In the following essay, Berkove ranks “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” as one of the most accomplished literary hoaxes ever written, contending that Bierce manipulates the readers of the story by allowing them to project their expectations into the story and “letting those expectations blind them into not reading carefully and thoughtfully enough.”

In the following essay, Ames argues that the popularity of “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” is a testimony to Bierce's technical skill, particularly his ability to manipulate perception and suspend disbelief.

In the following essay, Blume explores Bierce's knowledge of executions and the physiological effects of hanging and argues that the hallucination sequence in “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” takes place in a fifteen-minute period after his neck was broken.

In the following excerpt, Davidson explores the perceptions of Peyton Farquhar, the protagonist of “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” focusing on how they are affected by his inevitable execution.

In the following essay, Stoicheff considers Bierce's utilization of dream theory in “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” maintaining that through his “intuitive employment” of Louis Ferdinand Alfred Maury's and Sigmund Freud's dream models Bierce “generates and sustains the uncanny impression of unconscious reality.”

In the following essay, Palmer investigates the similarities and differences between “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” and its cinematic adaptation, Robert Enrico's La Riviere du hibou.

In the following essay, Fabó examines the structuring principles in Bierce's story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.”

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.”

In the following essay, Barrett and Erskine offer a stylistic and thematic analysis of “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.”

In the following essay, Owens provides a biographical context for “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” and investigates the actual location of Owl Creek, finding it to be an amalgamation of Alabama and Tennessee locales.

In the following essay, Geduld considers the nature and problems of film adaptation through a study of Robert Enrico's La Riviere du hibou, a film adapted from Bierce's “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.”

In the following essay, Powers applies a Freudian interpretation to “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.”

In the following essay, Cheatham and Cheatham probe the origins of the name of the protagonist, Peyton Farquhar, in “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.”

In the following essay, Ulrich outlines the differences between “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” and its film adaptation and asserts that the surprise ending “is even more effective in the film than in the story.”

In the following essay, Conlogue finds a connection between Peyton Farquhar and a medieval band of hemp-eating Moslem assassins.