Since horror is so prevalent in Bierce's fiction and since no concentrated study of this important element has been attempted by critics, it is proposed here to examine carefully the sources and nature of the horror in Bierce's fiction in an attempt to arrive at a better understanding of his literary technique and his contribution to American literature.

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This study corroborates theories that ordinary representation of narrative time as a linear series of "nows" hides the true constitution of time and that it is advantageous for us as readers and critics to consider alternatives to progressive reality and linear discourse in order to comprehend many of Ambrose Bierce's stories, for his discourse is fluid and metonymic and defies explication within traditional western language concepts. The Hebraic theory of intertextuality encourages limitless considerations in textual analysis since language is perceived as a creative and dynamic force, not merely mimetic. As such it offers a means for reconsideration of fundamental theories concerning the natures of language and time in Bierce's stories.