← Back

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

Ambrose Bierce

First published 1891
Type Short Fiction
Length Short Story

Synopsis

During the American Civil War soldiers are executing a prisoner. They put a rope around his neck and push him off a bridge. The rope breaks and he makes his way across country to his home. Or does he?

Notes

Barely genre; but as a morbid story of strange mental experiences, included in some genre anthologies. First published in the San Francisco Examiner, July 13, 1890.

External Links

Publications (113)

Date Publication Publisher Type Page
1891 Tales of Soldiers and Civilians E. L. G. Steele Collection 21
1892 In the Midst of Life: Tales of Soldiers and Civilians Chatto & Windus Collection 22
1898 In the Midst of Life: Tales of Soldiers and Civilians G. P. Putnam's Sons Collection 16
1909 In the Midst of Life: Tales of Soldiers and Civilians The Neale Publishing Company Collection 27
1910 In the Midst of Life: Tales of Soldiers and Civilians Chatto & Windus Collection 22
1918 In the Midst of Life: Tales of Soldiers and Civilians Boni & Liveright Collection 27
1918 In the Midst of Life: Tales of Soldiers and Civilians Boni & Liveright Collection 27
1926 An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge and Other Stories Haldeman-Julius Collection |1
1927 American Mystery Stories Oxford University Press, USA Anthology 134
April 1927 The Argosy, April 1927 The Amalgamated Press MAGAZINE 115
1930 In the Midst of Life: Tales of Soldiers and Civilians Chatto & Windus Collection 25
1933 Great Stories of All Nations: One Hundred Sixty Complete Stories from the Literatures of All Periods and Countries Tudor Publishing Company Anthology 631
1935 A Century of Horror Stories Hutchinson Anthology 711
1937 The Haunted Omnibus Farrar & Rinehart Anthology 413
1937 The Haunted Omnibus Oxford Anthology 413
1937 The Haunted Omnibus Cassell Anthology 413
1937 Selected English Short Stories: XIX and XX Centuries: (Third Series) Oxford University Press Anthology 310
1939 Great Ghost Stories of the World: The Haunted Omnibus Garden City Publishing Co. Anthology 413
1939 The Bedside Book of Famous American Stories Random House Anthology 337
1941 Great Ghost Stories of the World Blue Ribbon Books Anthology 413
1941 In the Midst of Life: Tales of Soldiers and Civilians Chatto & Windus Collection 22
1941 Great Ghost Stories of the World Blue Ribbon Books Anthology 413
1943 Tales of Soldiers and Civilians Heritage Press Collection 10
1955 The Monk and the Hangman's Daughter and Other Stories Avon Collection |2
1956 Sleep No More! Famous Ghost and Horror Stories Vanguard Recording Society Anthology |4
1959 Ghosts, Ghouls and Other Nuisances Seven Seas Publishers Anthology 193
September 1960 Help!, #2 September 1960 General Promotions Co. MAGAZINE 7
1963 The Dream Adventure The Orion Press Anthology 108
1964 Ghost and Horror Stories of Ambrose Bierce Dover Publications Collection
1964 And Graves Give Up Their Dead Corgi Books Anthology 96
1964 Shafts of Fear Arrow Books Anthology 264
1965 Shafts of Fear Arrow Books Anthology 264
1966 Terror! Lancer Books Anthology 157
March 1966 Where Nightmares Are Mayflower-Dell Anthology 153
1967 Tales of Horror and Suspense CMS Collection |1
January 1968 Stories and Storytellers Addison-Wesley Anthology 100
March 1968 Dennis Wheatley's First Book of Horror Stories Hutchinson Anthology
1969 Ten of the Best Faber and Faber Anthology 181
October 1969 Where Nightmares Are Mayflower Anthology 153
1970 The Complete Short Stories of Ambrose Bierce Doubleday Collection 305
September 1970 Affinities: A Short Story Anthology Thomas Y. Crowell Anthology 221
December 1970 Mind in Chains Panther Anthology 89
1971 Tales of Soldiers and Civilians The Easton Press Collection 10
1971 Tales of Terror Vanguard Recording Society Anthology |10
November 1971 The Complete Short Stories of Ambrose Bierce, Volume II: The World of War and the World of Tall Tales Ballantine Books Collection 58
August 1972 Perchance to Dream Doubleday Anthology 40
1973 Where Nightmares Are David Bruce & Watson Anthology 153
1973 From Fiction to Film: Ambrose Bierce's "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" Dickenson Publishing Co. Nonfiction
1973 An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge and The Damned Thing Caedmon Collection |1
January 1973 Perchance to Dream Manor Books Anthology 40
1974 Mind in Chains Panther Anthology 89
1974 Ambrose Bierce: Master of the Macabre Listening Library Collection |1
March 1974 Perchance to Dream Gollancz Anthology 40
1976 Perchance to Dream Manor Books Anthology 40
July 1976 Affinities: A Short Story Anthology Thomas Y. Crowell Anthology 221
