I thought I was picking up a story of forbidden passion and sundered lovers, but instead got a portrait of religious hypocrisy and, intensely depicted, narcissitic obsession and objectification of the "loved" person as a recepticle for the emotions of the protagonist. It's clear that Bierce has no sympathy for the actions of the main character, the monk, Ambrosius, but neither is he portrayed as a stock, moustache-twirling gothic villain. In presenting the narrative from the single point of view of Ambrosius's diary, Bierce ran the risk of seeming to empathise with or justify the monk's self-absorbed fantasies, but he's too good a writer for that, thankfully.

How much of this sentiment is in the original German-language story by [a:Richard Voss|232971|Richard Voss|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/m_50x66-82093808bca726cb3249a493fbd3bd0f.png], which Bierce co-translated, I don't know, but in his introduction he states that he added much material of his own, as well a translating Voss.

Gothic conventions he did use include: perverse monks; febrile religious passions; peasant village life; wild, rugged mountain landscapes; the dead, and intimations of mortality and doom. All to good effect.