Can Such Things Be?" Or, the Weird of the Beresfords. A study... by Keith Fleming

What may be most interesting about his tales is that, despite their simplicity, they often require quite a bit of thought from the reader: when you reach the end, you know something terribly unnatural has occurred, but piecing together precisely what happened requires a moment of reflection, where the discrete details of the story come together to imply something much more grandly dark than the apparently simple narrative would seem to contain. While those authors tended toward a dour, indulgent, overwrought style, Bierce preferred a lighter touch, built upon precise, carefully-constructed prose and driven by a deeply morbid wit, somewhere between Nietzsche and Alexander Pope. Bierce was the preeminent innovator of supernatural stories between the death of Poe and the rise of Lovecraft-and to be quite honest, I'd place him head and shoulders above either of them. To be a Gringo in Mexico-ah, that is euthanasia!'ĭecember 26th, 1913, Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce disappeared into the Mexican desert, never to be seen again, and so it was that, in appropriately mysterious manner, one of the premiere American horror authors passed on into the undying realm of night. It beats old age, disease, or falling down the cellar stairs. If you hear of my being stood up against a Mexican stone wall and shot to rags, please know that I think it is a pretty good way to depart this life. He wrote in one of his final letters: 'Good-bye.

He is believed to have traveled to Mexico to gain a firsthand perspective on that country's ongoing revolution.ĭespite an abundance of theories, Bierce's ultimate fate remains a mystery. This style often embraces an abrupt beginning, dark imagery, vague references to time, limited descriptions, the theme of war, and impossible events.īierce disappeared in December 1913 at the age of 71. Morrow.īierce employed a distinctive style of writing, especially in his stories.

The sardonic view of human nature that informed his work – along with his vehemence as a critic, with his motto 'nothing matters' – earned him the nickname 'Bitter Bierce.'ĭespite his reputation as a searing critic, however, Bierce was known to encourage younger writers, including poet George Sterling and fiction writer W.

Today, he is best known for his short story, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge and his satirical lexicon, The Devil's Dictionary. Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce (1842-1914) was an American editorialist, journalist, short story writer, fabulist and satirist.

Can Such Things Be?&quot; Or, the Weird of the Beresfords. A study... by Keith Fleming

Can Such Things Be?" Or, the Weird of the Beresfords. A study... by Keith Fleming