The Boarded Window is one of many Ambrose Bierce stories in which he explores a fascination with the macabre. The setting for the story, a frontier town in the early to mid 1800s, is also reflective of his adventuresome lifestyle. The all-knowing narrator, who confesses he is merely retelling a story first told to him by his grandfather, tells the tale. This kind of narrative sets a tone of suspense and foreboding. The story unfolds, in true short story form, as the central and sole character of Murlock is explored.

The catalyst for the story is a boarded up window in Murlock's home, which is also a symbol for Murlock himself. Just as no one in the present remembers a time when it wasn't boarded up nor why, and no one knows Murlock anymore. His life, too, seems as closed to warmth and light as...