Wish List Wednesdays: When Were You Born? (1938) Is Finally Available on DVD

From Amazon

For me, October 1st is the start of the Halloween season, so let's ease our way into spooky fare by starting with a film that has only a hint of the supernatural.  "When Were You Born" (1938) is more of a mystery thriller, starring Anna May Wong as astrologer Mei Lee Ling, who finds herself mixed up in a murder when she predicts a dire fate for a fellow ship passenger which indeed comes to pass.  The police naturally suspect that her prediction was more than just coincidence, so to clear her name she offers to help the police find the killer.  It turns out Ling really does have an uncanny ability to predict the future based upon an individual's astrological sign, and with her help the police are eventually able to solve the murder.

The most interesting gimmick in this movie is that the twelve main characters were born under the twelve different astrological signs, and Ling accurately predicts the personalities of each based upon when they were born (hence the film's title).  Also interesting is that this movie's screenplay was written by astrologer and mystic Manly P. Hall, the founder of the Philosophical Research Society, who also appears in the introduction of the film to give a detailed description of the astrological signs which feature so prominently in the movie.  One final interesting observation is that, although Anna May Wong is presumably the main character in the movie, she receives second billing to a white female actress whose role in the film is more marginal (the movie was made in 1938, so this is probably not surprising for the time).

While this is not the best murder mystery film ever made, I did enjoy the admittedly gimmicky trick of using astrology to help solve the crime, and the plot was just convoluted enough to keep it from being too mundane.  I first saw this movie a couple of years ago on Turner Classic Movies, and have been waiting patiently for it to come out on DVD (click on Amazon link above).  If you are not interested in actually owning a copy, you can watch it on YouTube here:

Gore Guide (0=none to 5=extreme): 0

Mysterious Mondays: The Story of Urashima Taro, the Fisher Lad: A Japanese Fairy Tale

From Japan Info

My mother told us this ocean-themed folk tale when we were young, and I remember thinking at the time how very similar the story was to that of Washington Irving's Rip Van Winkle.  Urashima Taro is a young fisherman who saves a sea turtle, and in return is allowed to visit a wonderful undersea world inhabited by a beautiful princess.  He is delighted with the world, but eventually becomes homesick for his family and asks to return home.  Although Urashima Taro is warned against this visit, he insists, and the undersea inhabitants send him home.  He is given a box to take with him, but is warned never to open the box.  Upon his return home he discovers that what he thought was just a short separation had instead been centuries.  His home and parents are long gone.  In his sorrow, he forgets the warning and opens the forbidden box, with dire consequences.  This is a rather grim fairy tale, but like many stories of this sort there is a lesson to be learned, in this case one of obedience.  Perhaps my mother had a good reason for telling us this tale!

This would be a good story to recount to children on Halloween - it is only a little bit scary, and they just might take the lesson to heart!  You can read the story here, or listen to an audio version on YouTube:

Mysterious Mondays: "The Fog Horn" by Ray Bradbury

From SlideServe

"The Fog Horn" (1951) is a very short story by American author Ray Bradbury.  As in my first Mysterious Mondays post of the month, a lighthouse and its occupants are endangered, but this time instead of arriving via shipwreck the threat appears from the bottom of the sea.  Although the creature is certainly destructive, the two main characters seem to feel more empathy than fear, even when it becomes apparent that the lighthouse will not withstand the gigantic beast's arrival.   The senior lighthouse keeper even waxes philosophical about the animal's motives for approaching the lighthouse, and goes so far as to lie about the cause of their lighthouse's collapse, presumably to keep anyone from attempting to locate this ancient creature from the ocean depths.  In a way, the giant beast is more like a third main character than a dangerous adversary in the story.

Allegedly this unique tale caught the attention of director John Huston, who then asked Bradbury to write the screenplay for the 1956 movie "Moby Dick", based on Herman Melville's novel of the same name.  Huston must have thought the story was truly remarkable, as Ray Bradbury supposedly confessed to the director that he had never been able to finish reading Melville's book!  You can read "The Fog Horn" here, or listen to an audio version on YouTube:

             

Mysterious Mondays: "The Derelict" by William Hope Hodgson

From Goodreads

"The Derelict", by William Hope Hodgson, is one of many short horror fiction stories associated with the sea written by this English author, sailor, and soldier, whose own unique life experiences helped shape the settings for many of his works.  This tale concerns a very peculiar infestation aboard an ancient derelict vessel.  The unsettling ship is definitely not one that you would want to set foot upon once you know its secret!  You can read the story here, or you can listen to a very well done audio version here.

