Ambrose Bierce (1842–1914)
Author of The Devil's Dictionary
About the Author
Ambrose Bierce was a brilliant, bitter, and cynical journalist. He is also the author of several collections of ironic epigrams and at least one powerful story, "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge." Bierce was born in Ohio, where he had an unhappy childhood. He served in the Union army during the show more Civil War. Following the war, he moved to San Francisco, where he worked as a columnist for the newspaper the Examiner, for which he wrote a number of satirical sketches. Bierce wrote a number of horror stories, some poetry, and countless essays. He is best known, however, for The Cynic's Word Book (1906), retitled The Devil's Dictionary in 1911, a collection of such cynical definitions as "Marriage: the state or condition of a community consisting of a master, a mistress, and two slaves, making in all, two." Bierce's own marriage ended in divorce, and his life ended mysteriously. In 1913, he went to Mexico and vanished, presumably killed in the Mexican revolution. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Famous Americans CD-ROM & Book (Dover Electronic Clip Art)
Series
Works by Ambrose Bierce
Ambrose Bierce's Write It Right: The Celebrated Cynic's Language Peeves Deciphered, Appraised, and Annotated for… (2009) 219 copies
The Devil's Dictionaries: The Best of the Devil's Dictionary and the American Heretic's Dictionary (2000) 42 copies
The Collected Works of Ambrose Bierce, Vol. 8: Negligible Tales, On with the Dance, Epigrams (1909) 25 copies
Phantoms of a Blood-Stained Period: The Complete Civil War Writings of Ambrose Bierce (2002) 19 copies
The Ambrose Bierce satanic reader; selections from the invective journalism of the great satirist (1968) 14 copies
The Coup de Grâce [short story] 6 copies
The letters of Ambrose Bierce, edited by Bertha Clark Pope, with a memoir by George Sterling (1922) 5 copies
A Jug of Syrup — Author — 5 copies
De eeuwige oorlog oorlogsverhalen van Ambrose Bierce, Wyndham Lewis, Louis-Ferdinand Céline, (1993) 5 copies
A Tough Tussle [Short story] 5 copies
Works of Ambrose Bierce. Incl: Present at a Hanging and Other Ghost Stories, The Devil's Dictionary, Fantastic… (2008) 5 copies
O dicionário do Diabo: uma seleção 4 copies
The Damned Thing and Other Horrors: The Best Weird Fiction and Ghost Stories of Ambrose Bierce: Annotated and… (2019) 4 copies
La Dama De Redhorse. El Incidente En El Puente Búho. El Secreto Del Barranco De Macarger = A Lady Fr (2000) 4 copies
Haita the Shepherd 4 copies
Verschrikkelijke vertellingen 4 copies
John Bartine's Watch [Short story] 4 copies
The Very Best of Ambrose Bierce Including An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge and What I Saw of Shiloh (2012) 3 copies
Jupiter Doke, Brigadier General 3 copies
Great American Short Stories: Lekturen Englisch. Melville, Poe, Bierce, Hemingway, Capote (2009) 3 copies
The Famous Gilson Bequest 3 copies
One Of Twins 3 copies
Il comportamento dei fantasmi 3 copies
The Night Doings At 'Deadman's' 3 copies
My Favorite Murder 3 copies
Haïta the Shepherd 3 copies
The Applicant 2 copies
One Officer One Man 2 copies
TALES OF SOLDIERS AND CIVILIANS by AMBROSE BIERCE; HERITAGE PRESS CIVIL WAR (1777) — Author — 2 copies
The Man Out of the Nose 2 copies
The Collected Works of Ambrose Bierce ...: Can Such Things Be? the Ways of Ghosts. Soldier-Folk. Some Haunted Houses (2010) 2 copies
Tales of Horror and Fantasy 2 copies
The Ultimate Horror Collection 2 copies
Selections from Prattle 2 copies
Possono accadere queste cose? 2 copies
The Other Logers [Short story] 2 copies
The Classic American Short Story MEGAPACK ® (Volume 1): 34 of the Greatest Stories Ever Written 2 copies
Poetry 2 copies
The Ingenious Patriot 2 copies
A Lady From Red Horse 2 copies
Parker Adderson Philosopher 2 copies
Relatos-Diccionario del diablo/Tales of Soldiers and Civilians (In the Midst of Life) Can Such Things Be? The Devil's… (1999) 2 copies
Classic American Literature: 13 books by Bierce in a single file, with active table of contents, improved 7/3/2009 (2008) 2 copies
The Affair At Coulter's Notch 2 copies
Oczy pantery 2 copies
A clash of titans : Ambrose Bierce, Collis Huntington, and the 1896 fight to refund the Central Pacific's debt to the… (2010) 2 copies
The Realm Of The Unreal 2 copies
An Imperfect Conflagration 2 copies
The Story Of A Conscience 2 copies
Sorte historier 2 copies
A Revolt of the Gods 2 copies
Battle Sketches 2 copies
Seven fables 2 copies
The Devil's Dictionary: The Lexicon of Choice for Satirists, Cynics, Skeptics, and other Enlightened Souls: A 365-Day… (2005) 2 copies
Devil's Dictionaries, Revised and Expanded: The Devil's Dictionary and the American Heretic's... by Bierce, Ambrose… (1600) 1 copy
Christmas and the New Year 1 copy
De dodenwacht 1 copy
De weg in het maanlicht 1 copy
Racconti neri 1 copy
La rivolta degli dei 1 copy
E possivel? 1 copy
Diabli dykcjonarz 1 copy
El guardián del huerto 1 copy
Dizionario del Diavolo 1 copy
The Monk and the Hangman's Daughter and Other Stories (includes An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge) (1955) 1 copy
Un cittadino di Carcosa 1 copy
Favole a orologeria 1 copy
I racconti dell’oltretomba 1 copy
Une aventure à Brownville 1 copy
El reino de lo irreal 1 copy
Uprostřed života 1 copy
Nightmare Classics: Eyes of the Panther [1989 TV episode] — Writer — 1 copy
Historias de soldados 1 copy
Una Dama De Redhorse / El Incidente En El Puente Del Búho, El Secreto (COLECCIÓN LIBROS BILINGÜES… (2008) 1 copy
Legkedvesebb gyilkosságom 1 copy
Ebolaj 1 copy
“A Horseman in the Sky” 1 copy
The Collected Works of Ambrose Bierce, Vol. 12: Kings of Beasts; Two Administrations; Miscellaneous (Classic Reprint) (2017) 1 copy
Der Gnadenstoß 1 copy
Two Military Executions 1 copy
The City Of The Gone Away 1 copy
The Widower Turmore 1 copy
The Major's Tale 1 copy
Tales of the Civil War 1 copy
Os contos completos 1 copy
The Complete Works of Ambrose Bierce: A Son of the Gods and a Horseman in the Sky, Cobwebs from an Empty Skull,… (2013) 1 copy
Ambrose Bierce: Complete Collection of Works with analysis and historical background (Annotated and Illustrated)… (2014) 1 copy
A Cold Greeting 1 copy
Curried Cow 1 copy
A Bivouac Of The Dead 1 copy
Mr. Masthead, Journalist 1 copy
Corrupting The Press 1 copy
"The Bubble Reputation" 1 copy
A Shipwreckollection 1 copy
The Captain Of The "Camel" 1 copy
The Man Overboard 1 copy
A Cargo Of Cat 1 copy
Three And One Are One 1 copy
A Baffled Ambuscade 1 copy
"Mysterious Disappearances" 1 copy
Some Haunted Houses 1 copy
The Hypnotist 1 copy
The Little Story 1 copy
Mr. Swiddler's Flip-Flap 1 copy
A Providential Intimation 1 copy
Perry Chumly's Eclipse 1 copy
The Race At Left Bower 1 copy
The Baptism Of Dobsho 1 copy
Jug of syrup 1 copy
El humor de Ambrose Bierce 1 copy
The Crimson Candle 1 copy
The Collected Works, Vol II 1 copy
The Collected Works, Vol I 1 copy
Cloak And Dagger 1 copy
The Birds and the Frogs 1 copy
Cuentos de horror 1 copy
pg972 1 copy
Aus dem Wörterbuch des Teufels / From the Devil's Dictionary. Englisch - Deutsch. Englisch- Deutsch. 1 copy
The Classic American Short Story MEGAPACK ® (Volume 1): 34 of the Greatest Stories Ever Written (2013) 1 copy
An Occurence At Owl Creek Bridge: Simplified For Modern Readers (Accelerated Reader Quiz # 7928) (2013) 1 copy
British Mystery Multipack 13: The Aspern Papers, The Case of Lady Sannox, Owl Creek Bridge, The Necklace, The Pit and… (2017) 1 copy
