Showing results by author "Ambrose Bierce" in All Categories

In this brief yet eloquent story, the writer recounts his trip from Europe to California visit to an old friend, during which he hears a tapping on the wall to an adjoining apartment. With regret, his friend tells the story of his coldhearted, selfish denial of his love for a young lady.

Famous for its irregular time sequence and twist ending, this is Bierce's most anthologized story.

Originally published in the San Francisco Examiner in 1891 as "Tales of Soldiers and Civilians" and retitled in Britain as "In the Midst of Life", this audiobook is a collection of 11 short stories from the tales of civilians. Ambrose Bierce loved to focus on the troubled, and perhaps marginally insane, citizens of his time, and the power of the mind, and love gone wrong. For example, "The Man and the Snake" is a story where the snake never attacks, but the man dies.

The eyes of a panther, or the mind of a terrified woman. Which is more powerful? Ambrose Bierce leaves you wondering and thinking in this powerful short story.

Here, a collection of 15 short stories by Ambrose Bierce. Bierce's participation in the Battle of Shiloh forever shaped his writing and his life. The short stories in this audiobook, although fiction, are - for the most part - based on some fact. They stand as a testament to the horror of the American Civil War.

Originally published in 1892 in Tales of Soldiers and Civilians, "A Lady from Redhorse" is Ambrose Bierce at his best. Mary Jane Dement, daughter of Calamity Jim, grew up in the gold mines where Jim hit it big, and Mary Jane is a millionaire with few prospects for true romance. In her letters to her friend Irene, we learn how love can happen.

Ambrose Bierce brings to life the heart rendering stories of divided loyalties, splitting families, states, countries, and individuals. He writes of the glory in beginning and savagery in the doing. Here is a moving anti-war series of stories if ever there was one. A must read by all students of American History and Literature, though perhaps best understood by older adults.

A deserted cabin deep in the woods. One door, one window. The window is boarded up. The former resident - a recluse - is deceased. Is there a story here? Estate liquidators make a living disposing of the personal effects of deceased persons. Typically these are elderly people who may have lived alone, and were considered a bit strange because of their aloofness. But as the liquidator goes through the effects of the deceased, they occasionally find a story. Here, Ambrose Bierce explorers some possibilities.

In this missive Ambrose Bierce recounts two days in his life, April 6 and April 7, 1862, perhaps the two most significant days of his life. He and over 100,000 other combatants have gathered about a small church near the town of Corinth, "a wretched place--the capital of a swamp, two days' march west of the Tennessee River". The church is Shiloh, and it will lend its name to the great battle that took place there.

A dare and a wager to spend the night locked up in a room with a corpse: What could go wrong? Be prepared to be surprised.

Given "The Suitable Surroundings", can a person be scared to death? The answer is yes, according to Ambrose Bierce: Skepticism must occasionally apologize to truth. Once again Ambrose Bierce weaves a tale that, even under present-day conditions, is indeed frightening.

Another excellent short story from the mind and pen of Ambrose Bierce. This story will draw you in like a fish on the line, then play you out and back in again. Bierce is a master of surprise and suspense.

This anthology of unabridged short stories represents some of the most significant works from the most influential American authors of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Includes the following: "Rip Van Winkle" by Washington Irving, "Young Goodman Brown" by Nathaniel Hawthorne, "The Fall of the House of Usher" by Edgar Allan Poe, "Mermaids" by Louisa May Alcott, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" by Mark Twain, "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce, and "The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry.

>"Killed at Resaca" is the story of a brave man, loved by his fellow soldiers and driven by a heartless, beautiful woman. Full of Bierce's infamous sense of outrage and morality, this is a classic Civil War story.

Harker Brayton accepts an offer from an associate to stay at his house. We and Brayton learn that his friend's home is also home to numerous serpents. In fact, a wing of the house - the "Snakery" - is full of the cold blooded creatures, which have been known to wander.

A child stumbles across something in the snow. A wealthy man prepares for his retirement. What clever or cruel twist will this small masterpiece by Ambrose Bierce reveal?

“The Man from the Nose” is a short story from the civilian section of Ambrose Bierce’s In the Midst of Life: Tales of Soldiers and Civilians. Like the other tales from this collection, “The Man from the Nose” features a protagonist who is in the prime of his life, when a sudden event shatters his hopes and dreams. As with the rest of the Bierce's stories, the questions and characters presented in “The Man from the Nose” will remain on your mind long after you have stopped listening.

An opportunity to right a wrong that had been done, but at what cost.

What does one do when issued an order by a superior that is contradictory to what one believes to be right? In this short fictional story from the American Civil War, the protagonist is faced with that very situation. When given an insulting and ridiculous order by his commanding general, he carries the order out. Then, when questioned by a subordinate, he passes it on to him in the same manner. Friendly fire in a fog is just as deadly as fire from the enemy.

As the American Civil War rages, an officer who longs for the glory of battle has been assigned to staff duties away from the battlefield. Now a captain, he is assigned to a combat unit and faces battle for the first time. He finds there is no glory, only controlled terror for those engaged in war.