From Horror Delve

             

Mysterious Mondays: A Sailor's Tale of a Haunted Ship

From Motion Elements

Today's very short sea-themed horror fiction does not have a title, but it is such a creepy little well-told tale that it would be great for spooky storytelling at Halloween.  This story by Welsh-British author Horatio Clare, published in The Telegraph a few years ago, is told from the point of view of a sailor whose mother comes to visit him aboard ship.  What she sees comes as a shock to her son, and it will startle you as well!  Read this brief but effective narrative here.

From Why? This Website

             

Mysterious Mondays: "Three Skeleton Key" by George G. Toudouze

From Tes Teach

Every October I feature frightening short fiction and movies on my blog in anticipation of Halloween.  This year I have decided to post tales and films with a nautical theme.  Last year I posted a link to the short story "The Upper Berth" by F. Marion Crawford, which I consider to be the best short horror tale set at sea.  For today, I thought we would visit a terrifying lighthouse in the story "Three Skeleton Key" by French author George G. Toudouze.  In this narrative, three lighthouse keepers are menaced by a horde of crazed and starving rats that end up shipwrecked on their tiny isolated island.  Will help come in time, or will the three men end up adding to the skeleton count on Three Skeleton Key?

Even though I am not a lover of the sea, I am fascinated by lighthouses.  However, I think I would rather avoid the one in this tale!  You can read the story here.  There is also a YouTube video of the adapted radio version read by Vincent Price:

                

Mysterious Mondays: William F. Harvey's "Across the Moors"

From bol.com.

Happy Halloween!  My last scary short story for the month is "Across the Moors" by William F. Harvey, an English writer known for his ghost stories.  This particular tale emphasizes two common phobias, fear of the dark and fear of being alone.  A young governess is sent out late in the day on a walk across the moors to fetch a doctor for an ailing child.  Unfortunately the doctor is away, so she must return to the house in the dark by herself.  Along the way she is joined by a clergyman, but he is not all that he seems.  Perhaps being alone is not such a bad circumstance after all!

You can read "Across the Moors" here.  Unfortunately, an audio version is not available on YouTube (although it would be a great choice for audio), but the tale is very short and easy to read.  In fact, this  short story would be perfect to read aloud on Halloween night, even for children, as it is spooky but not terrifying.  Just be prepared to turn the lights on quickly once you finish reading!

William Fryer Harvey (1885-1937)
(from Tales of Mystery and Imagination)

Mysterious Mondays: F. Marion Crawford's "The Upper Berth"

From University Book Store.

The Halloween theme for this week is horror at sea, and the short story I have chosen is "The Upper Berth", one of the best-known chilling tales by F. Marion Crawford.  Crawford was a rather prolific American author who is known for his supernatural and fantasy works.  In this story, a seasoned sailor describes a terrifying experience on the ship Kamtschatka, where he shares cabin 105 with a very undesirable roommate who inhabits the upper berth.  Once you learn the details, you can easily understand why he will never sail on that particular ship again!

You can read "The Upper Berth" here, or listen to the audio version on YouTube (not the best narrator, and the story is rather long, but definitely worth hearing):

             

Mysterious Mondays: A. M. Burrage's "Smee"

From Bibliophilopolis.

The Halloween theme this week is fear of the dark.  The short story I have chosen to represent this fear is a classic entitled "Smee", written by A. M. Burrage, a British author now best known for his ghost fiction.  "Smee" begins with the narrator declaring at a Christmas Eve party that he never plays the game of hide-and-seek.  When pressed by the others at the party for the reason, he recounts the tale of the last time he played a variation of the game called, not surprisingly, Smee.  In this version of the game, only one person, chosen at random and undisclosed to the rest, is selected as Smee.  The lights are turned off and Smee hides.  Everyone else must find Smee in the dark and hide with this person until the last player has found them.  The narrator then goes on to tell his audience that the last time he played the game, not all of the players were who they seemed to be.  Reading this tale will guarantee that you will never play hide-and-seek again unless all the lights in the house are blazing brightly!  You can read this spooky tale here, or listen to an excellent audio version from YouTube:

             

Mysterious Mondays: Olivia Howard Dunbar's "The Shell of Sense"

From AbeBooks.

This week's Halloween theme is ghost stories.  I chose a lesser known tale by Olivia Howard Dunbar, an American short story writer and early feminist best known for her ghost fiction. "The Shell of Sense" is interesting because it is told from the spectral perspective.  It is a gentle and not especially frightening tale about three people, two living and one supernatural, who are involved in an unusual romantic triangle, and focuses on how the spirit gradually comes to realize the true meaning of both life and the afterlife.  You can read this short story here, or listen to an audio version on YouTube:

                

Mysterious Mondays: Edward Page Mitchell's "The Clock That Went Backward"

From Natalie Kay-Thatcher.

Every week this October I will choose a theme suitable for Halloween and link to an appropriate short story (I will also use this theme for Terrifying Tuesday film picks).  Today's theme is time travel, and the story I have chosen is a lesser-known tale by Edward Page Mitchell, an American Short story writer who was a major influence in the development of the science fiction genre.
The Clock That Went Backward (1881) by Mitchell is, according to Wikipedia, the first tale to use a machine for time travel.  Two cousins inherit their deceased aunt's possessions, and one of them receives a distinctive and mysterious Dutch clock that never seems to work.  However, there are two occasions when the hands begin to move, leading to frightening consequences.  You can read the short story here.  There is also an audiobook version on YouTube (although the reader is perhaps not the most effective at first, he gets a bit better as the story progresses):

                             

Mysterious Mondays: Martha's Vineyard Mysteries by Cynthia Riggs

Martha's Vineyard is the setting for the mystery series by author Cynthia Riggs, a resident of the island herself.  The first novel, Deadly Nightshade, introduces us to Victoria Trumbull, the 92-year-old resident poet of West Tisbury with a newly discovered talent for solving murders.  This skill is put to good use in the next novel, The Cranefly Orchid Murders, as well, and on through the rest of the series to the most recent tenth novel, The Bee Balm Murders.  Each mystery is linked in some way to the titular plant species, with the added bonus of a look at life on Martha's Vineyard from the perspective of an author who is a 13th generation Islander.

Cynthia Riggs is herself quite a remarkable character, and could certainly hold her own as a book heroine.  The daughter of an author/poet mother (upon whom the character of Victoria Trumbull is based) and school principal/printmaker father, Riggs has a degree in geology, has written for the National Geographic and the Smithsonian, worked for the American Petroleum Industry, operated charter boats, taught at the Annapolis Sailing School, ran the Chesapeake Bay Ferry Boat Company, and was a rigger at the Martha's Vineyard Shipyard.  In her late 60s Cynthia Riggs earned a MFA in creative writing from Vermont College, and promptly began her current career as a mystery writer.  Riggs has declared that she will write 20 Martha's Vineyard mysteries and then retire, but I have a feeling that this declaration is not set in stone!  Look for the 11th in the series in early 2015, entitled Poison Ivy: A Martha's Vineyard Mystery.

Perhaps the most fascinating story about this unique woman is her fairytale wedding in 2013 at the age of 81, to a man ten years her senior whom she met over 60 years earlier when the two of them worked at a marine laboratory in San Diego.  Read the article here for the amazing details, including the special mystery code which led to their reunion.

Wedding bells for the happy couple!

             

Mysterious Mondays: "The Lost Ghost" by Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman

"Then I saw a little white face with eyes so scared and wistful that they seemed as if they might eat a hole in anybody's heart."
(from The Literary Gothic)

I have mentioned in a previous post that some of the most heart-wrenching supernatural short stories are those that involve the ghosts of children.  Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman's "The Lost Ghost" is one of the most poignant of these tales, as well as being one of her best.  Two women, neighbors living in a New England village, spend an afternoon together doing needlework and gossiping, when the topic of ghosts is mentioned.  Mrs. Meserve confides to Mrs. Emerson that she once lived in a haunted house.  Intrigued, Mrs. Emerson presses her friend for more information, and after obtaining a promise that the story will not be repeated, Mrs. Meserve obliges.

In her youth, Mrs. Meserve, then Miss Arms, took a position as teacher in the town of East Wilmington.  She went to board with two sisters, Mrs. Dennison and Mrs. Bird, who had recently purchased and remodeled an old house and who were anxious to take in a boarder to help with expenses.  At first all went well and Miss Arms was quite content in her new home.  After about three weeks, however, the ghost made her first appearance to the young teacher.  The spirit was that of a very young girl, pitifully thin and apparently suffering from the cold.  The only words she spoke were "I can't find my mother."  The frightened Miss Arms confronted her landladies, who admitted to having seen the pathetic little ghost child as well, although they knew very little about her.  The only information they had concerned the former residents of the house, and the tragic events which befell them.  Apparently the mother of the child was a despicable woman, who abandoned her little girl in the house when her husband was out of town to run off with another man.  The poor child starved to death all alone in the house before the neighbors even realized what had happened.

The three women remained in the house in spite of the ghost, who was really not very terrifying, except for the fact that she was so pathetic.  Mrs. Bird in particular, a compassionate woman who had never had children of her own, grew to pity the ghostly girl, and fretted about not being able to help her.  The ending of the story is bittersweet, but hints dropped as the narrative progresses make the conclusion not unexpected.  Once again the writer presents a supernatural story as viewed through the eyes of practical New England women, who, even in the face of a tale as tragic as that of the child ghost, face events with stoic determination, this time tempered with compassion.

Visit The Literary Gothic to read the rest of Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman's ghost stories.  They are perfect for Halloween, or any other time you feel the need to read a well-written spooky tale!

From Ellen Moody's Website

         

Mysterious Mondays: "The Wind in the Rose-Bush" by Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman

"What makes that rose-bush blow so when there isn't any wind?"
(from The Literary Gothic)

"The Wind in the Rose-Bush" is an odd little ghost story from Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman.  The ghost is really not of primary importance in this tale -- instead it is the interaction of the two principal female characters that provides the eeriness.  Rebecca Flint is a Michigan spinster who has travelled to the distant town of Ford Village to retrieve her deceased sister's daughter from her brother-in-law's second wife.  Although the man died three years previously, Rebecca was only recently able to make this trip to collect her niece Agnes.  Upon meeting the second Mrs. Dent, Rebecca states her purpose, and is alarmed when the other woman has a violent reaction.  However, Emeline Dent recovers herself, claims that she is subject to spells, and invites Rebecca into the house.  On their way in, Rebecca notices a rose-bush with one perfect red rose on it, but is startled when the bush begins to shake violently, even though there is no wind.  Mrs. Dent brushes the odd incident off, and the two women enter the house.

Finding that Agnes is not home, Rebecca asks if she will be returning soon, to which Mrs. Dent calmly replies that the girl is visiting a dear friend and neighbor, Addie Slocum, and it would be hard to say when she will return.  Mrs. Dent invites Rebecca to stay for as long as she likes until Agnes is ready to travel.   The two women wait for the girl, but she does not return, and an exhausted Rebecca finally goes to her room without seeing her niece.  The next morning Mrs. Dent informs her that Agnes spent the night with the Slocums, and later Rebecca is told that the girl went on an out-of-town trip with Addie.

Again and again the return of Agnes is delayed, for various reasons according to Emeline Dent.  Rebecca is flabbergasted by these excuses, but also puzzled by a series of mysterious occurrences at the house, such as the appearance of unusual objects, music in the middle of the night, and the sudden scent of roses in rooms, not to mention the continued inexplicable quaking of the rose-bush by the front door.  Mrs. Dent's reaction to all of these things is odd, but she continues to act as if nothing out of the ordinary is happening, which confuses Rebecca even more.

Then Rebecca receives notice that the cousin who is staying at her house while she is away has injured herself, and Rebecca must return immediately.  Still young Agnes is not home, and she is forced to leave without her niece.  The exasperated woman tells Mrs. Dent in no uncertain terms to send the girl on alone to join her in Michigan, but leaves not at all reassured that this enigmatic woman will follow her instructions.  Sure enough, Agnes does not arrive, and more unusual still, she finds her cousin quite healthy and at a loss to explain the urgent summons added on to her letter.  Rebecca, who has fallen ill upon her return home, cannot travel, so she writes to Mrs. Dent, the Slocums, and the postmaster of Ford Village requesting information about Agnes.  The only reply she receives is a short note from the postmaster, but the revelations in this letter reveal dark secrets that until now have only been suspected by Rebecca Flint.

This ghost story is unusual in that the ghost plays only a very minor role, and one that is not especially scary.  More frightening than the specter is the second Mrs. Dent, a strange and unsettling woman who deliberately plays a cruel and unnecessary cat and mouse game with the unsuspecting Rebecca Flint, but who ultimately seems doomed to suffer in slow but relentless degrees from the consequences of her own actions. In this tale, what is not revealed is more horrifying that what does come to light, a technique which the talented writer is quite adept at employing.
         

Mysterious Mondays: "The Shadows on the Wall" by Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman

"'What is that?' he demanded in a strange voice."
(from The Literary Gothic)

Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman's short story "The Shadows on the Wall" is a dark tale of strange deaths and even stranger supernatural happenings.  Four siblings have gathered for the funeral of a fifth, one of two brothers named Edward Glynn who has died suddenly and mysteriously.  The other brother, Henry, a physician, has pronounced his death a natural one, but the three sisters, Caroline, Rebecca Ann, and Emma (now Mrs. Stephen Brigham), are not so sure.  While preparing for the funeral, the sisters carry on a stilted and fearful conversation.  It is apparent that something is on their minds, but that they cannot bring themselves to discuss it.  However, from what is left unsaid as they speak, it becomes clear that the three women suspect foul play in the death of their brother, and that they feel their other brother may be the perpetrator.

But the suspicious death of their brother Edward is not all that is on the minds of Caroline and Rebecca Ann.  As evening approaches and lamps are needed, Rebecca is asked to bring a light into the study which the women are occupying.  She is strangely reluctant, but the more forceful personalities of the other two sisters finally compel her to do so.  She is told to place the lamp in the middle of the room, and upon doing so, a bizarre supernatural phenomenon is revealed.  How the sisters cope with this event, and the reaction of their brother Henry when he discovers it, lead to a terrifying conclusion for this story.

Once again Freeman's skill as a writer paints a picture of sturdy New England women coping with harrowing situations, this time both real and supernatural, in their own unique way.  In fact, it almost seems as if the women are more willing to face the supernatural occurrence of the shadows on the wall, frightening though they are, than the real-life horror of fratricide.  While not overtly scary, an unsettling feeling of apprehension and unease permeate this tale from start to finish, and one has to wonder how the hapless sisters left behind will cope with the shades of two brothers who seem destined to spend a passive yet defiant eternity together.

"'Oh, my God,' gasped Mrs. Brigham.  'There are -- there are two shadows!'"
(from The Literary Gothic)

         

Mysterious Mondays: "Luella Miller" by Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman

"All but Luella shone white in the moonlight."
(from The Literary Gothic)

Short stories for Halloween continues, with "Luella Miller" by Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman.  This is an eerie tale of a young woman who moves to a small village to assume the post of schoolteacher.  Related many years after the young woman's demise by the now elderly woman, Lydia Anderson, who was her neighbor, this narrative slowly but relentlessly reveals a rather sinister aspect of the schoolteacher's character.  It seems that everyone who develops an attachment to Luella Miller begins to suffer failing health and soon passes away.  The saddest aspect of this story is the fact that, even though the young woman seems to have a childlike dependence on the assistance of others and engages in immature behavior to obtain it, she does not appear to comprehend her deleterious effect on them.  No one can be certain that her intentions are evil.  In fact, when confronted by Lydia Anderson, Luella actually attempts to become more independent until her own health begins to fail and yet another villager comes to her rescue, to his own detriment.  After that, no one will go near her, and she finally expires herself, but, according to Lydia Anderson, not without the aid of the spirits of her former victims.

Once again the author provides a glimpse into the New England character as the down-to-earth villagers do their best to understand and cope with a supernatural situation.  You can read the story here, or listen to an audio version on YouTube.  If you are interested, you can even read a scholarly analysis of this tale's theme here.  This is a vampire tale unlike any other, and well worth reading.
         

Mysterious Mondays: "The Southwest Chamber" by Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman

Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman (from Bran's Island)

It's that spooky time of year again, when the temperatures and leaves begin to drop and Halloween is just around the corner.  This month I thought I would feature the ghostly short tales of Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman (1852-1930), an American writer who was born on Halloween and whose body of work includes some excellent supernatural fiction.  She is often considered one of the best New England regionalist authors, and although the "feminine" topics in her stories caused her writings to be overlooked for a time, she is now critically acclaimed for the insight her tales bring into women's lives during this turn-of-the-century period of American history.  For more information about Freeman and her literary works, check out The Literary Gothic site.

"The Southwest Chamber", which can be read here, is a perfect example of how Freeman depicted the hardy pragmatism of New England women in the face of baffling supernatural events.  In this story, two middle-aged sisters inherit a house from an estranged aunt and decide to set up a boarding establishment.  The only problem is the space known as the southwest chamber, which is the room in which the elderly aunt passed away.  Every time someone attempts to enter or occupy the room, frightening occurrences take place, and each incident seems uniquely suited to inspire terror in the individual to which it is directed.  In the end, the sisters are forced to admit defeat, but even this is faced with a strength and fortitude most would find difficult to maintain under the circumstances.

Enjoy this spooky tale -- I hope it sets the mood for the upcoming Halloween festivities!

"She saw instead of her own face in the glass, the face of her dead Aunt Harriet!"

         

Mysterious Mondays: Bram Stoker's "Dracula's Guest"

Walpurgis Night bonfire (from Sweden.se)

Did you know that tonight is Walpurgis Night, exactly six months away from Halloween?  The night is often associated with witches and sorcerers, and is celebrated with bonfires and dancing, in preparation for the arrival of spring's May Day.  Bram Stoker's short story, "Dracula's Guest", takes place on Walpurgis Night.  This tale is thought to be a deleted chapter from his classic 1897 horror novel Dracula. It begins with an unnamed English traveller (assumed to be Jonathan Harker) in Munich on Walpurgis Night.  Despite his coachman's warning, the man wanders out into the forest at night.  A storm arises just as he enters a cemetery, and he is forced to seek shelter in a marble tomb.  At that point the night takes on a strange and menacing aspect, full of weird sights and sounds, including a glimpse of a beautiful countess and the persistent howling of wolves.  The Englishman loses consciousness, but is vaguely aware that something is holding him down.  He is eventually rescued, and learns that his rescue was even more fantastically unusual than the events leading up to it, and came about by the intercession of the very person he is on his way to visit in Transylvania, who just happens to be Count Dracula.  You can read this short story here, or watch an interesting gothic horror machinima animation version on YouTube.  The latter is something I had never seen before, and I found it fascinating!

If you find yourself travelling to Transylvania today, you had best stay indoors after dark.  Have a safe Walpurgis Night!

Dracula welcomes his guest (from Horror Cult Films)

     

Mysterious Mondays: W. W. Jacobs' "The Monkey's Paw"

From Etsy

The biggest mystery about W. W. Jacobs is why he is best remembered for his horror short story "The Monkey's Paw" when the vast majority of his writings were humorous tales!  William Wymark Jacobs was born in London, the son of a wharf manager.  He worked as a civil servant while slowly launching his writing career -- after 20 years he was able to leave his job, marry, and focus solely on his writing.  Most of his works, both novels and short stories, centered around the sea.  An arrangement to publish many of his tales serially in The Strand Magazine provided him and his family with lifetime financial security.  Although Jacobs wrote far fewer tales of the macabre, "The Monkey's Paw" is one of the best in the genre and a must-read for those with an interest in this sort of fiction.

You can read "The Monkey's Paw" here.  An audio version is available here, and you can also watch a YouTube video production.

This is the perfect Halloween tale, so enjoy, and happy Halloween!

From eBooks@Adelaide

 

Mysterious Mondays: Ambrose Bierce's "The Damned Thing"

By dispatches from here

Ambrose Bierce was an American journalist and author whose biting and sardonic wit earned him the nickname "Bitter Bierce".  He was born in Ohio to a poor but literary couple, the tenth of thirteen children, all with names beginning with the letter "A".  At the age of fifteen be began working for a small Ohio newspaper, but enlisted in the Union Army when the Civil War broke out.  He fought well, but in 1864 suffered a head wound in battle and was furloughed for the rest of the war.  The horrific scenes he witnessed during the war would influence his later writings, including what is probably his most famous tale, "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge".  After the war he resumed his military career, traveling across the Great Plains to inspect military outposts from Omaha to San Francisco.  In San Francisco Bierce retired from the Army, working and residing in that city for many years, with brief stints in England and the Dakota Territory.  Eventually he was employed by William Randolph Hearst's newspaper, The San Francisco Examiner, where he became a prominent and influential, if often controversial, contributor.  In 1913, the 71-year-old Bierce began a tour of Civil War battlefields he had known, and then ended up in Mexico, joining Pancho Villa's army as an observer during that nation's revolution.  At some time during this mission Ambrose Bierce mysteriously disappeared and was never heard from again.  To this day his fate is unknown.

Bierce was a well-known writer of supernatural tales.  Of the 93 short stories he wrote, 53 can be classified in this genre.  Most of his stories are short and abrupt in style, which is characteristic of his work.  The predominant theme of many of his tales is hauntings, often of a vengeful nature.  One of his best, however, does not involve ghosts.  It is entitled "The Damned Thing", and can be read here.  To read more of his tales, go to this site.

From Wikipedia