Can Such Things Be? · Chapters

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Chapter companions for Can Such Things Be? by Ambrose Bierce.

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Chapter 1
The Death of Halpin Frayser
The chapter opens with a philosophical epigraph on death and the supernatural, suggesting that the dead may return with malevolent intent and that the spirit and body can be separated in unnatural ways.
Chapter 2
I
The narrator recounts a dark night drive from Newcastle to Auburn through a narrow ravine, where he unexpectedly encounters Dr. Dorrimore, a man he had not seen in five years. Despite offering him a ride, the narrator feels an inexplicable sense of dread and spiritual peril in Dorrimore's presence, which lingers even after they arrive at the Putnam House, where Dorrimore is also staying.
Chapter 3
II
The narrator recounts his first unsettling encounter with Dr. Dorrimore at the Bohemian Club in San Francisco, where a conversation about Hindu jugglers leads to a demonstration of Dorrimore's uncanny powers. Dorrimore mysteriously produces a vision of his own dead body, then vanishes and reappears, leaving the narrator shaken and questioning reality.
Chapter 4
III
The narrator describes his second meeting with Dr. Dorrimore, who is absent due to illness. Miss Margaret Corray and her mother arrive unexpectedly, and the narrator reveals his engagement to Miss Corray. Despite his happiness, he grows increasingly jealous of Dr. Dorrimore's attention to her, leading to tension and a resolution to return to San Francisco.
Chapter 5
IV
The narrator, in a state of madness, visits an abandoned cemetery in Auburn where he encounters Dr. Dorrimore and Margaret Corray. Overcome with rage, he attacks them but later wakes up bruised and bloody. Upon recovery, he learns from the hotel clerk that no one named Corray had been registered and that Dr. Dorrimore has disappeared.

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The Death of Halpin Frayser

I

II

III

IV