Baby Tramp 1 copy
Historias de Fantasmas 1 copy
The Lion and The Lamb 1 copy
The Collected Works of Ambrose Bierce, Vol. 6: The Monk and the Hangman's Daughter; Fantastic Fables (Classic Reprint) (2017) 1 copy
Across The Plains 1 copy
A Man With Two Lives 1 copy
Зібрання творів 1 copy
Associated Works
Masterpieces of Terror and the Supernatural: A Treasury of Spellbinding Tales Old & New (1985) — Contributor — 519 copies
American Fantastic Tales: Terror and the Uncanny from Poe to the Pulps (2009) — Contributor — 262 copies
Masterpieces of Terror and the Unknown: A Treasury of Bizarre Tales Old and New (1993) — Contributor — 193 copies
The Vampire Archives: The Most Complete Volume of Vampire Tales Ever Published (2009) — Contributor — 184 copies
The Graphic Canon, Vol. 2: From "Kubla Khan" to the Bronte Sisters to The Picture of Dorian Gray (2012) — Contributor — 183 copies
Pages Passed from Hand to Hand: The Hidden Tradition of Homosexual Literature in English from 1748 to 1914 (1998) — Contributor — 170 copies
The Penguin Book of Ghost Stories: From Elizabeth Gaskell to Ambrose Bierce (2010) — Contributor — 144 copies
Fable Comics: Amazing Cartoonists Take on Classic Fables from Aesop and Beyond (2015) — Contributor — 104 copies
The Sophisticated Cat: A Gathering of Stories, Poems, and Miscellaneous Writings About Cats (1992) — Contributor — 99 copies
H.P. Lovecraft's Book of the Supernatural: 19 Classics of the Macabre, Chosen by the Master of Horror Himself (2006) — Contributor — 88 copies
In the Shadow of Edgar Allan Poe: Classic Tales of Horror, 1816-1914 (2015) — Contributor — 86 copies
The Raven and the Monkey's Paw: Classics of Horror and Suspense from the Modern Library (1998) — Author, some editions — 64 copies
Frankenstein Dreams: A Connoisseur's Collection of Victorian Science Fiction (The Connoisseur's Collections) (2017) — Contributor — 61 copies
The Phantom Coach: A Connoisseur's Collection of Victorian Ghost Stories (The Connoisseur's Collections) (1900) — Contributor — 57 copies
Great Weird Tales: 14 Stories by Lovecraft, Blackwood, Machen and Others (2011) — Contributor — 56 copies
The House of the Nightmare and Other Eerie Tales (1967) — Contributor; Author, some editions — 46 copies
The Edge of the Chair: A Superlative Collection, Some Fact, Some Fiction, All Suspense (1967) — Contributor — 42 copies
The Weiser Book of Horror and the Occult: Hidden Magic, Occult Truths, and the Stories That Started It All (2014) — Contributor — 35 copies
Civil War Memories: Nineteen Stories of Battle, Bravery, Love, and Tragedy (2000) — Contributor — 33 copies
Menace of the Machine: The Rise of AI in Classic Science Fiction (British Library Science Fiction Classics) (2019) — Contributor — 29 copies
Scientific Romance: An International Anthology of Pioneering Science Fiction (2016) — Contributor — 16 copies
Isaac Asimov Presents the Best Horror and Supernatural of the 19th Century (1983) — Contributor — 16 copies
Library of the World's Best Mystery and Detective Stories: American (1908) — Contributor — 15 copies
Selected English Short Stories: XIX and XX Centuries (Second Series) (1924) — Contributor — 14 copies
Masters of the Macabre: An Anthology of Mystery, Horror, and Detection (1975) — Contributor — 13 copies
Great Classic Hauntings: Six Unabridged Stories (Audio Editions Mystery Masters) (2000) — Contributor, some editions — 11 copies
Fantastisia kertomuksia : antologia 11 copies
Androids, Time Machines and Blue Giraffes: A Panorama of Science Fiction (1973) — Contributor — 11 copies
More Dixie Ghosts: More Haunting, Spine-Chilling Stories from the American South (American Ghost) (1994) — Contributor — 10 copies
Great American Ghost Stories: Chilling Tales by Poe, Bierce, Hawthorne and Others (2008) — Contributor — 10 copies
