A man stands on a bridge with a rope around his neck, and the last thing he imagines is his escape.
A very short story that reads like a single held breath, with a final line that changes how everything before it reads. Four and a half out of five (our opinion, draft for review).
Every guide comes as a video and a full written article. Pick the one you need: the review is spoiler-free, the ending explained is not.
This is the full text of Ambrose Bierce's An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge (1890), read aloud word for word in about 23 minutes. The video highlights each word as it is spoken, so you can follow the original wording…
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge is a short story by Ambrose Bierce, first published in 1890, set during the American Civil War. It opens on a man about to be hanged from a railroad bridge in Alabama. It is in the public domain, and we worked from the free Project Gutenberg text (ebook 375).
The audiobook. Our Study Edition audiobook reads the whole story word for word with a synthetic voice, highlights each word on screen, and adds a who’s-who, five hard words and a short recap after each of four parts. This page has the recaps in writing, with full spoilers.
A very short story that reads like a single held breath, with a final line that changes how everything before it reads. Four and a half out of five (our opinion, draft for review). Read it if: you want a classic you can finish in one sitting; you like stories that play with time and point of view; you are studying it and want the text and hard words together. Skip it if: you want a happy ending; you dislike war stories.
