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An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge: and other stories
" An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge " (1890) is a short story by the American writer and Civil War veteran Ambrose Bierce. Described as "one of the most famous and frequently anthologized stories in American literature", it was originally published by The San Francisco Examiner on July 13, 1890, and was first collected in Bierce's book Tales of Soldiers and Civilians (1891).
The story, which is set during the American Civil War, is known for its irregular time sequence and twist ending. Bierce's abandonment of strict linear narration in favor of the internal mind of the protagonist is an early example of the stream of consciousness narrative mode.
Peyton Farquhar, a civilian who is also a wealthy planter and slave owner, is being prepared for execution by hanging from an Alabama railroad bridge during the American Civil War. Six military men and a company of infantrymen are present, guarding the bridge and carrying out the sentence.
Farquhar thinks of his wife and children and is then distracted by a noise that, to him, sounds like an unbearably loud clanging; it is actually the ticking of his watch. He considers the possibility of jumping off the bridge and swimming to safety if he can free his tied hands, but the soldiers drop him from the bridge before he can act on the idea.
The story, which is set during the American Civil War, is known for its irregular time sequence and twist ending. Bierce's abandonment of strict linear narration in favor of the internal mind of the protagonist is an early example of the stream of consciousness narrative mode.
Peyton Farquhar, a civilian who is also a wealthy planter and slave owner, is being prepared for execution by hanging from an Alabama railroad bridge during the American Civil War. Six military men and a company of infantrymen are present, guarding the bridge and carrying out the sentence.
Farquhar thinks of his wife and children and is then distracted by a noise that, to him, sounds like an unbearably loud clanging; it is actually the ticking of his watch. He considers the possibility of jumping off the bridge and swimming to safety if he can free his tied hands, but the soldiers drop him from the bridge before he can act on the idea.
118 pages, Hardcover
Published June 13, 2022
53 people are currently reading
533 people want to read
About the author
Ambrose Bierce
2,356 books1,284 followersdied perhaps 1914
Caustic wit and a strong sense of horror mark works, including In the Midst of Life (1891-1892) and The Devil's Dictionary (1906), of American writer Ambrose Gwinett Bierce.
People today best know this editorialist, journalist, and fabulist for his short story, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge and his lexicon.
The informative sardonic view of human nature alongside his vehemence as a critic with his motto, "nothing matters," earned him the nickname "Bitter Bierce."
People knew Bierce despite his reputation as a searing critic, however, to encourage younger poet George Sterling and fiction author W.C. Morrow.
Bierce employed a distinctive style 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 at the age of 71 years. People think that he traveled to Mexico to gain a firsthand perspective on ongoing revolution of that country.
Theories abound on a mystery, ultimate fate of Bierce. He in one of his final letters stated: "Good-bye. If you hear of my being stood up against a Mexican stone wall and shot to rags, please know that I think it is a pretty good way to depart this life. It beats old age, disease, or falling down the cellar stairs. To be a Gringo in Mexico--ah, that is euthanasia!"
Caustic wit and a strong sense of horror mark works, including In the Midst of Life (1891-1892) and The Devil's Dictionary (1906), of American writer Ambrose Gwinett Bierce.
People today best know this editorialist, journalist, and fabulist for his short story, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge and his lexicon.
The informative sardonic view of human nature alongside his vehemence as a critic with his motto, "nothing matters," earned him the nickname "Bitter Bierce."
People knew Bierce despite his reputation as a searing critic, however, to encourage younger poet George Sterling and fiction author W.C. Morrow.
Bierce employed a distinctive style 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 at the age of 71 years. People think that he traveled to Mexico to gain a firsthand perspective on ongoing revolution of that country.
Theories abound on a mystery, ultimate fate of Bierce. He in one of his final letters stated: "Good-bye. If you hear of my being stood up against a Mexican stone wall and shot to rags, please know that I think it is a pretty good way to depart this life. It beats old age, disease, or falling down the cellar stairs. To be a Gringo in Mexico--ah, that is euthanasia!"
