Le Fanu began publishing short stories in college. He spent the first twenty years of his career, however, in journalism. It was not until he became owner of the Dublin University Magazine in 1861 that he returned to writing fiction. He serialized his stories in the magazine first then published them in book form for the English market. In the last ten years of his life, Le Fanu became a popular and productive author, publishing a dozen novels in addition to many short stories and novellas.