SOURCE: "The Damned Thing" by Ambrose Bierce (Tales from New York Town Topics, December 7, 1893) .

DESCRIPTION: "Before I could get upon my feet and recover my gun, which seemed to have been struck from my hands, I heard Morgan crying out as if in mortal agony, and mingling with his cries were such hoarse, savage sounds as one hears from fighting dogs. Inexpressibly terrified, I struggled to my feet and looked in the direction of Morgan's retreat; and may Heaven in mercy spare me from another sight like that! At a distance of less than thirty yards was my friend, down upon one knee, his head thrown back at a frightful angle, hatless, his long hair in disorder and his whole body in violent movement from side to side, backward and forward. His right arm was lifted and seemed to lack the hand — at least, I could see none. The other arm was invisible. At times, as my memory now reports this extraordinary scene, I could discern but a part of his body; it was as if he had been partly blotted out — I cannot otherwise express it — then a shifting of his position would bring it all into view again." ("The Damned Thing" by Ambrose Bierce)

NOTES: A man is called to an inquest in a rural town to explain how his friend died. The two men are attacked by an invisible creature while hunting. Bierce attempts to explain how a creature might be invisible by being a color outside the visual spectrum.

HISTORY: One of the very earliest invisibility stories, pre-dating H. G. Wells' The Invisible Man by almost 4 years. May have been inspired by Fitz-James O'Brien's Invisible Monster though there are those who say it was based on an actual account. The story was filmed by Tobe Hooper as a "Masters of Horror" episode in 2005.

Sean Patrick Flanery in a script by Richard Matheson

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