Somewhere in the outer darkness: Locating the frontier (eco)gothic of Ambrose Bierce.

This article analyzes the work of American writer Ambrose Bierce (1842–1914) through the framework of the ecogothic, focusing on his development of a "frontier gothic" genre that situates gothic horror within the unsettled landscapes of the American frontier. Bierce's frontier gothic is characterized by the emblematic image of the "cabin in the woods," depicted as "day-old ruins" lacking clear boundaries between interior and exterior, culture and nature, and haunted by both human ghosts and nonhuman cryptids. The article situates Bierce's work as a transitional form between traditional European gothic—rooted in feudal ruins—and later folk horror, emphasizing the liminal, unsettled nature of settler-colonial landscapes marked by ongoing violence and ecological entanglement. It further argues that Bierce's precise localizations and attention to natural surroundings reflect an ecogothic sensibility that challenges the triumphant narrative of frontier progress by highlighting the abjection and instability of colonial settlement.