[books 2010] Ambrose Bierce

[inulro]

41. The Spook House by Ambrose Bierce

Bierce was a 19th-century American writer of ghost stories (and other weird & macabre tales), though is primarily remembered today for The (Enlarged) Devil's Dictionary. His stories often appear in collections of Golden Age stories of the supernatural, though I have to admit that I couldn't remember any, nor did any in this collection ring a bell. I have been too lazy to consult my ghost story collection to check.

As ghost stories go, I was a little underwhelmed. Most of them are too short to build up any real suspsense and the stories can be a big repetitive. His writing style is good, though at times he wants to be Mark Twain so much it hurts.

I was, however, fascinated by the settings for Bierce's stories - several involve the Civil War, and most are set in frontier locations, most notably California Gold Rush towns (before California was a state, so characters refer to going back to "the States"). Bierce moved all over the US during his lifetime and disappeared in the Mexican revolution in 1813.

So - not bad, but probably only of interest to serious ghost story nerds.

Comments

[girfan.livejournal.com]

This is a good story (and made into a Twilight Zone episode):
http://fiction.eserver.org/short/occurrence_at_owl_creek.html

[moral-vacuum.livejournal.com]

I recommend you look out for "Mr George and Other Odd Persons" by August Derleth.

[inulro.livejournal.com]

Ah! That's the one that tends to show up in collections, but is not included in The Spook House. That explains a lot.

[inulro.livejournal.com]

Thank you. Despite being a full-on HP Lovecraft fan, I've never got round to checking out Derleth.

[zenithed.livejournal.com]

The Twilight Zone version of it is fantastic, quite easy to find on Youtube as well IIRC.