Synopsis
Three statements are read, giving three very different points of view of a murder and a haunting. They are given by: A son whose mother was murdered and whose father mysteriously disappeared; A dying man who has lost his memory but is haunted by disturbing images of jealousy and retribution; A ghostly woman, speaking through a medium, tells of the horrible way she met her end.
Notes
First published in Cosmopolitan (New York), January 1907. Several authorities claim that the story was first published in 1894. However Bierce's own published letters cite January 1907.
External Links
Publications (70)
| Date | Publication | Publisher | Type | Page | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 1907 |
|
Cosmopolitan Magazine, January 1907 | International Magazine Company | MAGAZINE | 334 |
| 1910 | Can Such Things Be? | The Neale Publishing Company | Collection | 62 | |
| 1918 | Can Such Things Be? | Boni & Liveright | Collection | 62 | |
| 1924 | Can Such Things Be? | Albert & Charles Boni | Collection | 62 | |
| 1936 |
|
The Mammoth Book of Thrillers, Ghosts and Mysteries | Odhams Press | Anthology | 680 |
| 1943 |
|
Tales of Soldiers and Civilians | Heritage Press | Collection | 138 |
| 1953 | The Supernatural Reader | Longmans (Canada) | Anthology | ||
| April 1953 |
|
The Supernatural Reader | J. B. Lippincott | Anthology | 332 |
| 1957 |
|
The Supernatural Reader | Cassell & Company | Anthology | 332 |
| 1958 |
|
The Supernatural Reader | World / WDL Books | Anthology | 233 |
| 1962 |
|
The Supernatural Reader | Collier Books | Anthology | 335 |
| 1964 |
|
Ghost and Horror Stories of Ambrose Bierce | Dover Publications | Collection | |
| 1966 |
|
The Supernatural Reader | Collier Books | Anthology | 335 |
| 1967 |
|
The Supernatural Reader | Collier Books | Anthology | 335 |
| 1968 |
|
The Supernatural Reader | Collier Books | Anthology | 335 |
| 1970 | The Supernatural Reader | Collier Books | Anthology | 335 | |
| 1970 |
|
The Complete Short Stories of Ambrose Bierce | Doubleday | Collection | 136 |
| 1971 |
|
Tales of Soldiers and Civilians | The Easton Press | Collection | 138 |
| 1974 |
|
The Tenth Fontana Book of Great Ghost Stories | Fontana | Anthology | 112 |
| 1974 |
|
Can Such Things Be? | Citadel Press | Collection | 37 |
| October 1976 |
|
Classic Tales of Horror | Constable & Co. Ltd. | Anthology | 107 |
| 1978 |
|
Adventure Stories for Girls | Octopus Books | Anthology | 174 |
| 1979 | Fantastic Worlds: Myths, Tales, and Stories | Oxford University Press | Anthology | 274 | |
| May 1979 |
|
Fantastic Worlds: Myths, Tales, and Stories | Oxford University Press | Anthology | 274 |
| 1984 |
|
The Complete Short Stories of Ambrose Bierce | University of Nebraska Press | Collection | 136 |
| 1984 | The Best of Ambrose Bierce | Castle / Book Sales | Omnibus | 211 | |
| October 1984 |
|
The Penguin Book of Ghost Stories | Penguin Books | Anthology | 263 |
| 1985 |
|
The Penguin Book of Ghost Stories | Penguin Books | Anthology | 263 |
| October 1987 |
|
The Penguin Book of Ghost Stories | Penguin Books | Anthology | 263 |
| December 1987 |
|
The Devil's Advocate: An Ambrose Bierce Reader | Chronicle Books | Omnibus | 183 |
| 1988 |
|
Dixie Ghosts: Haunting Spine-chilling Stories from the American South | Rutledge Hill Press | Anthology | 199 |
| 1988 |
|
The Collected Writings of Ambrose Bierce | Picador / Pan Books | Omnibus | 417 |
| April 1990 |
|
Can Such Things Be? | Citadel Press | Collection | |
| 1991 |
|
