A veteran of the US Civil War, Ambrose Bierce became a journalist, critic, satirist, and short story writer whose tales made him a giant of American literature. His terror-tinged tales bespeak the horrors of war and the unsettling fears of daily life. Known for his sharp, caustic wit, Bierce could be bitingly funny or eerily frightening. His most famous work, The Devil’s Dictionary, is a darkly humorous compilation of word definitions that make pointed fun of human foibles. He also wrote fairy tales and children’s stories. One of his many story collections, Tales of Soldiers and Civilians, contains his most famous story, “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” as well as the macabre work “The Boarded Window.” Bierce died mysteriously in 1913 at age 71 while covering Pancho Villa’s army during the Mexican Revolution. His body was never found.

Murlock arrives at the great forest a full of youthful ambitions for a frontier life with his beloved bride. Fate scuttles the couple’s plans after Murlock mistakes his wife’s descent into unconsciousness from sudden illness for death. He prepares her body for burial, only to lose her, still alive, to the predations of a panther. Murlock’s failure is multifold: He does not live up to the traditional masculine ideals of being a protector, and his lack of visible grief at his wife’s seeming death questions the depth of his husbandly feelings.