Can Such Things Be? is a spine-chilling collection of tales of the uncanny and of the effects of supernatural horror; several are concerned with episodes of the American Civil War and the California Frontier. Ambrose Bierce, a skillful manipulator of sensational effects, uses a medium in The Moonlit Road and An Inhabitant of Corcosa, whilst One Summer Night and John Mortonson's Funeral are brief essays in pure terror. The tales are filled with a psychological realism which accentuates Bierce's sardonic humour.