September 1976 Perchance to Dream Coronet Anthology 52
October 1976 The Ghostmasters: Weird Stories by Famous Writers Scholastic Book Services Anthology 1
September 1977 Super Book of Ghost Stories Hamlyn Anthology 99
April 1978 Story Into Film: Three Tales of the Supernatural Go from Page to Screen Dell Anthology
1979 Twice-Told Tales: An Anthology of Short Fiction Houghton Mifflin Anthology 309
1979 Super Book of Ghost Stories Hamlyn Anthology 99
March 1983 Where Nightmares Are Severn House Anthology 153
May 1983 Isaac Asimov Presents the Best Horror and Supernatural of the 19th Century Beaufort Books Anthology 231
1984 The Complete Short Stories of Ambrose Bierce University of Nebraska Press Collection 305
1984 The Best of Ambrose Bierce Castle / Book Sales Omnibus 9
1985 A Treasury of American Horror Stories Bonanza Books / Crown Publishers Anthology 1
1985 The Twilight Zone: The Original Stories MJF Books Anthology 540
July 1985 The Twilight Zone: The Original Stories Avon Books Anthology 540
December 1987 The Devil's Advocate: An Ambrose Bierce Reader Chronicle Books Omnibus 16
1988 The Collected Writings of Ambrose Bierce Picador / Pan Books Omnibus 9
1988 Fiction 100: An Anthology of Short Stories Macmillan Anthology 104
1989 Fictions: Second Edition Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Anthology 95
April 1991 Civil War Ghosts August House Anthology 125
1994 Civil War Stories Dover Publications Collection 33
1994 The American Short Story: A Treasury of the Memorable and Familiar by the Great American Writers from Washington Irving to Saul Bellow State Street Press Anthology 291
1994 The American Short Story: A Treasury of the Memorable and Familiar by the Great American Writers from Washington Irving to Saul Bellow Galahad Books Anthology 291
December 1995 An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge Project Gutenberg Chapbook
September 2000 One Dark Night: 13 Masterpieces of the Macabre Ballantine Books Anthology 153
October 2000 My Favorite Horror Story DAW Books Anthology 267
February 2001 The Treasury of the Fantastic: Romanticism to Early Twentieth Century Literature North Atlantic Books/Tachyon Publications/Frog, Ltd. Anthology 344
July 2002 Great American Short Stories Dover Publications Anthology 171
May 2004 My Favorite Horror Story BP Books / ibooks Anthology 323
2007 My Favorite Horror Story MJF Books Anthology 227
November 2007 My Favorite Horror Story ibooks Anthology
January 2010 Horror Masters Vol. 10 River Styx Publishing Anthology
2011 The Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction Bedford Books of St. Martin's Press Anthology 103
2011 Bedtime Stories Knopf Borzoi Anthology 207
May 2011 The Military Megapack: 25 Great Tales of War Wildside Press Anthology
May 2011 The Military Megapack: 25 Great Tales of War Wildside Press Anthology
March 2012 Civil War Stories Dover Publications Collection
March 2012 Civil War Stories Dover Publications Collection
July 2012 Ambrose Bierce: Masters of the Weird Tale Centipede Press Collection
August 2012 Short Ghost and Horror Story Collection 17 LibriVox Anthology |15
September 2012 Lamplight, September 2012 Apokrupha MAGAZINE 57
2013 Survive, or Die! 21 Ultimate Adventures Sam Teddy Publishing Anthology
August 2013 The Treasury of the Fantastic: Romanticism to Early Twentieth Century Literature Tachyon Publications Anthology 322
September 2013 Shades of Blue and Gray: Ghosts of the Civil War Prime Books Anthology 44
2014 Psychology: A Literary Introduction Sam Teddy Publishing Anthology |9
June 2014 An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge Paradigm Publishing Chapbook
February 2015 100 Great Short Stories Dover Publications Anthology
March 2015 100 Great Short Stories Dover Publications Anthology 523
November 2015 Tales to Terrify, #200 District of Wonders MAGAZINE
July 2017 HorrorBabble's Classic Horror: Volume 2 HorrorBabble Anthology |9
September 2017 HorrorBabble's Classic Horror: Volume 2 HorrorBabble Anthology |9
November 2017 The Classic Horror Collection Arcturus Publishing Anthology |23
March 2018 The Classic Horror Collection Arcturus Publishing Anthology |23
April 2018 Grotesque Quarterly, Volume 2, Issue 2 Grotesque Publications MAGAZINE 93
May 2018 The Classic Horror Collection Sirius / Arcturus Publishing Anthology |23
October 2018 Mortal Echoes: Encounters with the End The British Library Anthology 105
July 2019 American Gothic Short Stories Flame Tree Publishing Anthology
February 2021 American Gothic Short Stories Flame Tree Press Anthology
September 2021 25 Unmissable Horror Stories HorrorBabble Anthology |12
April 2023 The Ways of Ghosts: And Other Dark Tales British Library Publishing Collection 65