SOURCE: Walz, Lawrence A. “Mary Henry's Journey from Owl Creek Bridge.” Literature/Film Quarterly 23, no. 4 (1995): 262-65.

In the following essay, Walz addresses the use of the “Owl Creek Bridge Plot” in the 1961 film Carnival of Souls and contrasts the protagonists of the movie and the short story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.”

Ambrose Bierce's short story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” (1890) has long been celebrated for its classic surprise ending. Peyton Farquhar, being hanged as a Confederate saboteur at Owl Creek Bridge, is reprieved when the rope breaks. He plunges into the river below the bridge, swims to shore, and makes his way home. Upon arriving, he suddenly feels his neck breaking—in reality he has reached the end of the unbroken rope.

This ending is a variation of the standard plot twist—“It was just a dream.” In Bierce's hands, however, the treatment becomes serious...