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews
December 26, 2023
🦉This story absolutely shocked me at its denouement. I was not expecting what occurred at all. The first time I read it I was 11 or 12 and I had it in a graphic format. The drawings were striking as well. The final illustrations hit hard. Brilliant storyline🦉
May 13, 2024
Here for Owl Creek only. What a wild story but especially since I didn’t read it until I was 37 and apparently most of you already have? What do you remember about it?
March 17, 2014
Wow.! What a story.! The plot and presentation is beyond perfect. It is the story of a man who is about to be hanged. It is about his final thoughts and the author uses it to weave the story. His writing is so good that till the end we feel the desperation of the man.
He thinks that every sense of him has become more sharp since he has just suffered a shock of the worst kind. He sees the world with the wonder of an infant. And then what happens.?
It is a wonderful story,a story for anybody and everybody. But when most may feel that they were tricked,some may feel anguish. And it is this anguish,this sense of desperation that the author bases the story on. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
He thinks that every sense of him has become more sharp since he has just suffered a shock of the worst kind. He sees the world with the wonder of an infant. And then what happens.?
It is a wonderful story,a story for anybody and everybody. But when most may feel that they were tricked,some may feel anguish. And it is this anguish,this sense of desperation that the author bases the story on. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
November 18, 2015
Although I had not read Bierce before it's clear that he has influenced many things I have read. His stories are not exceedingly long or drawn out with flowery language like many of the forefathers of Horror and, though many have riffed on the ideas, the plots are still interesting with plenty of spooky thrills to be had.
January 20, 2019
This is a stellar collection of short stories. I must admit to being somewhat late to enjoying the writing of Ambrose Bierce, but this short book certainly provides an admirable collection of his stories for the reader, and divides them into several genres so that one can see the range of Bierce's writing. And it is easy to be impressed by these stories. The author clearly took his life and his work as both a soldier and a reporter, added it to his own impressive and somewhat perverse imagination, and came up wit ha variety of stories that has often been imitated but has rarely (if ever) been duplicated. Again, this is not the sort of book that everyone will appreciate, but if you like dark stories of soldiers with a conscience and tales of murderers attempting to escape the reminder of their crimes, this book has a lot to offer. A pioneer in the writing of horror fiction, Bierce manages to deal with a variety of concerns that include the horror of war, the horror of the supernatural, and the horror of violence in families and communities, all of which makes for thoughtful fiction.
The stories in this collection are divided into three genres. The first collection of stories is defined as Civil War stories, where Bierce leverages his personal experience as a Civil War officer for the Union in a series of compelling tales including "A Horseman In The Sky," "An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge," "Chickamauga," "One Of The Missing," "One Kind Of Officer," "The Major's Tale," "The Story Of A Conscience," and "An Affair Of Outposts." In these stories we see the many ways that someone in the Civil War could die, the hazards of a conscience, the danger of family violence, and the way that personal grudges as well as personal friendships could prove to be costly. After this there are horror stories including "A Watcher By The Dead," "The Man And The Snake," "A Holy Terror," "The Middle Toe Of The Right Foot," "The Damned Thing," "The Death Of Halpin Frayser," "The Moonlit Road," "The Stranger," "The Eyes Of The Panther," and "Beyond The Wall" that show Bierce to have been a pioneer in a type of fiction with deep supernatural and mystical elements. The book then closes with a series of darkly humorous fables like "An Imperfect Conflagration," "Oil Of Dog," "My Favorite Murder," and "The Hypnotist" that contain intriguing and sardonic aspects of Bierce's imagination.
One learns a lot about the mind of a writer from the material that is written, and reading this book made me feel more sympathetic than I had previously been towards Bierce. Though he was a sour man with a dark sense of humor and imagination, he came by it honestly. His writing suggests that his conscience was dramatically shaped by the horrors of the Civil War as well as by the coarsening that came about as a writer who had to frequently wrestle with the issues of crime that were a part of his reporting beat. He was certainly darkened by his experiences, and as a result a reader of this book can appreciate the way in which he turned what may have led him into despair into works that demonstrate a high degree of skill in crafting historical and supernatural mysteries. And this appreciation for the mystery writing of Ambrose Bierce can only be heightened by an awareness of the mystery of his life in that he departed to cover the Mexican War in 1913 and never came back, meeting a dark and mysterious end in the violence of a turbulent time and place.
The stories in this collection are divided into three genres. The first collection of stories is defined as Civil War stories, where Bierce leverages his personal experience as a Civil War officer for the Union in a series of compelling tales including "A Horseman In The Sky," "An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge," "Chickamauga," "One Of The Missing," "One Kind Of Officer," "The Major's Tale," "The Story Of A Conscience," and "An Affair Of Outposts." In these stories we see the many ways that someone in the Civil War could die, the hazards of a conscience, the danger of family violence, and the way that personal grudges as well as personal friendships could prove to be costly. After this there are horror stories including "A Watcher By The Dead," "The Man And The Snake," "A Holy Terror," "The Middle Toe Of The Right Foot," "The Damned Thing," "The Death Of Halpin Frayser," "The Moonlit Road," "The Stranger," "The Eyes Of The Panther," and "Beyond The Wall" that show Bierce to have been a pioneer in a type of fiction with deep supernatural and mystical elements. The book then closes with a series of darkly humorous fables like "An Imperfect Conflagration," "Oil Of Dog," "My Favorite Murder," and "The Hypnotist" that contain intriguing and sardonic aspects of Bierce's imagination.
One learns a lot about the mind of a writer from the material that is written, and reading this book made me feel more sympathetic than I had previously been towards Bierce. Though he was a sour man with a dark sense of humor and imagination, he came by it honestly. His writing suggests that his conscience was dramatically shaped by the horrors of the Civil War as well as by the coarsening that came about as a writer who had to frequently wrestle with the issues of crime that were a part of his reporting beat. He was certainly darkened by his experiences, and as a result a reader of this book can appreciate the way in which he turned what may have led him into despair into works that demonstrate a high degree of skill in crafting historical and supernatural mysteries. And this appreciation for the mystery writing of Ambrose Bierce can only be heightened by an awareness of the mystery of his life in that he departed to cover the Mexican War in 1913 and never came back, meeting a dark and mysterious end in the violence of a turbulent time and place.
February 14, 2009
May be my favorite short story of all time. At least top five.
In no particular order, here they are.
"An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge"
"The Story of an Hour"
"The Lottery"
"The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas"
"A House on the Plains"
In no particular order, here they are.
"An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge"
"The Story of an Hour"
"The Lottery"
"The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas"
"A House on the Plains"
May 14, 2025
I loved this for the fever dream-nightmarish quality similar to The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers but actually better executed.
September 10, 2022
I bought this on a recommendation from a podcast. The podcaster said Bierce was one of his favorites and he considered him the model for much of the current short story writers.
What I did like was just how short the stories were. I was impressed by their brevity and even felt inspired to try my hand at some short stories myself.
The problem for me was, the stories seemed very predictable. Maybe 120 years ago these stories might have caught people by surprise, but the modern reader after a lifetime of movies, the stories just did not surprise. They were good, but maybe for a less experienced reader. Perhaps a high school aged reader might enjoy the book and stories more than I did.
What I did like was just how short the stories were. I was impressed by their brevity and even felt inspired to try my hand at some short stories myself.
The problem for me was, the stories seemed very predictable. Maybe 120 years ago these stories might have caught people by surprise, but the modern reader after a lifetime of movies, the stories just did not surprise. They were good, but maybe for a less experienced reader. Perhaps a high school aged reader might enjoy the book and stories more than I did.
April 27, 2009
Interesting, strange short stories with unexpected twists and turns. "Behind the wall" was very sad.
