Welcome to Litsy!

I don't think there was a story I didn't enjoy from this anthology, appropriately subtitled "Weird and Ghostly," and it's easy to see why Bierce is considered a forerunner of American weird and cosmic horror. The blurb quotes a NYT review, staking Bierce's position as the premier horror writer between Poe and Lovecraft, which is not unwarranted praise.
I particularly liked the way he plays with narrative structure, dropping into the middle of a ⬇️

"An author has rights which the reader is bound to respect...The right to the reader's undivided attention. To deny him this is immoral. To make him share your attention with the rattle of a street car, the moving panorama of the crowds on the sidewalks, and the buildings beyond--with any of the thousands of distractions which make our customary environment--is to treat him with gross injustice. By God, it is infamous!"

Sorry, Ambrose, not sorry!

"A man stood on a railroad bridge in northern Alabama, looking down into the swift water twenty feet below."
- An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

"By the light of a tallow candle, which had been placed on one end of a rough table, a man was reading something written in a book."
#FirstLines

I do like a bookish beginning to a story ??️This is from the title story, the first of the 11 "weird and ghostly tales", written towards the end of the 19th century.
A lovely foil cover, but not sure how it otherwise earns its marketing as a 'deluxe edition'. It is a 'nice' edition, nonetheless.

The writing was decent, as to be expected. The premise was interesting. The story itself felt more like an incomplete idea. I can't say I loved This, even if I didn't outright dislike it.

A quick read about an encounter with an unseen monster. Interesting to think about the nature of sight and sound.

Simple yet complex in his writing Bierce is able to send chills up your spine by simply giving you something you can't see. I really enjoyed this story and have a feeling you will to! If you have an extra half hour someday download the Serial app and give it a whirl.

The suspense in this story was wonderful. No wonder he was a big influence on Lovecraft.

I liked the first Bierce story I read, but this one just... was. I don't know. The descrptions were nice like the other story, but I guess I just didn't get it? I had to go to Wikipedia to check and yeah, it was what I thought. Underwhelming, I suppose.

@SerialReader #serialreader #shortstory

Short and gory, Bierce lends a scientific veneer to his tale of an invisible beastie. Not enough atmosphere for this horror fan, but I'd love to follow the further adventures of Mr. Harker.

A little late night reading done the October way. This was a creepy little tale that really delivered in the first half, the second half is pretty interesting but gets a little heavy handed at the end. Still an enjoyable short story though! ⭐️⭐️⭐️

So in love with this app. ❤️ I'll be starting The Damned Thing tonight! I've never heard of it but it was in the Halloween section so I'm giving it a go!

Having a sick day, so I'm devouring some quick #HalloweenReads on @SerialReader This one was quite creepy!

I think I'm going to like this Serial Reader!!!

I think I missed something. The first half was scary. The second half tried to tell the story, but just failed and then ended.

⭐️⭐️

A bit from last night's #serialreader. 😂