Penny Dreadful Multipack Volume 7 – The Americans: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, The Murders in the Rue Morgue, Mosses… (2015) — Contributor — 7 copies
Voor en na middernacht : vierendertig beroemde spook- en griezelverhalen (1949) — Contributor — 7 copies
Flora Curiosa: Cryptobotany, Mysterious Fungi, Sentient Trees, and Deadly Plants in Classic Science Fiction and Fantasy (2008) — Contributor — 6 copies
The Forgotten Classics of Mystery, Volume II: An Omnibus of American Mysteries (1959) — Contributor — 5 copies
Representative American Short Stories — Contributor — 5 copies
Tyve mesterfortællinger — Contributor, some editions — 4 copies
Fantastic Imaginings: A Journey Through 3500 Years of Imaginative Writing, Comprising Fantasy, Horror, and Science… (2012) — Contributor — 4 copies
For Want of a Horse: Twenty-Three Tales of Supernatural Stallions, Magical Mares, and Paranormal Ponies (2015) — Contributor — 2 copies
Spionhistorier fra hele verden — Contributor — 2 copies
Cats of Shadow, Claws of Darkness: Stories of Were-Cats, Ghost Cats, and Other Supernatural Felines (2012) — Contributor — 2 copies
About Time: The Forerunners of Time Travel and Temporal Anomalies in Science Fiction and Fantasy (2008) — Contributor — 2 copies
14 American Masterpieces Vol.1 — Contributor — 1 copy
Night | A Lasting Love | Chickamauga — Contributor — 1 copy
Configurations: American Short Stories for the EFL Classroom, Advanced Level (1984) — Contributor — 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Bierce, Ambrose Gwinnett
- Other names
- Grile, Dod
Bierce, Bitter
Herman, William
Bowers, Mrs. J. Milton - Birthdate
- 1842-06-24
- Date of death
- 1914
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Horse Cave Creek, Meigs County, Ohio, USA
- Place of death
- Last seen in Chihuahua, Mexico
- Cause of death
- unknown
- Places of residence
- San Francisco, California, USA
Warsaw, Indiana, USA
Washington, D.C., USA
Chihuahua, Mexico - Education
- self-educated
- Occupations
- journalist
poet
essayist
critic
editor
columnist (show all 12)
reporter
soldier
topographical engineer
drummer boy
mining foreman
printer's apprentice - Organizations
- 9th Indiana Infantry Regiment, U.S. Army
San Francisco Examiner
Hearst Newspapers
Bohemian Club
Army-Navy Club
Northern Indianan (show all 11)
U.S. Sub-Treasury
San Francisco News Letter and California Advertiser
U.S. Mint
New York American
Wasp - Short biography
- Disappeared in Mexico in 1914
Members
Discussions
The Monk and the Hangman’s Daughter by Richard Voss – LIMITED EDITIONS CLUB 1967 in George Macy devotees (August 2023)
THE DEEP ONES: "The Death of Halpin Frayser" by Ambrose Bierce in The Weird Tradition (August 2022)
THE DEEP ONES: "Beyond the Wall" by Ambrose Bierce in The Weird Tradition (July 2015)
I just bought The Collected Writings of Ambrose Bierce in Thing(amabrarian)s That Go Bump in the Night (January 2012)
Reviews
Lists
Awards
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Statistics
- Works
- 486
- Also by
- 280
- Members
- 13,285
- Popularity
- #1,756
- Rating
- 3.9
- Reviews
- 281
- ISBNs
- 1,146
- Languages
- 23
- Favorited
- 81
But there is still something inexplicably natural and essential in his prose that I love. He created scenes and atmospheres that were both natural and unnatural, or perhaps in a way proto-natural, evoking ancient places and forces that even Manifest Destiny shouldn't disturb. Bierce had the ability to channel the superstitious cowboy that must exist in all of us, expressing frontier wisdom through ghost stories. "Don't go near that gulch! Lemme tell you about some buckaroos who went near that gulch, they were eaten by a ghost."… (more)