SOURCE: "The EYES OF THE PANTHER" (1891) by Ambrose Bierce

DESCRIPTION: "...Lifting her eyes she saw two bright objects starring the darkness with a reddish-green glow. She took them to be two coals on the hearth, but with her returning sense of direction came the disquieting consciousness that they were not in that quarter of the room, moreover were too high, being nearly at the level of the eyes—of her own eyes. For these were the eyes of a panther."

PLOT: Jenner Brading wants to marry Irene Marlowe but she refuses because she is "insane". Irene relates how her mother and father lived in a rude cabin. Her father had gone out to hunt and the mother was left with the baby. From an open window yellow panther eyes pin her in fright. When the husband returns he finds his wife has crushed the baby to death in trying to protect it. Irene is the second child of the couple, her mother dyuing in childbirth. Irene is raised by her father in a lonely house. With Irene's complete refusal, Brading goes on with his life, living in a cabin near the woods. One night he sees eyes waking him sleep and shots at them with a pistol. Upon further searching he finds Irene's dead body.

WEREWOLF FACTS: Bierce gives very little information about the shape-shifting, only hints at it by mentioning the terrifying quality of Irene's eyes. Bierce made fun of this exact type of story in his Devil's Dictionary.

1990 DVD and scene from newer version

INTERESTING FACTS: The short story was made into an episode of Shelley Duvall's Nightmare Classics in 1990. It starred C. Thomas Howell, Daphne Zuniga and John Stockwell. It is available on DVD. It was made into a two hour film in 2005 by Mike Barton and starring Melissa Collins, Kelly Vincent, Taryn Reneau and Aaron Hendry.