Chambers utilized a similar narrative in his psychedelic “Key to Grief,” as did H. Since its publication, the plot has been tremendously influential to writers and filmmakers of every succeeding generation. While there are no goblins or ghouls prowling its plot, and while no murders or gory secrets are uncovered, it strikes me as the ultimate horror story: the horror of human mortality.Īdmittedly, if asked to tell my top five favorite “horror” stories, this would probably not make the cut, but there is something positively archetypal and universal about Peyton Farquhar’s cruel fate, something with which all readers seem to sympathize. While some may take issue with its inclusion in a collection of horror stories, I am hardly alone: Dover, Wordsworth, and Tartarus Press are just the most notable of nearly a dozen excellent anthologies of Bierce’s Gothic fiction which included the story (and Tartarus Press even used it as the title). It is a flawless example of American genius, like 'Sophisticated Lady' by Duke Ellington or the Franklin stove." Both in themes and execution it has a uniquely American quality: the breaking with linear narration, the cynical study of the eternal optimism of the individual, the condemnation of warfare and collectivism, the literary realism, and the psychological surrealism all conspire into a brilliant work. Concerning its legacy, fellow Hoosier, Kurt Vonnegut, wrote, "I consider anybody a twerp who hasn't read the greatest American short story, which is ' Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,' by Ambrose Bierce. There is almost no scholarly dissent to that argument. “Owl Creek Bridge” is Bierce’s masterpiece.
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