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The Man And The Snake
"The Man and the Snake" is a short story by American Civil War soldier, wit, and writer Ambrose Bierce. It tells of a man who dies of fright inspired by a toy snake with buttons for eyes. The story was published in '' The San Francisco Examiner'' on June 29, 1890. Plot summary Harker Brayton is relaxing on a sofa when he notices a snake in the room. The narrator then proceeds to explain that the snake is that of Dr. During, the owner of the house that Harker is visiting. During is a zoologist and collector of different animals but most particularly, reptiles. Typically, he keeps them stored away in another wing of the house, nicknamed the Snakery. Brayton initially decides to retreat from the room with the snake but wonders if he should confront the creature. He continues to stare at the snake, anticipating its plan of attack, but the snake continues to be motionless. Eventually he feels a blow to his face and chest. Shortly thereafter, Dr. During is called to the room t ...
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Ambrose Bierce
Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce (June 24, 1842 – ) was an American short story writer, journalist, poet, and American Civil War veteran. His book '' The Devil's Dictionary'' was named as one of "The 100 Greatest Masterpieces of American Literature" by the American Revolution Bicentennial Administration. His story " An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" has been described as "one of the most famous and frequently anthologized stories in American literature", and his book ''Tales of Soldiers and Civilians'' (also published as ''In the Midst of Life'') was named by the Grolier Club as one of the 100 most influential American books printed before 1900. A prolific and versatile writer, Bierce was regarded as one of the most influential journalists in the United States, and as a pioneering writer of realist fiction. For his horror writing, Michael Dirda ranked him alongside Edgar Allan Poe and H. P. Lovecraft. S. T. Joshi speculates that he may well be the greatest satirist America has ever ...
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Psychosomatic Death
Voodoo death, a term coined by Walter Cannon in 1942 also known as psychogenic death or psychosomatic death, is the phenomenon of sudden death as brought about by a strong emotional shock, such as fear. The anomaly is recognized as "psychosomatic" in that death is caused by an emotional response—often fear—to some suggested outside force. Voodoo death is particularly noted in native societies, and concentration- or prisoner of war camps, but the condition is not specific to any particular culture. Walter Cannon and his work In 1942, Walter Bradford Cannon, MD, now looked to as a forerunner in modern physiological psychology, published a work wherein he postulated the idea that fear could affect a person to the point that their physical condition would deteriorate in response to psychological distress. Cannon, Walter. "Voodoo Death." pp. 169–181. Citing examples of extraordinary deaths (and their extraneous circumstances) in aboriginal societies, Cannon posited the idea ...
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The San Francisco Examiner
The ''San Francisco Examiner'' is a newspaper distributed in and around San Francisco, California, and published since 1863. Once self-dubbed the "Monarch of the Dailies" by then-owner William Randolph Hearst, and flagship of the Hearst Corporation chain, the ''Examiner'' converted to free distribution early in the 21st century and is owned by Clint Reilly Communications, which bought the newspaper at the end of 2020 along with the ''SF Weekly''. History Founding The ''Examiner'' was founded in 1863 as the ''Democratic Press'', a pro-Confederacy, pro-slavery, pro-Democratic Party paper opposed to Abraham Lincoln, but after his assassination in 1865, the paper's offices were destroyed by a mob, and starting on June 12, 1865, it was called ''The Daily Examiner''. Hearst acquisition In 1880, mining engineer and entrepreneur George Hearst bought the ''Examiner''. Seven years later, after being elected to the U.S. Senate, he gave it to his son, William Randolph Hearst, who wa ...
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Snake
Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more joints than their lizard ancestors, enabling them to swallow prey much larger than their heads ( cranial kinesis). To accommodate their narrow bodies, snakes' paired organs (such as kidneys) appear one in front of the other instead of side by side, and most have only one functional lung. Some species retain a pelvic girdle with a pair of vestigial claws on either side of the cloaca. Lizards have evolved elongate bodies without limbs or with greatly reduced limbs about twenty-five times independently via convergent evolution, leading to many lineages of legless lizards. These resemble snakes, but several common groups of legless lizards have eyelids and external ears, which snakes lack, although this rule is not universal (see Amphisbae ...
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One Of The Missing
"One of the Missing" is a short story by American Civil War soldier, wit, and writer Ambrose Bierce. It was first published in ''The San Francisco Examiner'' on March 11, 1888 and was reprinted in ''Tales of Soldiers and Civilians'' (1891). Summary The story is set in the American Civil War. Jerome Searing is an orderly for the Union Army. His general sends him on a mission to scout ahead and make sure that there are no surprises waiting for them. This is a typical mission for Jerome and he takes delight and care in scouting ahead. Jerome comes upon a plantation and can see the Confederate Army in retreat. He takes aim to shoot one of them ("it is the business of a soldier to kill") but at the same time, a captain far off shoots a cannon at the structure that Jerome is hiding in. When Jerome comes to, he is partially buried in the debris and finds himself incapable of moving his body because of the way the debris covers him. As he examines his surroundings and options, Jero ...
