Gertrude Atherton was a gothic novelist and short story writer. A protégée of Ambrose Bierce, his influence can be seen in many of her stories, which often have overt references to the supernatural. In "Death and the Woman," a woman sits all alone in grief at her dying husband's side, waiting for Death to claim him. In the creepy, desolate surroundings, her imagination begins to get the best of her—but is it only her imagination?