The House by the Churchyard is a novel by
Sheridan Le Fanu published in 1863 that combines
elements of the mystery novel and the historical
novel. Set in the village of Chapelizod, near Dublin,
in the 1760s the story opens with the accidental
disinterment of an old skull in the churchyard,
and an eerie late-night funeral. This discovery relates
to murders, both recent and historical whose
repercussions disrupt the complacent pace of village
affairs and change the lives of many of its notable
characters forever. Charm and chilling darkness
abound in equal measure in one of the greatest
novels of a Victorian master of mystery.