# William Holt — Can Such Things Be? character guide

> William Holt in Can Such Things Be? by Ambrose Bierce.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Mr. William Holt, Mr. Holt, Holt

**First appearance:** 0055-three-and-one-are-one

## Snapshot

A reflective traveler aboard a doomed ship, Holt is drawn to a young woman whose gaze seems to open onto a crowd of watching ancestors.

## Who they are

Holt is a passenger on the Morrow who becomes quietly obsessed with Miss Janette Harford, a woman whose family name matches a branch of his own. When he looks into her eyes, he sees a strange procession of familiar faces peering back through her, a vision that unsettles him more than the coming storm. His introspection and his inability to name what draws him to her make him a perfect witness to the uncanny, and his survival of the wreck leaves him haunted by what he saw.

## In the story

### [A Wireless Message](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/a-wireless-message)

Protagonist who experiences a supernatural vision of his wife and child during a nocturnal walk.

### [Mysterious Disappearances](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/mysterious-disappearances)

Holt mysteriously disappears while traveling, with his horse and belongings found abandoned.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/characters/william_holt
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/characters