# The Ways of Ghosts explained — Can Such Things Be?

> Chapter companion for Can Such Things Be? by Ambrose Bierce.

## What happens

The narrator introduces a collection of ghost stories obtained from a peculiar acquaintance, noting the author's simple and direct style and his own reluctance to embellish the narratives.

## Themes in this chapter

### The Uncanny and the Grotesque

The chapter sets the stage for uncanny ghost narratives, emphasizing the mysterious and unsettling nature of the stories to come.

## Key lines

> My peculiar relation to the writer of the following narratives is such that I must ask the reader to overlook the absence of explanation as to how they came into my possession.

The narrator has a unique connection to the author of these stories, but asks readers not to question how he obtained them.

_Establishes the mysterious provenance of the tales._

> his style, for the most part devoid alike of artifice and art, almost baldly simple and direct, seems hardly compatible with the disingenuousness of a merely literary intention

His writing is plain and straightforward, suggesting he is more interested in truth than in literary effect.

_Defends the authenticity of the narratives._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/the-ways-of-ghosts
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- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters