A New Haunt for Mr. Bierce

I have written very little since my death, a circumstance the reader should not find unusual. Those of us who presently reside in the spirit world appear to have little motivation or capability for the creation of works of art, either literary, visual, or otherwise. This book was written a century after my earthly death. I gave my blessing for its publication directly to the living author, Drew Bridges, through a process that I acknowledge is somewhat mysterious and, to my knowledge, unprecedented. Perhaps through my willingness to be involved in this controversial endeavor, others may be encouraged to do likewise. By others, I mean writers who have departed the mortal world but who reside in the spirit world and continue to have creative desires. A word is in order about the use in this book of my previously published material. I enthusiastically support the author’s appropriation of certain of my phrases, comments, and narrative descriptions, in whole or in part, that have appeared in my work. Mr. Bridges requested permission to do this in order to enhance the authenticity of my character in the telling of this story. I agree with him that he is not capable of using his own words to fully capture the essence of my personality, and thus truly represent my way of expressing myself. He has done a sufficiently capable job of blending quotations of mine with his own narrative. I take it as a compliment that he believes, as do others, that I am somewhat unique and difficult to mimic. Each instance of reuse of known material is, of course, documented. Each appropriation of my published writing will be marked with a simple footnote at the end of the paragraph in question and italicized when it is a direct quote. We are, however, aware and in agreement that such footnotes may distract from the narrative action. The reader is asked to ignore this marking for the moment in the service of the telling of the story. In order to appreciate this narrative, it is not necessary to know from what specific work of mine that the words originated. Any reader who wishes to undertake a critical examination of these appropriations will find at the end of this book a documentation of their source. The author of this work, Mr. Bridges, originally maintained the story that unfolds here first came to him fully formed in a vivid dream that refused to fade from memory upon his awakening and persisted in unique clarity even under the crush of his everyday anchorage. That, of course, is an oversimplified description of our partnership. A full understanding of how we communicated is not necessary.