August 12, 2021
I got about halfway through this collection before I had to stop. This dude’s writing style is enough to make me fall asleep for two days.
December 20, 2021
These well-written stories give a soldier’s view of the Civil War, usually with a twist that gives them even more of an impact.
January 12, 2022
I thought i was listening only to the story named in the title which included excruciating details of the hanging and how it was deserved. But it seems several of his stories are gathered onto the overdrive edition. One seems to be about his deceased widow being found in her home, but perhaps not. I'm sometimes not sure who's talking, and at one point it could have been his deceased child??
They mostly seemed to be anti-war, for good reason, and one toward the end, particularly contrasted the horrible bloody civil war battle experience with the gaudy parades celebrating the war.
Since i was listening and was doing other things at the same time, i didn't distinguish one story from another or appreciate them enough, so i think reading the collection slowly in a book would have been a better choice.
Overdrive @ normal speed
They mostly seemed to be anti-war, for good reason, and one toward the end, particularly contrasted the horrible bloody civil war battle experience with the gaudy parades celebrating the war.
Since i was listening and was doing other things at the same time, i didn't distinguish one story from another or appreciate them enough, so i think reading the collection slowly in a book would have been a better choice.
Overdrive @ normal speed
December 25, 2023
Bierce had an excellent formula for setting up his short stories: rapidly introducing key characters with a keen description of setting, costume, frame of mind and nature. He manages to engage the reader enough in interesting details or action that the trap is always sprung quite cleverly-one knows it is coming, but never manages to work it out before hand.
A sharp, unsparing portrayal of Civil War action and consequences, some pieces set in gold mining camps, always marvelously painted on the page, always seasoned with bitter wit, and all containing layers of psychological tension, even horror, that hold up remarkable well.
A sharp, unsparing portrayal of Civil War action and consequences, some pieces set in gold mining camps, always marvelously painted on the page, always seasoned with bitter wit, and all containing layers of psychological tension, even horror, that hold up remarkable well.
August 26, 2020
Book 38
An Occurance at Owl Creek Bridge and Other Stories
Ambrose Bierce
1995
3/5
Six short stories from this prolific and at the time popular 19th century writer. An Occurance at Owl Creek Bridge is an American classic but I didn't like it. I think it's very influential because it was something completely new at the time but now it seems predictable and overwritten. The other stories are better. Beyond the Wall is a cool unrequited love kind of ghost story and the highlight of this small collection. The Stranger is another good one. That's it.
An Occurance at Owl Creek Bridge and Other Stories
Ambrose Bierce
1995
3/5
Six short stories from this prolific and at the time popular 19th century writer. An Occurance at Owl Creek Bridge is an American classic but I didn't like it. I think it's very influential because it was something completely new at the time but now it seems predictable and overwritten. The other stories are better. Beyond the Wall is a cool unrequited love kind of ghost story and the highlight of this small collection. The Stranger is another good one. That's it.
June 25, 2020
Students read Ambrose Bierce’s “The Occurrence at Owl Creek” in Junior High. Like that story the Civil War figures in almost all the ones in this collection as does the paranormal. Bierce wrote about the after life, transmorgrification, gory scenes, and even artificial intelligence. He gets inside the action on the battlefield as well as inside the mind of the soldiers. In is no wonder his stories are much anthologized and he is considered a classic writer.
June 14, 2025
(Har endast läst Incidenten vid Owl Creek Bron ur Novellsamlingen Sällsamma Berättelser I Mästerklass)
3.7
Hemsk. Väldigt intressanta och detaljrika beskrivningar om hur han mådde och såg världen.
Kanske är det så att innan man dör upplever man det som man mest saknat. Så blev det ju ungefär för den hängde mannen, att han tillslut fick komma hem till sin familj och att allt hade löst sig, fast det egentligen inte var så. Tvisten i slutet var väldigt jobbig att ta in.
3.7
Hemsk. Väldigt intressanta och detaljrika beskrivningar om hur han mådde och såg världen.
