Bierce was born in a log cabin at Horse Cave Creek in Meigs County, Ohio, in 1842. First finding his voice in newspapers, Bierce became a prolific author of short stories often humorous and sometimes bitter or macabre. He is renowned as a pioneering writer of realist fiction. For his horror writing, Michael Dirda ranked him alongside Edgar Allan Poe and H.P. Lovecraft. His war stories influenced S…