Bierce was a huge fan of the ironic twist, and that comes out in spades in the titular novella and seven short stories in this collection. From a monk who commits the ultimate sin for a misunderstood reason, to a series of civil war vignettes where death and life unexpectedly change places, Bierce's lush prose is consistently engrossing, physical, and often very funny. It is no surprise that many of his short stories were expanded into horror movies, suspense films, and twilight zone episodes.