The Collected Works of Ambrose Bierce ...: Can Such Things Be? the Ways of Ghosts. Soldier-Folk. Some Haunted Houses

by Ambrose Bierce

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.

Genres: Ghost Stories

430 pages, Paperback

First published December 25, 2009

About the author

died perhaps 1914

Caustic wit and a strong sense of horror mark works, including In the Midst of Life (1891-1892) and The Devil's Dictionary (1906), of American writer Ambrose Gwinett Bierce.

People today best know this editorialist, journalist, and fabulist for his short story, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge and his lexicon.

The informative sardonic view of human nature alongside his vehemence as a critic with his motto, "nothing matters," earned him the nickname "Bitter Bierce."

People knew Bierce despite his reputation as a searing critic, however, to encourage younger poet George Sterling and fiction author W.C. Morrow.

Bierce employed a distinctive style especially in his stories. This style often embraces an abrupt beginning, dark imagery, vague references to time, limited descriptions, the theme of war, and impossible events.

Bierce disappeared in December 1913 at the age of 71 years. People think that he traveled to Mexico to gain a firsthand perspective on ongoing revolution of that country.

Theories abound on a mystery, ultimate fate of Bierce. He in one of his final letters stated: "Good-bye. 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. It beats old age, disease, or falling down the cellar stairs. To be a Gringo in Mexico--ah, that is euthanasia!"

Reviews

[Yoshay Lindblom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chilling short stories about sinister houses. Just loved it 💕 heard it on LibriVox

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mid-to-late nineteenth century ghost stories? Right on.

If there were a genie that granted time travel wishes, I would totally make that genie transport me to a frontier dive--excuse me, saloon--circa 1870 wherein I could drink rotgut whiskey all day with Ambrose Bierce and Mark Twain. They would regale me with stories about traveling by horse, waiting out storms in abandoned houses, making new friends using "letters of introduction," and anecdotes about serving and living through the Civil War.

If wikipedia is correct, Bierce served in all four years of the war and lived. He fought at the Battle of Shiloh. Then, at 71 years old, he decided to take a tour of his old battlefields and in the midst of all his reminiscing, he stumbled across Pancho Villa, hooked up with him to "observe" what was going on, and then disappeared into Mexico. Does anyone else think this is crazy and badass? Or just crazy badass?

Here are my brief notes on the stories I particularly enjoyed.

One Summer Night: "The fact that Henry Armstrong was buried did not seem to him to prove that he was dead: he had always been a hard man to convince." How's that for an opener?

The Haunted Valley: Whisky Jo's hating on the coolies really gives you a sense of time and place, but more than anything, I wish I had a name which would proffer an awesome tombstone such as "Jo Dunfer. Done For."

A Resumed Identity: Civil war ghosts! Nobody writes about Civil War ghosts anymore...unless you were in on the script for the climactic battle-of-the-newsmen scene in Anchorman 2.

John Mortonson's Funeral: Surprise! Your cat will eat you when your dead. "From the opening crawled John Mortonson's cat, which lazily leapt to the floor, sat up, tranquilly wipes its crimson muzzle with a forepaw, then walked with dignity from the room."

An Inhabitant of Carcosa: This is the story I sought out after falling prey to a minor obsession with HBO's new series "True Detective." I like the hallucinatory nature of it--oh those delirium-inducing fevers of old! I feel like I have to thank this story for leading me on an adventure--both in reading Ambrose Bierce for the first time and the actual physical journey of finding a copy of Bierce's work. See below...

A Fruitless Assignment: Playing soccer with a team full of ghosts using a severed head as a ball? Henry Saylor couldn't write up two columns for Cincinnati's paper on that experience? Geez.

A Vine on a House: Roots of a vine in the shape of a footless body.

The Other Lodgers: I certainly won't attempt accommodations at the Breathitt House in Atlanta.

The other great thing about reading Mr. Ambrose Bierce? I couldn't find a copy of his collected works at any public library or bookstore in town so my boyfriend scouted it out at the University library where it was kept in the back with all the other secret tomes for librarian eyes only. The book was an old blue hardcover bound circa 1970 and the pages were of mismatched sizes and tattered along the edges, i.e., this book was hella sexy.

[Rob Atkinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was prompted to track this down by a New York Times book review of the Modern Library "Collected Works of Ambrose Bierce" which singled out his ghost stories, originally issued in this single volume, as particularly good -- and as I already already own a copy of (and love) his witty "Devil's Dictionary". Overall, it's a pretty satisfying read, full of eerie atmosphere but offering few genuine chills. Most of the tales depend on a surprise twist, and a number of them aren't nearly as fresh as they might have been in 1909 when the collection was first published, and are now conventional and a bit tired, robbing the tales of that spine-tingling effect as a modern reader (this one, at least) can see them coming well beforehand. Bierce can also be a bit verbose and flowery, getting in his own way occasionally and disrupting the drive of the narrative. Attempts at wit sometimes fall flat. There are some memorable spooky gems here however, mostly towards the end of the volume, in the three sections headed "The Ways of Ghosts", "Soldier-Folk", and "Some Haunted Houses". Here he affects a straight style of reportage, as if he were simply recounting or sharing written or verbal accounts of hauntings he'd collected -- and his style is much leaner and to the point, to the stories' advantage.
My copy is actually a reprint published in 1924 by Albert and Charles Boni, New York, which I found second hand on Amazon for a pittance. I recommend looking into that option if this title interests you -- or if you don't own 'The Devil's Dictionary", his most enduring work, you might spring for the Modern Library collection, which also includes his volume of U.S. Civil War stories.