History Creator / AmbroseBierce

* "Literature/AnOccurrenceAtOwlCreekBridge"

Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce (June 24, 1842-circa 1914) was one of American literature's most intriguing, and most overlooked, luminaries... and a man who scared [[Creator/HPLovecraft Lovecraft]].

* DyingDream: [[spoiler: "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge"]]

* "Literature/AnOccurenceAtOwlCreekBridge"

'''Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce''' (June 24, 1842-circa 1914) was one of American literature's most intriguing, and most overlooked, luminaries... and a man who scared [[Creator/HPLovecraft Lovecraft]].

Ambrose Bierce (later nicknamed "Bitter Bierce" and the "Old Gringo") was a journalist and editorialist from Meigs County, Ohio, whose deeply cynical opinions on the world [[HumansAreFlawed and the people living in it]] led him to create his now-famous series of short stories and other fiction pieces, most notably ''An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge''[[note]]Adapted as a French short movie, which was then aired as a ''Series/TwilightZone'' episode[[/note]]. Bitter Bierce never gave anyone a reason to wonder about his nickname: he was aggressive and fond of war (though also an anti-imperialist), fascinated by death, ''very'' cynical about love and religion, and perplexed by women. His works are notable for their [[DarkerAndEdgier dark, troubled, and haunting]] tone and subject matter. He would have made a fine bedfellow for [[EdgarAllanPoe Poe]] and [[Creator/HPLovecraft Lovecraft]], but sadly, and certainly not for lack of talent on his part, he never achieved their notoriety.

Lovecraft enthusiasts should be familiar with ''An Inhabitant of Carcosa'', his contribution to the CthulhuMythos.

* Creator/RogerZelazny's ''Roadmarks'' concerns a Road that stretches from the past into the future, and the people who travel along it; Bierce is mentioned in passing as one of those who, having found the Road, settled farther along it and never returned to his own time.

* Creator/KimNewman's ''Back in the U.S.S.A.'' depicts the death of Bierce, at least as it occurred in that particular AlternateHistory.

Ambrose Bierce (later nicknamed "Bitter Bierce" and the "Old Gringo") was a journalist and editorialist from Meigs County, Ohio, whose deeply cynical opinions on the world [[HumansAreFlawed and the people living in it]] led him to create his now-famous ([[SugarWiki/NeedsMoreLove though not nearly famous enough]]) series of short stories and other fiction pieces, most notably ''An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge''[[note]]Adapted as a French short movie, which was then aired as a ''Series/TwilightZone'' episode[[/note]]. Bitter Bierce never gave anyone a reason to wonder about his nickname: he was aggressive and fond of war (though also an anti-imperialist), fascinated by death, ''very'' cynical about love and religion, and perplexed by women. His works are notable for their [[DarkerAndEdgier dark, troubled, and haunting]] tone and subject matter. He would have made a fine bedfellow for [[EdgarAllanPoe Poe]] and [[Creator/HPLovecraft Lovecraft]], but sadly, and certainly not for lack of talent on his part, he never achieved their notoriety.

Ambrose Bierce (1842-1913?) was one of American literature's most intriguing, and most overlooked, luminaries... and a man who scared [[Creator/HPLovecraft Lovecraft]].

* In ''{{Illuminatus}}''-trilogy, although he isn't directly named, it is easy to figure out from the context that he is one of the people that Fission Chips sees when St. Toad throws him between dimensions.

-->--Taken from one of Bierce's late essays.

* ''Film/FromDuskTillDawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter''. Oddly, the vampires don't get him in the end.

* BlackComedy: ''Literally'' in "Oil of Dog", arguably in stories like "My Favorite Murder" and "An Imperfect Conflagration".

* EekAMouse: In "The Cat and the Youth", one of the retellings in ''Aesopus Emendatus'', a cat transformed into a human woman proves the success of the transformation by doing this.

* Creator/KimNewman's ''Back in the U.S.S.A.'' depicts the death of Bierce, at least as it occurred in that particular AlternateHistory.

