A Watcher by the Dead

13 pages. Temps de lecture estimé 10min.
Dr. Helberson and his friends, Harper and Mancher, are enjoying a night of smoking and drinking in the good doctor’s office when a question arises. Is a fear of the dead curable? The doctor believes it absolutely is and sets about organising a wager with his friends. They find a local gambler named Jarette and bet a large sum of money on whether he can spend the night locked in a room with a corpse without losing his mind. A haunting tale full of monstrous imagery, which deftly displays Bierce’s terrifying mastery of the horror genre. If you loved ‘The Conjuring’ you will love this classic ghost story. Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914) was an American author, journalist, critic and soldier, best known for his works of horror and fiction. He was a truly talented writer whose ability was not bound to one genre. His works of horror draw honourable comparison to Edgar Allan Poe and H.P Lovecraft while his more humorous, satirical work draws the comparison to such literary greats as Jonathan Swift and Voltaire. Bierce’s ‘The Devils Dictionary’ has been named one of ‘The 100 Greatest Masterpieces of American Literature’. His war stories such as ‘An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge’ and ‘Tales of Soldiers and Civilians’ are amongst his best works and are said to have inspired Ernest Hemingway and Stephen Crane. Even Bierce’s end is as mysterious as one of his own tales, travelling to Mexico to cover the revolution first-hand but never being heard or seen from again.