There are a couple of bloody brilliant things about this story. First, it's just terribly funny. Bierce just keep edging in these horribly astute little witty observations. It's great. Second, it's a historically wonderful depiction of the gold rush era (and its fallout.)

It's also a horror story, and that part of it isn't quite as strong. It relies too heavily (and twice) on "The experience was just so awful that they dropped dead." If you're going to pull that one, it has to be a truly, truly awful experience... and I didn't think the ones here managed it. I'll forgive that though, because reading this was just wholly a pleasure. ( )