Showing results by author "Ambrose Bierce" in All Categories

A murderer is haunted by the specter of the dog whose master he killed. The wicked Staley calls for a doctor, hoping to cure himself of the disturbing visions, only to discover the hellish fate faced by all murderers.

Robert Louis Stevenson's "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" is of the best "macabre" tales ever written. It is presented here in its entirety along with eight other incredible tales.

"Death is a dignitary who when he comes announced is to be received with formal manifestations of respect, even by those most familiar with him." This line was written by Ambrose Bierce in his short story An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge. Death by execution has historically been ritualized, perhaps to absolve those accomplishing the execution from guilt or blame.

During the American Civil War, a man stands on a railroad bridge about to be hanged. At the last minute, the rope breaks - or does it? This much-anthologized short story was adapted into one of the most popular episodes of The Twilight Zone.

Ambrose Bierce, a veteran of the Civil War and writer of note, had a fascination with death and PTSD as a result of his war experience. "One of the Missing" follows Private Jerome Searing, an Army scout, as he goes behind enemy lines. In today's military, Searing would probably be in the Navy Seals or Army Special Forces. He was good at his job, and his job was soldiering.

Having murdered his brother-in-law, Orrin Brower of Kentucky was a fugitive from justice. He had escaped from the county jail where he had been confined to await his trial. And as soon as he was out of the town he had the folly to enter a forest....

Chickamauga is a heart-rending Civil War story told through the eyes of a lost boy. The child bears witness to the atrocities of war. He sees dying men crawling across the ground, and later returns to his old homestead, only to find it has been largely destroyed. A must read for people interested in the Civil War and Americana in general, this short story by Ambrose Bierce sheds new light war and its aftermath.

Ambrose Bierce participated in one of the bloodiest wars in American history, and though he survived, the war haunted him the rest of his life. Today we have a name for the demon that haunts many of those "more fortunate" who survive: post-traumatic stress disorder. In World War I and World War II they called it shell-shocked. The battle of Chickamauga was surpassed in casualties only by the battle of Gettysburg.

Selections include "The Robber Bridegroom" by Washington Irving, "The Stolen White Elephant" by Mark Twain, "Chickamauga" by Ambrose Bierce, "The Mission of Jane" by Edith Wharton, and "The Black Cat" by Edgar Allan Poe.

Volume 7 starts off with Edgar Allan Poe's story of a gifted boy hounded by his shadow, "William Wilson". We take to the sky's with a pilots investigation into unexplainable events thousands of feet above ground in Arthur Conan Doyle's "A Horror of the Heights". Next up, Ambrose Bierce plays with time in "The Suitable Surroundings".

A sentry falls asleep at his post, leading to dire consequences. This is a classic tale about the terrible cost of the Civil War, which divided entire families.

A young man accused of the appalling murder of his mother is acquitted on the grounds that his crime is almost harmless in comparison with his previous murder of his uncle, which was both barbaric and highly unusual. Written with Ambrose Bierce's uniquely witty and tongue-in-cheek style.

>"Killed at Resaca" is the story of a brave man, loved by his fellow soldiers and driven by a heartless, beautiful woman. Full of Bierce's infamous sense of outrage and morality, this is a classic Civil War story.

Sixteen classic stories from masters of the genre: "The Judge's House", by Bram Stoker; "A Jug of Sirup", by Ambrose Bierce; "The Reconciliation", by Lafcadio Hearn; "The Woman With a Candle" by W. Bourne Cooke; "The Ebony Frame", by E. Nesbit; "On the Northern Ice", by Elia W. Peattie; "The Haunted Doll's House", by M. R. James; "The Old House in Vauxhall Walk", by Charlotte Riddell; "The Underground Ghost", by John Berwick Harwood; "Haunted", by Anon (from Tinsley's Annual); plus five more....

A story of betrayal by a wife that launches a man into war; thought makes him a Yankee, feeling a Southerner, and he fights for his thoughts. The dignitary who signed his papers comes to the front for the ironic end.

A collection of ten classic short stories including "Lost Hearts", "Miss Brill", "The Yellow Paint", "An Encounter", and "The Phantom Coach".

Welcome to Volume Five of one of the world's largest collections of high quality, classic horror short-story audiobooks. If you're at home, then get some logs ready and put on your most comfortable slippers, as we kick things off with Doug Bradley's well-researched introduction to the authors and stories featured in this volume....

A farmer, while crossing a field, mysteriously disappears into thin air before the eyes of several witnesses, resulting in a legal proceeding to determine whether he's dead.

"The Coup de Grâce" a short story by Ambrose Bierce, himself a troubled veteran of the American Civil War, details a fictional situation, which may be based on some truth. An act so humane and yet so repugnant it would not be spoken of. War is unglamorous and ugly.

As the American Civil War rages, an officer who longs for the glory of battle has been assigned to staff duties away from the battlefield. Now a captain, he is assigned to a combat unit and faces battle for the first time. He finds there is no glory, only controlled terror for those engaged in war.