One of the leading ghost story writers of the Victorian era, Sheridan Le Fanu is renowned for his chilling tales of mystery and horror. His pioneering lesbian vampire novella Carmilla was a major influence on Bram Stoker's Dracula, and spawned numerous film adaptations including Hammer Horror's Karnstein Trilogy. Opening this anthology is a dramatisation of that classic tale, starring Anne-Marie Duff as Laura, the lonely girl living in a solitary Austrian castle, who strikes up a dangerous friendship with the mysterious, bewitching Carmilla. It is followed by Ian MacDiarmid's reading of Schalken the Painter, the eerie story of a 17th Century Flemish artist in love with his master's daughter. Le Fanu's suspenseful Gothic thriller, Uncle Silas, about a young heiress placed under the guardianship of her father's disgraced brother, is dramatised with a full cast including Teresa Gallagher, George Cole, Joan Sims and Dorothy Tutin. Also featured is The Le Fanu Ballads, a supernatural portmanteau drama bridging Le Fanu's era and our world today. Based on the short stories The Watcher, Madam Crowl's Ghost, Schalken the Painter and Mr Justice Harbottle, and set in a basement nightclub in Dublin, it stars Paul Chahidi, Haydn Gwynne and Jonathan Forbes. One more unabridged reading concludes the collection. In The Ghost and the Bonesetter, read by Sean Barrett, a terrified house-sitter receives an unusual request from the tyrannical spirit of a local squire. Cast and credits: Written by Sheridan Le Fanu First published 1838 ('The Ghost and the Bonesetter'), 1839 ('Schalken the Painter'), 1847 ('The Watcher'), 1864 (Uncle Silas), 1871 ('Madam Crowl's Ghost'), 1872 (Carmilla, 'Mr Justice Harbottle') Carmilla Cast: Anne-Marie Duff, Brana Bajic, David Warner, Celia Imrie, Jacqueline Pearce, Nigel Anthony, Roger May, Kenneth Cranham Dramatised by Don McCamphill First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 5 June 2003 Schalken the Painter Read by Ian McDiarmid First broadcast BBC Radio 7, 29-30 May 2006 Uncle Silas Cast: Teresa Gallagher, Graham Crowden, Dorothy Tutin, Joan Sims, Kathleen Byron, Tessa Worsley, John Hartley, Jonathan Keeble, Roger May, Geoffrey Whitehead, Stephen Critchlow, George Cole, Jane Whittenshaw, George A. Cooper, Becky Hindley, Pauline Letts, David Collings, John Evitts, Linda Regan, Joan Littlewood Dramatised by Alan Drury First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 8-22 October 1995 The Le Fanu Ballads Cast: Paul Chahidi, Haydn Gwynne, Jonathan Forbes, Ruth Everett, Matthew Durkan, Alexandra Hannant, Rebecca Crankshaw, Chris Jack, Michael Begley, Neil McCaul. Sheridan Le Fanu's ghost stories adapted by Neil Brand Music composed and played by Neil Brand, with 'Nuala's Ballad' sung by Ruth Everett First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 17 April 2022 The Ghost and the Bonesetter Read by Sean Barrett First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 23 September 2001