Uncle SilasMaud Ruthyn is just seventeen when a tragic event leaves her orphaned and sent to live with her mysterious Uncle Silas. Alone inside the walls of Bartram-Haugh, Maud soon begins to realise her uncle is not the reformed Christian he pretends to be. Knowing that her fortune will pass to him, should she die before her eighteenth birthday, Maud is petrified as rumours unfold that Silas was once a heartless murderer. A spine-chilling tale of greed and vile intentions, ‘Uncle Silas’ is a masterpiece of Victorian Gothic horror. Sheridan Le Fanu combines the pulsing dread of works like Wilkie Collin’s ‘The Woman in White’ and Radcliffe’s ‘Mysteries of Udolpho’ into a novel that remains to this day a psychological horror that will chill you to your bones. Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu (1814-1873) was an Irish Gothic writer of short stories and novels. One of the central names amidst the ghost-story writers of the 19th century, Le Fanu’s influence cannot be underestimated. Inspiring the likes of Bram Stoker, Le Fanu laid the basis for the Victorian Horror genre by combining realism with deeper psychological elements. His most important works include ‘Uncle Silas’, ‘Carmilla’, ‘The House by the Churchyard’, and his short story collection ‘In a Glass Darkly’. |
Contents
Section 26 | |
Section 27 | |
Section 28 | |
Section 29 | |
Section 30 | |
Section 31 | |
Section 32 | |
Section 33 | |
Section 9 | |
Section 10 | |
Section 11 | |
Section 12 | |
Section 13 | |
Section 14 | |
Section 15 | |
Section 16 | |
Section 17 | |
Section 18 | |
Section 19 | |
Section 20 | |
Section 21 | |
Section 22 | |
Section 23 | |
Section 24 | |
Section 25 | |
Section 34 | |
Section 35 | |
Section 36 | |
Section 37 | |
Section 38 | |
Section 39 | |
Section 40 | |
Section 41 | |
Section 42 | |
Section 43 | |
Section 44 | |
Section 45 | |
Section 46 | |
Section 47 | |
Section 48 | |
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Common terms and phrases
afraid angry answered asked awful Bartram Bartram-Haugh candle Captain Oakley carriage Charke Charles Oakley Church Scarsdale countenance Cousin Monica cried dare say dark dear cheaile dear Maud Derbyshire Doctor Bryerly Doctor Clay door dreadful Dudley eau de Cologne Elverston eyes face fancied father fear fellah Feltram finger frightened girl hand Hawkes head hear heard kind kissed knew Knowl la Rougierre Lady Knollys lass laughed letter light looked Madame Madame's Mary Quince Milly's mind Miss Maud Miss Ruthyn morning never night nout old Wyat pale papa pause perhaps poor Milly postilion pretty Quince's recollect remember Rougierre Rusk seemed Silas Ruthyn silence smile sort speak stare stood strange suddenly suppose sure Swedenborgian talk tell there's thing thought told turned Uncle Silas Uncle Silas's uncle's walk whispered window wish wonder word young