* In RobertBloch's story "I Like Blondes" (originally published in ''Playboy'', 1956), the alien tells Shirley that "the body I'm using right now. Its name was Ambrose Beers, I believe. [Ril] picked it up in Mexico a long time ago..."

* PhilFoglio's ''ComicBook/StanleyAndHisMonster'' miniseries claims that his horror stories were based on truth, and he staged his own disappearance to avoid an EldritchAbomination that was coming to complain about his depiction of it. Oddly enough, it also used him as an {{expy}} of [[ComicBook/{{Hellblazer}} John Constantine]].

* JasperFforde's ''[[Literature/ThursdayNext The Well of Lost Plots]]'' claims that he became a book-jumping agent of Jurisfiction.

* Creator/RobertAHeinlein's ''Literature/LostLegacy'' has him going underground and working for a benevolent AncientTradition.

* ''FromDuskTillDawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter''. Oddly, the vampires don't get him in the end.

* OurGhostsAreDifferent: "The Death of Halpin Frayser"

* {{War is Hell}}: Bierce was 19 when he enlisted in the Union Army and many people claim that this is what inspired the more nightmarish images in his stories. This trope features quite frequently in his civil war stories.

* OurGhostsAreDifferent: "The Death of Halpin Frayser"

* InvisibleMonster: [[spoiler:"The Damned Thing"]]

AmbroseBierce (later nicknamed "Bitter Bierce" and the "Old Gringo") was a journalist and editorialist from Meigs County, Ohio, whose deeply cynical opinions on the world [[HumansAreFlawed and the people living in it]] led him to create his now-famous ([[SugarWiki/NeedsMoreLove though not nearly famous enough]]) series of short stories and other fiction pieces, most notably ''An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge''[[note]]Adapted as a French short movie, which was then aired as a ''Series/TwilightZone'' episode[[/note]]. Bitter Bierce never gave anyone a reason to wonder about his nickname: he was aggressive and fond of war (though also an anti-imperialist), fascinated by death, ''very'' cynical about love and religion, and perplexed by women. His works are notable for their [[DarkerAndEdgier dark, troubled, and haunting]] tone and subject matter. He would have made a fine bedfellow for [[EdgarAllanPoe Poe]] and [[Creator/HPLovecraft Lovecraft]], but sadly, and certainly not for lack of talent on his part, he never achieved their notoriety.

!!Appearances in fiction:

* ''Old Gringo'' by Carlos Fuentes
* In RobertBloch's story "I Like Blondes" (originally published in ''Playboy'', 1956), the alien tells Shirley that "the body I'm using right now. Its name was Ambrose Beers, I believe. [Ril] picked it up in Mexico a long time ago..."
** That was a GeniusBonus reference, for sure.
* It's hinted that Bierce was a patron at the very exclusive restaurant in Stanley Ellin's "Specialty of the House". [[spoiler:And eventually the title dish.]]
* JasperFforde's ''[[Literature/ThursdayNext The Well of Lost Plots]]'' claims that he became a book-jumping agent of Jurisfiction.
* PhilFoglio's ''ComicBook/StanleyAndHisMonster'' miniseries claims that his horror stories were based on truth, and he staged his own disappearance to avoid an EldritchAbomination that was coming to complain about his depiction of it. Oddly enough, it also used him as an {{expy}} of [[ComicBook/{{Hellblazer}} John Constantine]].
* Creator/RobertAHeinlein's ''Literature/LostLegacy'' has him going underground and working for a benevolent AncientTradition.
* Creator/RogerZelazny's ''Roadmarks'' concerns a Road that stretches from the past into the future, and the people who travel along it; Bierce is mentioned in passing as one of those who, having found the Road, settled farther along it and never returned to his own time.
* Shows up as an old fangless vampire who aids the protagonist in ''Manga/DanceInTheVampireBund''.
* ''FromDuskTillDawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter''. Oddly, the vampires don't get him in the end.
* Creator/KimNewman's ''Back in the U.S.S.A.'' depicts the death of Bierce, at least as it occurred in that particular AlternateHistory.

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