Other editions of book Present at a Hanging and Other Ghost Stories

This collection of short and chilling ghost stories was originally published in 1913 and is loosely organized into four categories: The Ways of Ghosts, including “An Arrest,” in which a murderer is escorted back to jail by the prison guard he murdered to escape; Soldier Folk including “A Man with Two Lives,” in which a man dead and buried returns to claim his belongings, Some Haunted Houses, including “The Other Lodgers,” in which a man checks into what he believes is a hotel only to discover it is an abandoned hospital, and Mysterious Disappearances, including “The Difficulty of Crossing a Field,” in which a man disappears in full view of witnesses while crossing a field.Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce (1842-1914) was an American editorialist, journalist, short story writer, fabulist and satirist. Bierce employed a distinctive style of writing, 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.

Present at a Hanging, and other Ghost Stories” collects some of Ambrose Bierce’s finest tales of the supernatural and eerie side of life. Regarded by his 19th century peers as a master of the English language, his economical yet florid style shines in these compact stories concerning time, war, and impossible events. Mentioned in the same breath as Edgar Allan Poe and H.P. Lovecraft, Bierce is thought to be a master of short horror fiction.

This collection of short and chilling ghost stories was originally published in 1913 and is loosely organized into four categories: The Ways of Ghosts, including "An Arrest," in which a murderer is escorted back to jail by the prison guard he murdered to escape; Soldier Folk including "A Man with Two Lives," in which a man dead and buried returns to claim his belongings, Some Haunted Houses, including "The Other Lodgers," in which a man checks into what he believes is a hotel only to discover it is an abandoned hospital, and Mysterious Disappearances, including "The Difficulty of Crossing a Field," in which a man disappears in full view of witnesses while crossing a field.

Contents: The Ways of Ghosts Present at a Hanging A Cold Greeting A Wireless Message An Arrest Soldier-Folk A Man with Two Lives Three and One are One A Baffled Ambuscade Two Military Executions Some Haunted Houses The Isle of Pines A Fruitless Assignment A Vine on a House At Old Man Eckert's The Spook House The Other Lodgers The Thing at Nolan The Difficulty of Crossing a Field An Unfinished Race Charles Ashmore's Trail Science to the Front My peculiar relation to the writer of the following narratives is such that I must ask the reader to overlook the absence of explanation as to how they came into my possession. Withal, my knowledge of him is so meager that I should rather not undertake to say if he were himself persuaded of the truth of what he relates; certainly such inquiries as I have thought it worth while to set about have not in every instance tended to confirmation of the statements made. Yet his style, for the most part devoid alike of artifice and art, almost baldly simple and direct, seems hardly compatible with the disingenuousness of a merely literary intention; one would call it the manner of one more concerned for the fruits of research than for the flowers of expression. In transcribing his notes and fortifying their claim to attention by giving them something of an orderly arrangement, I have conscientiously refrained from embellishing them with such small ornaments of diction as I may have felt myself able to bestow, which would not only have been impertinent, even if pleasing, but would have given me a somewhat closer relation to the work than I should care to have and to avow.--A. B.

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Present at a Hanging and Other Ghost Stories is a classic horror story collection by the great American author, Ambrose Bierce. This collection contains a variety of gripping horror tales including the title piece these other titles: The Ways of Ghosts -- Present at a Hanging -- A Cold Greeting -- A Wireless Message -- An Arrest -- Soldier-Folk -- A Man with Two Lives -- Three and One are One -- A Baffled Ambuscade -- Two Military Executions -- Some Haunted Houses -- The Isle of Pines -- A Fruitless Assignment -- A Vine on a House -- At Old Man Eckert's -- The Spook House -- The Other Lodgers -- The Thing at Nolan -- The Difficulty of Crossing a Field -- An Unfinished Race -- Charles Ashmore's Trail -- Science to the Front

Present at a Hanging and Other Ghost Stories is a classic horror story collection by the great American author, Ambrose Bierce. This collection contains a variety of gripping horror tales including the title piece these other titles: The Ways of Ghosts -- Present at a Hanging -- A Cold Greeting -- A Wireless Message -- An Arrest -- Soldier-Folk -- A Man with Two Lives -- Three and One are One -- A Baffled Ambuscade -- Two Military Executions -- Some Haunted Houses -- The Isle of Pines -- A Fruitless Assignment -- A Vine on a House -- At Old Man Eckert's -- The Spook House -- The Other Lodgers -- The Thing at Nolan -- The Difficulty of Crossing a Field -- An Unfinished Race -- Charles Ashmore's Trail -- Science to the Front

The oeuvre of Ambrose Bierce is certainly varied and colorful, including satiric writings and literary criticism just as much as Gothic stories. This collection contains the best of Bierce’s short stories, both writings inspired by history and scary stories, but don’t expect horror stories that will make you feel terrified to spend a night alone in your own home – what you should expect is a set of exciting stories that will send shivers down your spine, but without any horror elements.The book organizes the nineteen short and quick paced stories into five chapters. The first chapter is entitled The Ways of Ghosts and it includes four stories of dead people as they are trying to reach out for the world of the living in order to help the living; the second set of four stories is collected under the title Soldier Folk and also deals with strange events, but this is also the chapter that contains stories about how the war impacts family life and how duty can defeat death.The third chapter bears the title Some Haunted Houses, part one, followed by the fourth chapter with part two, both being about spirits that are confined to buildings. The last three stories are grouped under the chapter title Mysterious Disappearances – they deal with how people living everyday lives suddenly disappeared and they make an attempt of presenting a theory to account for the mysterious events. Ambrose Bierce not only wrote about unexplainable disappearances – his own death was also a mysterious disappearance. In 1913, Bierce set off on a journey to visit the important battlegrounds of the Civil War. In December, he wrote a letter to a friend of his, but nothing more is known about him after that letter – he simply vanished and the mystery has not been elucidated to our days.