The Penguin Book of Ghost Stories | Bloomsbury | Anthology | |
| 1992 |
|
Great Ghost Stories | Dover Publications | Anthology | 53 |
| 1994 |
|
Mysteries: A Classic Collection | Bracken Books | Anthology | |
| October 1995 |
|
The Mammoth Book of Victorian and Edwardian Ghost Stories | Robinson | Anthology | 520 |
| October 1995 |
|
Ghost Stories | Penguin Audio | Anthology | |
| November 1995 |
|
The Mammoth Book of Victorian and Edwardian Ghost Stories | Carroll & Graf | Anthology | 520 |
| 1996 |
|
Dixie Ghosts: Haunting Spine-chilling Stories from the American South | Rutledge Hill Press | Anthology | 199 |
| 1997 |
|
The Giant Book of Classic Ghost Stories: The Great Stories from the Victorian and Edwardian Era | Magpie Books | Anthology | 520 |
| January 1997 |
|
Can Such Things Be? | Wordsworth Editions | Collection | |
| September 1997 |
|
Victorian and Edwardian Ghost Stories | Barnes & Noble Books | Anthology | 520 |
| October 1998 | Classic Chilling Tales 3 | Naxos Audiobooks | Anthology | ||
| 1999 |
|
Creepy Classics III | Lowell House | Anthology | 24 |
| 2000 |
|
Creepy Classics III | Lowell House | Anthology | 24 |
| 2001 |
|
Classic Tales of the Supernatural | Arcturus Publishing | Anthology | 499 |
| 2002 |
|
Great Ghost Stories: 34 Classic Tales of the Supernatural | Gramercy Books | Anthology | 499 |
| August 2003 | Can Such Things Be? | Project Gutenberg | Collection | |4 | |
| July 2004 |
|
Great Ghost Stories | Carroll & Graf | Anthology | 35 |
| June 2005 |
|
Great Ghost Stories: Tales of Mystery and Madness | Cemetery Dance Publications | Anthology | |
| September 2007 |
|
Classic Tales of Horror: Volume Two | Bloody Books | Anthology | 189 |
| December 2007 |
|
The Moonlit Road and Other Stories | Naxos Audiobooks | Anthology | |
| August 2008 |
|
Great American Ghost Stories: Chilling Tales by Poe, Bierce, Hawthorne and Others | Dover Publications | Anthology | 161 |
| 2009 |
|
Bierce After Dark: 30 Strange Tales by Ambrose Bierce | Coachwhip Publications | Collection | 152 |
| 2009 |
|
American Fantastic Tales: Terror and the Uncanny from Poe to the Pulps | The Library of America | Anthology | 302 |
| February 2010 |
|
The Penguin Book of Ghost Stories: From Elizabeth Gaskell to Ambrose Bierce | Penguin Books | Anthology | 281 |
| May 2012 |
|
Can Such Things Be? | LibriVox | Collection | |
| May 2012 |
|
Can Such Things Be? | Collection | |62 | |
| July 2012 |
|
Ambrose Bierce: Masters of the Weird Tale | Centipede Press | Collection | |
| September 2012 |
|
The Big Book of Ghost Stories | Vintage Crime / Black Lizard / Vintage Books | Anthology | 102 |
| December 2012 |
|
The Big Book of Ghost Stories | Vintage Crime / Black Lizard / Vintage Books | Anthology | |102 |
| April 2013 |
|
Short Ghost and Horror Story Collection 20 | LibriVox | Anthology | |3 |
| August 2014 |
|
The Phantom Coach: A Connoisseur's Collection of Victorian Ghost Stories | Bloomsbury USA | Anthology | |4 |
| October 2014 |
|
The 2014 Halloween Horrors Megapack | Wildside Press | Anthology | |
| July 2016 |
|
Murder Mayhem Short Stories | Flame Tree Publishing | Anthology | 27 |
| November 2016 |
|
Murder Mayhem Short Stories | Flame Tree Publishing | Anthology | |27 |
| November 2018 |
|
Lost Souls Short Stories | Flame Tree Publishing | Anthology | |
| June 2020 |
|
The Big Book of Ghost Stories | Highbridge / Recorded Books | Anthology | |102 |
| April 2023 |
|
The Ways of Ghosts: And Other Dark Tales | British Library Publishing | Collection | 209 |