Cover image for

The Room In The Dragon Volant

Author Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
Categories Mystery / Detective, Gothic
Language English
Published 1872
Word count 44,815
Excerpt

enerable peer, and not the young lady who accompanies him, that interests me-you understand? Begone! fly! and return with all the details I sigh for, and every circumstance that can possibly interest me."

It was a commission which admirably suited the tastes and spirits of my worthy St Clair, to whom, you will have observed, I had accustomed myself to talk with the peculiar familiarity which the old French comedy establishes between master and valet.

I am sure he laughed at me in secret; but nothing could be more polite and deferential.

With several wise looks, nods and shrugs, he withdrew; and looking down from my window, I saw him with incredible quickness enter the yard, where I soon lost sight of him among the carriages.

CHAPTER III

DEATH AND LOVE TOGETHER MATED

WHEN the day drags, when a man is solitary, and in a fever of impatience and suspense; when the minute hand of his watch travels as slowly as

ReviewsAdd a review for this title.

2008.03.23
Saxon Slade

An excellent ghost novelette by Le Fanu, my favorite Victorian purveyor of the classic ghost story. Ghost stories are dependent upon mood and atmosphere; therefore the short story is their best form. It's difficult to maintain a mood of dread over a longer word-count, but Le Fanu shows how to do it here. Think I'll reread this one soon.

Note: Don't expect modern horror. This is fairly subtle British supernatural fiction. It won't spoon-feed cheap thrills a la Stephen King, but give you something more substantial and thought-provoking.