Ambrose Bierce

Is there any escape for the condemned man on the bridge who already has the noose tied around his neck for death by hanging?

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

Treasury of ninety-three short works includes horror stories, realistic narratives of war, and tall tales of the old West

The Complete Short Stories of Ambrose Bierce

A "dictionary" of barbed definitions by one of America's most caustic humorists includes cynical epigrams, maxims, essays, and verses that illustrate the irreverent humor of the nineteenth-century satirist as he lampoons cherished American traditions.

The Devil's Dictionary

An Inhabitant of Carcosa

Sixteen dark and vivid selections by great satirist and short-story writer. "A Horseman in the Sky," "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," "Chickamauga," "A Son of the Gods," "What I Saw of Shiloh," "Four Days in Dixie" and 10 more. Masterly tales offer excellent examples of Bierce's dark pessimism and storytelling power. Note.

Civil War Stories

An adaptation of "A horseman in the sky" with read-along and follow-up activities to enhance listening skills and encourage an interest in reading, this kit is designed for "the secondary student (7-12) " at "all ability levels."

A Horseman in the Sky

Christopher Sergel

H. P. Lovecraft

R. W. Chambers

A seasonal collection of horror tales based on Lovecraft's principle of "cosmic fear" contains in addition to the title story such selections as Algeron Blackwood's "The Willows," Henry James's "The Jolly Corner," and Arthur Machen's "The White People." Oriignal.

Tales of Cosmic Horror by Lovecraft, Chambers, Machen, Poe, and Other Masters of the Weird

Shadows of Carcosa

Best known as a master of searing satire, American author Ambrose Bierce was also an accomplished short story writer. The engrossing tale "The Damned Thing" presents as its central theme the ultimately unknowable -- and untameable -- essence of nature and the natural world. Told from several different perspectives, the story focuses on a freak fatal accident that is written off as a wild animal attack. But does that description get at the truth of the matter? At least one witness is convinced otherwise. Read "The Damned Thing" to try your own hand at solving the case.

The Damned Thing

Twenty-four grotesque horror tales written by Ambrose Bierce, the nineteenth-century journalist known for his cynicism

Ghost and Horror Stories

Questing after Pancho Villa's revolutionary forces, Ambrose Bierce rode into Mexico in 1913 and was never seen again. He left behind him theDevil's Dictionary and a remarkable body of short fiction. This new collection gathers some of Bierce's finest stories, including the celebrated Civil War fictions 'An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge' and 'Chickamauga', his macabre masterpieces, and his tales of supernatural horror. Reminiscent of Poe, these stories are marked by a sardonic humour and a realistic study of tense emotional states. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

and Other Stories

Tales of Soldiers and Civilians

Complete and unabridged, this paperback gift edition of an American humor classic presents more than 1,000 comic definitions praised by H. L. Mencken as "some of the most gorgeous witticisms in the English language."

Complete & Unabridged

Death awaits them all � A man stares into the deep river swirling beneath him � hands tied, noose around his neck � and waits for the order to end his life. Another is trapped for eternity in a room full of corpses. A cowering woman is strangled in the dead of night. These are just some of the countless victims for whom all hope is lost in Ambrose Bierce�s chilling stories of death, delusion and the supernatural.

