Author: Morrow, William Chambers
Title: The Bloodhounds. A Sombre Incident of the CIVIL War (the Argonaut, Vol. V, No. 24, December 13, 1879)
Description: San Francisco, The Argonaut, 1879. First appearance of one of the earliest published short stories of William Morrow; pp. [2] - front and second pages; a spot to right margin; folded through middle, resulting in several short cuts to right edge, with minor repairs to verso; in good or better condition. Journal - 16 1/2 x 11 1/2; pp. [16] altogether; moisture stain to bottom edge; a few closed splits to spine; in good condition. William Chambers Morrow (1854 - 1923) was a renowned author of suspense and horror short stories, who moved from Alabama to California in 1879 and promptly began selling his tales to The Argonaut, the latter having been founded just two years earlier, but already establishing itself as an influential, weekly, cultural and political journal. It was said that author Ambrose Bierce, already employed at The Argonaut, would be greatly influenced by Morrow's work, elements of which would later appear in many of Bierce's writings. "The Bloodhounds" would be the first story, where Morrow would employ the truly-grim, shocking, horror endings, which would become his trademark in his subsequent works. This particular one revolved around a Confederate soldier, a deserter, heading home to help feed his family. A unit, dispatched with twelve bloodhounds to chase him down, located him in a swamp and in the following two hours - repeatedly attacked and injured by the animals, he managed to kill eleven of the dogs, one at a time, with his bare hands and resourcefulness. Having stopped to rest, the soldier fainted, just to have the oldest, most experienced bloodhound find him and rip his throat out. Good .

Keywords: CIVIL War, Horror


See more books from our catalog: Literature & Classics