# Can Such Things Be? — Chapters explained

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

- [The Death of Halpin Frayser](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/the-death-of-halpin-frayser.md): 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.
- [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/i.md): Halpin Frayser wakes from a dreamless sleep in a forest and inexplicably speaks the name 'Catherine Larue.' He returns to sleep and enters a nightmare where he walks a haunted road, finds blood everywhere, and feels pers
- [Chapter II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/ii.md): This chapter provides background on Halpin Frayser's youth in Nashville, Tennessee, his family's social standing, his dreamy and literary nature inherited from his great-grandfather Myron Bayne, and the deep, almost roma
- [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/iii.md): Halpin Frayser, trapped in a nightmare within a haunted wood, confronts a horrifying apparition that resembles his mother but is soulless and malevolent. Paralyzed with fear, he is attacked and strangled by the creature,
- [Chapter IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/iv.md): Detective Jaralson and Mr. Holker discover the body of a man in a forest graveyard, identified as Halpin Frayser, who appears to have been strangled in a violent struggle. They find a pocketbook containing a fragmentary 

> 74 more chapter companions — [open a free preview](https://www.betterreads.dev/reader?bookId=can_such_things_be_se_782kb&preview=1) to unlock the rest.

- [The Secret of Macarger's Gulch](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/the-secret-of-macarger-s-gulch.md)
- [One Summer Night](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/one-summer-night.md)
- [The Moonlit Road](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/the-moonlit-road.md)
- [I: Statement of Joel Hetman, Jr.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/i-statement-of-joel-hetman-jr.md)
- [II: Statement of Caspar Grattan](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/ii-statement-of-caspar-grattan.md)
- [III: Statement of the Late Julia Hetman, Through the Medium Bayrolles](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/iii-statement-of-the-late-julia-hetman-through-the-medium-bayrolles.md)
- [A Diagnosis of Death](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/a-diagnosis-of-death.md)
- [Moxon's Master](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/moxon-s-master.md)
- [A Tough Tussle](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/a-tough-tussle.md)
- [One of Twins](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/one-of-twins.md)
- [The Haunted Valley](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/the-haunted-valley.md)
- [I: How Trees Are Felled in China](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/i-how-trees-are-felled-in-china.md)
- [II: Who Drives Sane Oxen Should Himself Be Sane](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/ii-who-drives-sane-oxen-should-himself-be-sane.md)
- [A Jug of Syrup](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/a-jug-of-syrup.md)
- [Staley Fleming's Hallucination](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/staley-fleming-s-hallucination.md)
- [A Resumed Identity](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/a-resumed-identity.md)
- [I: The Review as a Form of Welcome](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/i-the-review-as-a-form-of-welcome.md)
- [II: When You Have Lost Your Life Consult a Physician](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/ii-when-you-have-lost-your-life-consult-a-physician.md)
- [III: The Danger of Looking Into a Pool of Water](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/iii-the-danger-of-looking-into-a-pool-of-water.md)
- [A Baby Tramp](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/a-baby-tramp.md)
- [The Night-Doings at "Deadman's"](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/the-night-doings-at-deadman-s.md)
- [Beyond the Wall](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/beyond-the-wall.md)
- [A Psychological Shipwreck](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/a-psychological-shipwreck.md)
- [The Middle Toe of the Right Foot](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/the-middle-toe-of-the-right-foot.md)
- [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/i.md)
- [Chapter II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/ii.md)
- [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/iii.md)
- [John Mortonson’s Funeral](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/john-mortonson-s-funeral.md)
- [The Realm of the Unreal](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/the-realm-of-the-unreal.md)
- [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/i.md)
- [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/ii.md)
- [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/iii.md)
- [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/iv.md)
- [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/v.md)
- [John Bartine's Watch](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/john-bartine-s-watch.md)
- [The Damned Thing](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/the-damned-thing.md)
- [I: One Does Not Always Eat What Is on the Table](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/i-one-does-not-always-eat-what-is-on-the-table.md)
- [II: What May Happen in a Field of Wild Oats](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/ii-what-may-happen-in-a-field-of-wild-oats.md)
- [III: A Man Though Naked May Be in Rags](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/iii-a-man-though-naked-may-be-in-rags.md)
- [IV: An Explanation from the Tomb](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/iv-an-explanation-from-the-tomb.md)
- [Haïta the Shepherd](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/ha-ta-the-shepherd.md)
- [An Inhabitant of Carcosa](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/an-inhabitant-of-carcosa.md)
- [The Stranger](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/the-stranger.md)
- [The Ways of Ghosts](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/the-ways-of-ghosts.md)
- [Present at a Hanging](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/present-at-a-hanging.md)
- [A Cold Greeting](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/a-cold-greeting.md)
- [A Wireless Message](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/a-wireless-message.md)
- [An Arrest](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/an-arrest.md)
- [Soldier-Folk](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/soldier-folk.md)
- [A Man with Two Lives](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/a-man-with-two-lives.md)
- [Three and One Are One](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/three-and-one-are-one.md)
- [A Baffled Ambuscade](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/a-baffled-ambuscade.md)
- [Two Military Executions](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/two-military-executions.md)
- [Some Haunted Houses](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/some-haunted-houses.md)
- [The Isle of Pines](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/the-isle-of-pines.md)
- [A Fruitless Assignment](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/a-fruitless-assignment.md)
- [A Vine on a House](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/a-vine-on-a-house.md)
- [At Old Man Eckert’s](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/at-old-man-eckert-s.md)
- [The Spook House](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/the-spook-house.md)
- [The Other Lodgers](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/the-other-lodgers.md)
- [The Thing at Nolan](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/the-thing-at-nolan.md)
- [Bodies of the Dead](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/bodies-of-the-dead.md)
- [That of Granny Magone](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/that-of-granny-magone.md)
- [A Light Sleeper](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/a-light-sleeper.md)
- [The Mystery of Charles Farquharson](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/the-mystery-of-charles-farquharson.md)
- [Dead and 'Gone'](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/dead-and-gone.md)
- [A Cold Night](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/a-cold-night.md)
- [A Creature of Habit](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/a-creature-of-habit.md)
- [Mysterious Disappearances](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/mysterious-disappearances.md)
- [The Difficulty of Crossing a Field](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/the-difficulty-of-crossing-a-field.md)
- [An Unfinished Race](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/an-unfinished-race.md)
- [Charles Ashmore's Trail](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/charles-ashmore-s-trail.md)
- [Science to the Front](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/science-to-the-front.md)
- [Endnotes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/endnotes.md)

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters