Ghost and Horror Stories of Ambrose Bierce (Hardcover)

Bierce's literary style is occasionally too concise, too factual, possibly reflecting his long years as a journalist in San Francisco in the late 1800s. However, this factual approach sometimes works to Bierce's advantage by lending authenticity to his stories.

These twenty-four tales, titled Ghost and Horror Stories of Ambrose Bierce, offer a wide range of supernatural topics. Bierce's prophetic theme in Moxon's Master, that of man versus machine, remains a staple of modern science fiction today. His handling of The Man and the Snake is surprisingly mature for an early psychological thriller. His classic, The Moonlit Road, tells a ghost story from three perspectives, including that of the dead victim. Unless my memory fails me, Bierce's startling story An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge was vividly portrayed years ago on the Twilight Zone. Other favorites include The Death of Halpin Frayser, The Eyes of the Panther, and The Middle Toe of the Right Foot.

Three stories - The Ways of Ghosts, Some Haunted Houses, and Mysterious Disappearances - are in themselves collections of short tales, reported from a journalistic perspective. The cumulative effect of these short accounts adds credence to them. One's skepticism begins to fade.

Despite Bierce's rather unpleasant disposition, a sense of humor surfaces in some stories. A Jug of Syrup, The Haunted Valley, A Watcher by the Dead, and the section titles in The Damned Thing are examples of Bierce's sometimes misplaced humor.

Other accounts like The Secret of Macarger's Gulch, The Night Doing's at Deadman's, and Beyond the Wall are more conventional ghost stories, albeit with a little flavoring from Bierce. The final entry, Visions of the Night, recounts particularly vivid nightmares remembered by Ambrose Bierce himself.

The solid introduction by E. F. Bleiler provides a fascinating biographical sketch of the irascible Ambrose Bierce and examines the characteristics of Bierce's unique style. This Dover collection was first published in 1964 and remains in print.

Don't confuse this larger collection with a shorter Dover edition titled The Moonlit Road and Other Ghost and Horror Stories by Ambrose Bierce. The short Thrift Edition contains only twelve stories. All twelve are quite good; however, nine of the stories are found in the larger Dover edition reviewed above.

"An Incident at Owl Creek Bridge" is the canard that almost everyone has read in school at some time or another.
"Beyond the Wall," about a man who breaks an unusual relationship for spite and is haunted by the outcome, is somewhat famous, as is "The Damned Thing," possibly for its ironic chapter titles.
"The Man and the Snake" also has appeared in anthologies before, being somewhat of a psychological study.

My favorites were
"The Ways of Ghosts," "Mysterious Disappearances," and "Some Haunted Houses" are short, factual tellings of supernatural incidents, which showcase Bierce's writing style and produce an air of authenticity.
"The Suitable Surroundings" was another interesting tale dealing with newspapers, another area where I expected Bierce to shine.

In short, Bierce has a particular style that seems to me to not carry over well to terror/horror writing. Sometimes a particular story will resonate with his abilities, and then you are glad to be reading the book.