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Harris Merton Lyon
Harris Merton Lyon (1882–1916) was an American short story writer. Biography Harris Merton Lyon was born in Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1882.Robert Coltrane, 'LYON, HARRIS MERTON', in ''A Theodore Dreiser encyclopedia'', Keith Newlin (ed.), Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2003, p. 23/ref> He attended the University of Missouri while working at a restaurant and laundrette. By the early 1900s, he moved to New York City to work as a journalist and as a short story writer. His stories were published in ''Broadway Magazine'', edited by Theodore Dreiser, and later in ''McClure's'', ''Collier's'', ''The Smart Set'', and ''The Illustrated Sunday Magazine''. In 1908, he published his first collection of short stories, ''Sardonics'', followed by ''Graphics'' in 1913. A newspaper from February 1908 reproduced a photo of a 17-year-old Japanese woman named Hyacinth Tawana, who the caption said was coming to America to marry Lyon. The caption stated Lyon "had rescued his brid ...
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1890 Short Stories
Year 189 ( CLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Silanus and Silanus (or, less frequently, year 942 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 189 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events By place Roman Empire * Plague (possibly smallpox) kills as many as 2,000 people per day in Rome. Farmers are unable to harvest their crops, and food shortages bring riots in the city. China * Liu Bian succeeds Emperor Ling, as Chinese emperor of the Han Dynasty. * Dong Zhuo has Liu Bian deposed, and installs Emperor Xian as emperor. * Two thousand eunuchs in the palace are slaughtered in a violent purge in Luoyang, the capital of Han. By topic Arts and sciences * Galen publishes his ''"Treatise on the various temperaments"'' (aka ''O ...
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Horror Short Stories
Horror may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres *Horror fiction, a genre of fiction ** Japanese horror, Japanese horror fiction ** Korean horror, Korean horror fiction *Horror film, a film genre *Horror comics, comic books focusing on horror * Horror punk, a music genre *Horrorcore, a subgenre of hip hop music based on horror * Horror game, a video game genre **Survival horror, a video game subgenre of horror and action-adventure * Horror podcast, a podcast genre Films * ''Horror'' (2002 film), an American film by Dante Tomaselli * ''#Horror'', a 2015 American film by Tara Subkoff *''Horror'', Italian title for the 1963 Italian-Spanish film '' The Blancheville Monster'' Fictional characters * Horror (''Garo''), fictional monsters in the Tokusatsu series ''Garo'' *Horror icon, a significant person or fictional character in a horror genre Music Groups and labels * Ho99o9 (pronounced Horror), an American hip hop group * The Horrors, an English rock band Albums and EPs ...
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Psychological Horror
Psychological horror is a subgenre of horror and psychological fiction with a particular focus on mental, emotional, and psychological states to frighten, disturb, or unsettle its audience. The subgenre frequently overlaps with the related subgenre of psychological thriller, and often uses mystery elements and characters with unstable, unreliable, or disturbed psychological states to enhance the suspense, drama, action, and paranoia of the setting and plot and to provide an overall unpleasant, unsettling, or distressing atmosphere. Characteristics Psychological horror usually aims to create discomfort or dread by exposing common or universal psychological and emotional vulnerabilities/fears and revealing the darker parts of the human psyche that most people may repress or deny. This idea is referred to in analytical psychology as the archetypal shadow characteristics: suspicion, distrust, self-doubt, and paranoia of others, themselves, and the world. The genre sometimes se ...
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Short Stories By Ambrose Bierce
Short may refer to: Places * Short (crater), a lunar impact crater on the near side of the Moon * Short, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * Short, Oklahoma, a census-designated place People * Short (surname) * List of people known as the Short Arts, entertainment, and media * Short film, a cinema format (also called film short or short subject) * Short story, prose generally readable in one sitting * ''The Short-Timers'', a 1979 semi-autobiographical novel by Gustav Hasford, about military short-timers in Vietnam Brands and enterprises * Short Brothers, a British aerospace company * Short Brothers of Sunderland, former English shipbuilder Computing and technology * Short circuit, an accidental connection between two nodes of an electrical circuit * Short integer, a computer datatype Finance * Short (finance), stock-trading position * Short snorter, a banknote signed by fellow travelers, common during World War II Foodstuffs * Short pastry, one which is rich in butte ...
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Fictional Snakes
Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying character (arts), individuals, events, or setting (narrative), places that are imagination, imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a traditional narrow sense, "fiction" refers to literature, written narratives in prose often referring specifically to novels, novellas, and short story, short stories. More broadly, however, fiction encompasses imaginary narratives expressed in any Media (communication), medium, including not just writings but also drama, live theatrical performances, films, television programs, radio dramas, comics, role-playing games, and video games. Definition Typically, the fictionality of a work is publicly marketed and so the audience expects the work to deviate in some ways from the real world rather than presenting, for instance, only factually accurate portrayals or character (arts), characters who ar ...
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Works Originally Published In The San Francisco Examiner
Works may refer to: People * Caddy Works (1896–1982), American college sports coach * Samuel Works (c. 1781–1868), New York politician Albums * '' ''Works'' (Pink Floyd album)'', a Pink Floyd album from 1983 * ''Works'', a Gary Burton album from 1972 * ''Works'', a Status Quo album from 1983 * ''Works'', a John Abercrombie album from 1991 * ''Works'', a Pat Metheny album from 1994 * ''Works'', an Alan Parson Project album from 2002 * ''Works Volume 1'', a 1977 Emerson, Lake & Palmer album * ''Works Volume 2'', a 1977 Emerson, Lake & Palmer album * '' The Works'', a 1984 Queen album Other uses * Microsoft Works, a collection of office productivity programs created by Microsoft * IBM Works, an office suite for the IBM OS/2 operating system * Mount Works, Victoria Land, Antarctica See also * The Works (other) * Work (other) Work may refer to: * Work (human activity), intentional activity people perform to support themselves, others, or the community ...
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