“Fear has no brains it is an idiot. The dismal witness that it bears and the cowardly counsel that it whispers are unrelated.”

American journalist and short-story writer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Bierce’s work blends dark satire and existential cynicism. He is best known for his collection *The Devil’s Dictionary*, a witty and mordant compendium of definitions, and his haunting, often ambiguous short stories.