This story set in a southern town alternates between men who are working themselves up to lynch a black man who (it is rumored) "insulted" a white woman, and the woman in question, who is a sexually frustrated 40, and now finds people taking an interest in her sexuality again, in this ironic form.
This story is full of subjectivity and ambiguity, but without apparent fantasy elements. However, having been included in several genre anthologies, including one devoted to "the fantastic," makes it "genre" for the purposes of this database.
First published in Scribner's, January 1931.
| Date | Publication | Publisher | Type | Page | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 1955 |
|
Strange Barriers | Lion Library | Anthology | |
| July 1961 |
|
Strange Barriers | Pyramid Books | Anthology | |
| 1967 |
|
The Edge of the Chair | Harper & Row | Anthology | 409 |
| January 1970 |
|
The Graveyard Shift | Dell | Anthology | 157 |
| 1979 |
|
Twice-Told Tales: An Anthology of Short Fiction | Houghton Mifflin | Anthology | 389 |
| 1984 |
|
The Penguin Book of Horror Stories | Penguin Books | Anthology | 361 |
| 1985 |
|
The Penguin Book of Horror Stories | Penguin Books | Anthology | 361 |
| October 1985 | The Penguin Book of Horror Stories | Viking UK | Anthology | ||
| October 1987 |
|
The Penguin Book of Horror Stories | Penguin Books | Anthology | 361 |
| October 1987 |
|
Racconti fantastici del '900. Volume primo | Mondadori | Anthology | 155 |
| 1988 |
|
Fiction 100: An Anthology of Short Stories | Macmillan | Anthology | 434 |
| 1991 |
|
The Penguin Book of Horror Stories | Bloomsbury | Anthology | |
| November 1997 |
|
The Riverside Anthology of Short Fiction: Convention and Innovation | Houghton Mifflin | Anthology | 604 |