Uncle Silas is an early example of the locked room mystery subgenre, rather than a novel of the supernatural (despite a few creepily ambiguous touches), but does show a strong interest in the occult and in the ideas of Emanuel Swedenborg, a Swedish scientist, philosopher and Christian mystic. The story follows a young rich orphaned girl named Maud who is forced to move in with her poor and embarrassed uncle according to her fathers will. This man seems nice enough but there is something mysterious and menacing about this man. Maud soon realized that Uncle Silas is not the nice guy she originally thought...