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The Old Man

Daphne du Maurier

First published 1952
Type Short Fiction
Length Short Story

The narrator observes his neighbor, who he dubs "the Old Man," interacting with his children, and comments on the killing of one of the children.

Borderline speculative. The final twist reveals the oddity of this family to be a matter of perception -- but perception makes the world strange in this story.

Date Publication Publisher Type Page
1952 Cover The Apple Tree: A Short Novel and Some Stories Gollancz Collection 251
1953 Kiss Me Again, Stranger Doubleday Collection 221
1963 Cover The Birds and Other Stories Penguin Books Collection |5
1964 Cover Les oiseaux et autres nouvelles Le Livre de Poche Collection 191
1971 Cover The Birds and Other Stories Penguin Books Collection 229
1971 The Apple Tree: A Short Novel and Some Stories Gollancz Collection 251
1973 Cover Les oiseaux et autres nouvelles Le Livre de Poche Collection 191
October 1973 Cover Haunted Cornwall William Kimber Anthology 26
April 1975 Cover Haunted Cornwall New English Library Anthology 24
1976 Cover Echoes from the Macabre Gollancz Collection 297
1977 Cover Echoes from the Macabre Doubleday Collection 273
1977 Cover The Birds and Other Stories Pan Books Collection |5
January 1978 Cover Echoes from the Macabre International Collectors Library Collection 275
April 1978 Cover Echoes from the Macabre Avon Collection 271
1980 The Birds and Other Stories Longman Collection 79
May 1987 Cover Kiss Me Again, Stranger Dell Collection 220
May 1995 Cover The Penguin Book of Modern Fantasy by Women Viking UK Anthology 62
October 1995 Cover The Penguin Book of Modern Fantasy by Women Viking Anthology 62
August 1996 Cover The Penguin Book of Modern Fantasy by Women Penguin Books Anthology 62
December 2013 Cover The Birds and Other Stories Little, Brown Collection |6
June 2025 Cover Phantoms of Kernow: Classic Tales of Haunted Cornwall The British Library Anthology 267