Kanske är det så att innan man dör upplever man det som man mest saknat. Så blev det ju ungefär för den hängde mannen, att han tillslut fick komma hem till sin familj och att allt hade löst sig, fast det egentligen inte var så. Tvisten i slutet var väldigt jobbig att ta in.
February 8, 2021
When I saw the gates I thought he had died in the river and the rest was something else. What an ending. (I watched the movie) So much can be imagined in a short span of time when you bout to die. I had too short an attention span, the movie copy and pasted him running and it was a full minute and a half of him just running and then he straight-up died. What an ending.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 24, 2020
Nothing special, but nice short stories to pass the time.
January 25, 2021
I know this is considered a classic short story, but it didn't do much for me. The reader of this old audiobook didn't help matters. He was horrible.
August 6, 2023
Eine Kurzgeschichte von der man sich erholen muss. Wunderschön geschrieben, wunderschön beschrieben, bis sie einen Emotional zerreißt in einem Satz.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 27, 2023
Trad decades ago and rate it a four but cannot remember the year…oops!
October 4, 2024
Interesting collection of short stories. The supernatural elements crept up on me, quite unexpected.
December 1, 2024
It was fine - not in my top short stories ever
January 3, 2025
I had to check this out after seeing the Twilight Zone episode. It's a short story and has a nice twist.
September 9, 2025
WOW! What a plot twist! Extremely unexpected and full of descriptions. I enjoyed the alternate POV’s but definitely could see how it could be confusing at first.
April 5, 2025
So good! So eloquent and descriptive. Great short story
December 25, 2019
I always knew Ambrose Bierce was an exceptional author. After all, who can forget An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge. But I’d never read his other short stories until I was looking for classic American authors for our homeschool.
March 26, 2025
⭐️⭐️ overall, but the title story many Americans will remember from their school days is great.
February 28, 2019
Bierce was a fantastic writer. Most of his stories are readily available online and worth finding either there or in a book like this. I love his way with the language and in constructing narratives. This compilation is organized into three categories: nine Civil War stories (six of which are phenomenally good), 10 horror stories and four "tall tales."
The Civil War stories are far and away the best of the bunch. The horror stories are gothic in nature and suffer a bit from so clearly being of another time. The tall tales could just as well be lumped in with the so-called horrific except that they display a wicked style of humor that isn't offensive, per se, but are unsettling if taken seriously.
My faves were "A Horseman in the Sky," "An Occurrence at Owl Bridge," "Chickamauga," "One of the Missing," "The Damned Thing," "The Moonlit Road," and "My Favorite Murder," the latter of which is really kind of sick and yet somehow made me chuckle. I don't think that speaks all that well of me, but says much for Bierce's inventiveness.
The Civil War stories are stellar and worth the price of admission. Of the horror stories, I mostly say "meh." 3.5 stars
The Civil War stories are far and away the best of the bunch. The horror stories are gothic in nature and suffer a bit from so clearly being of another time. The tall tales could just as well be lumped in with the so-called horrific except that they display a wicked style of humor that isn't offensive, per se, but are unsettling if taken seriously.
My faves were "A Horseman in the Sky," "An Occurrence at Owl Bridge," "Chickamauga," "One of the Missing," "The Damned Thing," "The Moonlit Road," and "My Favorite Murder," the latter of which is really kind of sick and yet somehow made me chuckle. I don't think that speaks all that well of me, but says much for Bierce's inventiveness.
The Civil War stories are stellar and worth the price of admission. Of the horror stories, I mostly say "meh." 3.5 stars
July 17, 2009
For my mind, the short story in the title is an absolute must for all to read. It has been dramatized frequently, despite the short length. Some are of the period, some modernized. Again, I would insist that the story itself is truly great, a timeless classic, and a must read. You can find a modern day version in a short film called A Message From Fallujah. Just Google around, it's available for free. But the original story is one of 2 I would like everyone to read (A Rose for Emily the other).
Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews