Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu (1814—1873) was an Irish writer of Gothic novels, one of the most influential ghost story writers of the nineteenth century. Filled with mystery and gothic horror elements, "The Room in the Dragon Volant" takes place in post-Napoleonic Wars France. Young Englishman Richard Beckett falls in love with the mysterious Countess. To be closer to her, he takes a room in the "Dragon Volant" inn, which has a rather nasty reputation.