The Damned Thing by Ambrose Bierce - Free eBook (Read & Download)
Title The Damned Thing Author Ambrose Bierce Quick facts Author: Ambrose Bierce Genre: Horror, weird fiction Setting: A remote cabin in rural America Ambrose Bierce’s short story "The Damned Thing" stands as an early landmark of American cosmic horror. First published in the 1890s, it blends a coroner's inquest with a chilling investigation into the limits of human sensory perception. Readers looking for a brisk, unsettling tale will find an ingenious precursor to modern science-fiction horror. The setup (no spoilers) The story opens inside a rustic cabin where a coroner and his makeshift jury examine the mangled body of a frontiersman named Hugh Morgan. Among those present is William Harker, a writer who witnessed the lethal encounter. As the inquest proceeds, Harker recounts a hunting trip that took a terrifying turn when Morgan appeared to fight an unseen predator in an open field. To explain what transpired, the narrative turns to Harker's testimony and Morgan...