Interesting. A friend of 'Bitter' Bierce, you say? That's a pretty good recommendation.

San Francisco has a long tradition of horror writers:

E.Hoffman Price
Fritz Leiber

to name just a couple.

Try Leiber's sword-and-sorcery stuff if you don't like horror.

By Morriganlefey on Wednesday, May 30, 2001 - 10:09 am: Edit

"Equips the soul with wings" - that is a fantastic reference that I won't soon forget!

-M

By Scoobydoo on Wednesday, May 30, 2001 - 07:20 am: Edit

Surprise...I thought this link was about Head, Anatomist, and the rest of us at the forum.
haha..my bad

By Tomjoad on Wednesday, May 30, 2001 - 12:34 am: Edit

Looks like I screwed up the link. Its www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5134/enfer.html

By Tomjoad on Wednesday, May 30, 2001 - 12:30 am: Edit

I just finished reading W.C. Morrows's "Over an Absinthe Bottle" from his book of short stories "The Ape, The Idiot, and Other People"(1897). Great story, like something from The Twilight Zone. If you are not familiar with Morrow, he was a horror/fantasy writer in fin de siecle San Francisco and a good friend of Ambrose Bierce.
I also just recently read his "Bohemian Paris of Today" which gives descriptive accounts of many of the Paris cafes of the time. There is a very amusing chapter about theme cafes- Le Cabaret du Ciel, Cafe de L'Enfer and Cafe du Neant. Heaven, Hell, and Death. Kinda reminds me of the cheesey Magic Time Machine I went to in Austin in the 70's.html,Cafe De L'Enfer
He gives a few references to absinthe such as "...he fell deeply into debt, and gave more heed to absinthe than his meals,-it is cheaper, more alluring, and brings an exhilaration that sharpens the wit and equips the soul with wings".
The Ape etc. is a collectors book that lists from $300 to $400, but someone recently reprinted it as The Monster Maker if anyone is interested.