Silas Rutvyn is something of a riddle. To some, including his niece, he is something of a ghost. As Le Fanu gradually unfolds the layers of this story, we are irresistibly drawn into his world. There are, however, nosimple answers. Le Fanu, whose writing inspired such classics as Bram Stoker's'Dracula', is a masterful storyteller, and this work does not disappoint. From the writer of such works as'Through a Glass Darkly' and'The House by the Churchyard', this eerie and chilling tale is one of the finest examples of his art.