¿Pueden suceder estas cosas? I

by Ambrose Bierce

Ambrose Bierce es un caso único y al mismo tiempo ejemplar dentro de los orígenes de la literatura de terror contemporánea. Lejos de toda solemnidad, sus cuentos son salvajemente incorrectos y vívidos. En ellos sobrevuela el tono zumbón y desencantado de un hombre que lejos de abstraerse de las problemáticas de la época para reflexionar e indagar en lo desconocido, encuentra lo desconocido en las pulsiones cotidianas de sus personajes. Bierce, para conjurar el tan mentado terror cósmico, no necesita de criaturas informes y milenarias; a él le alcanza con la naturaleza humana y sus misterios, con las miserias familiares, los celos excesivos y las avaricias más prosaicas. Como buen periodista, podía encontrar las sombras más inescrutables y los abismos más negros en un recuadro perdido de la sección de Policiales, ahí donde en algún diario perdido de México puede haber aparecido alguna oscura referencia sobre su suerte definitiva.

136 pages, Paperback

Published December 1, 2019

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!"