Some of the most chilling and macabre tales in the English language can be attributed to American journalist and short story writer Ambrose Bierce. His books include "Can Such Things Be: Tales of Horror and the Supernatural," as well as "The Devil's Dictionary." He has also penned scathing views of frontier life and its lawlessness, and the most caustic treatises on war.

"In the Midst of Life: Tales of Soldiers and Civilians" represents Bierce's short stories written in and around the time of the Civil War. These include "A Horseman in the Sky," "Chickamauga," "The Applicant," "A Holy...