Silas expanded on his 1838 short story, “A Passage in the Secret History