Terrifying Tales of the Macabre

The Spook House

A diagnosis of death

Esta edição de Dicionário do Diabo, do escritor e jornalista norte-americano Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914), é a primeira em português com o texto na íntegra. A obra, cuja edição original data de 1911, é um compêndio de verbetes com definições satíricas e ácidas publicados ao longo de décadas por Bierce em jornais humorísticos e políticos. “Ano”, na definição do Diabo, é um “período de 365 decepções”. “Autoestima”, uma “avaliação equivocada”. “Noiva”, “uma mulher com uma ótima perspectiva de felicidade em seu passado”. Já “noivo”, aquele “equipado com uma tornozeleira onde prender a corrente e a bola”. O próprio “dicionário”, para Bierce, é um “maligno instrumento literário para limitar o crescimento de um idioma e torná-lo duro e inelástico”. Essa visão cínica e irônica do autor, sobretudo em relação à sociedade e à cultura dos Estados Unidos de seu tempo, rendeu notoriedade ao dicionário, que figura na célebre edição das cem maiores obras-primas da literatura americana elaborada em 1976 pelo American Revolution Bicentennial Administration. Muitos dos verbetes são acompanhados por poemas e citações, adotados por Bierce para contar histórias, ilustrar definições e fazer diversas provocações a seus contemporâneos. As edições do Dicionário traduzidas para o português omitiram os poemas (assim como algumas edições em língua inglesa e em traduções para outros idiomas). Ambrose Bierce nasceu em Ohio e, aos 15 anos, começou a trabalhar em um jornal local, como aprendiz de impressor. Aos 19, alistou-se no Exército e participou da Guerra de Secessão, do lado dos Unionistas. Dispensado após ter sido atingido por uma bala na cabeça, começou a escrever para a imprensa de São Francisco. Ao longo de sua carreira, publicou diversos livros de ficção, poesia, sátira, histórias de crimes e terror, contos sobre a Guerra Civil Americana, ensaios e livros-reportagem, tanto nos Estados Unidos como na Inglaterra. Aos 71 anos, partiu para o México, aparentemente para acompanhar Pancho Villa na Revolução Mexicana, e desapareceu. Não se sabe como ou onde morreu, acredita-se que em 1914. O mistério inspirou o romancista mexicano Carlos Fuentes no livro Gringo viejo, adaptado para o cinema em 1898, com Gregory Peck interpretando Bierce. O livro foi traduzido por Rogerio W. Galindo, que assina também o prefácio, e o projeto gráfico é de Paula Tinoco e Roderico Souza, do Estúdio Campo. O volume, em capa dura, foi encadernado com um revestimento que simula couro, com texto gravado. Dessa forma, a peça remete a um dicionário tradicional, mas também a um livro antigo e sagrado, uma espécie de Bíblia, mas ao contrário.

Dicionário do Diabo

Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce (born June 24, 1842, assumed to have died sometime after December 26, 1913) was an American editorialist, journalist, short story writer, fabulist, and satirist. He wrote the short story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" and compiled a satirical lexicon The Devil's Dictionary. His vehemence as a critic, his motto "Nothing matters", and the sardonic view of human nature that informed his work, all earned him the nickname "Bitter Bierce". Despite his reputation as a searing critic, Bierce was known to encourage younger writers, including poet George Sterling and fiction writer W. C. Morrow. Bierce employed a distinctive style of writing, especially in his stories. His style often embraces an abrupt beginning, dark imagery, vague references to time, limited descriptions, impossible events and the theme of war. In 1913, Bierce traveled to Mexico to gain first-hand experience of the Mexican Revolution. While traveling with rebel troops, he disappeared without a trace. Bierce was considered a master of pure English by his contemporaries, and virtually everything that came from his pen was notable for its judicious wording and economy of style. He wrote in a variety of literary genres. His short stories are held among the best of the 19th century, providing a popular following based on his roots. He wrote realistically of the terrible things he had seen in the war in such stories as "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge", "The Boarded Window", "Killed at Resaca", and "Chickamauga". In addition to his ghost and war stories, he also published several volumes of poetry. His Fantastic Fables anticipated the ironic style of grotesquerie that became a more common genre in the 20th century. One of Bierce's most famous works is his much-quoted book, The Devil's Dictionary, originally an occasional newspaper item which was first published in book form in 1906 as The Cynic's Word Book. It consists of satirical definitions of English words which lampoon cant and political double-talk. Under the entry "leonine", meaning a single line of poetry with an internal rhyming scheme, he included an apocryphal couplet written by the fictitious "Bella Peeler Silcox" (i.e. Ella Wheeler Wilcox) in which an internal rhyme is achieved in both lines only by mispronouncing the rhyming words: The electric light invades the dunnest deep of Hades. Cries Pluto, 'twixt his snores: "O tempora! O mores! Bierce's twelve-volume Collected Works were published in 1909, the seventh volume of which consists solely of The Devil's Dictionary, the title Bierce himself preferred to The Cynic's Word Book.

The Death of Halpin Frayser

A Vine on a House

Mike Ashley

Motionless now and in absolute silence, she awaited her doom, the moments growing to hours, to years, to ages; and still those devilish eyes maintained their watch.

Ambrose Bierce was one of America's leading writers of the nineteenth century, seen by contemporaries as a successor to Edgar Allan Poe with an authentic grasp of horror based on his experiences fighting for the Union in the American Civil War. Despite his contributions to the genre of supernatural and weird tales, today his name remains unknown to many readers.

This new collection presents over thirty of Bierce’s most terrifying and unusual stories, from essential classics such as 'An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge' and 'The Eyes of the Panther' to the writer’s lesser-known series recounting macabre local legends of haunted houses, mysterious disappearances and chilling encounters with the dead.

Ambrose Bierce

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