Known for his wit and sardonic humor, Ambrose Bierce wrote horror with the intensity of Edgar Allan Poe. Many think Bierce outdid Poe in the genre. His lucid, unsentimental style has kept him popular when many of his contemporaries have been consigned to oblivion. Bierce's short stories can best be described as "potboilers".

Among the stories included in this collection are:

"The Eyes of the Panther"
"A Watcher by the Dead"
"The Death of Halpin Frayser"
"The Suitable Surroundings"
"An Adventure at Brownville"
"Moxon's Master"
"Mysterious Disappearances"
"The Famous Gilson Bequest"
"The Secret of Macarger's Gulch"