| Author |
Bierce, Ambrose, 1842-1914? |
| Title |
Can Such Things Be?
|
| Note |
Wikipedia page about this book: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Psychological_Shipwreck
|
| Note |
Reading ease score: 67.8 (8th & 9th grade). Neither easy nor difficult to read.
|
| Credits |
David
Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org from the 1918 Boni and Liveright edition
|
| Summary |
"Can Such Things Be?" by Ambrose Bierce is a collection of supernatural tales written during the late 19th century. The stories delve into themes of death, the afterlife, and the intersection of reality with the paranormal, showcasing Bierce’s dark humor and philosophical musings on life and mortality. The opening story, "The Death of Halpin Frayser," introduces the titular character, who awakens in a forest, haunted by a sense of dread and memories intertwined with both the living and the spectral. The beginning of the collection sets the tone with Halpin Frayser waking in a mysterious forest and uttering a name he barely remembers—Catherine Larue. His journey leads him into a nightmarish dream where he encounters blood and shadowy whispers, evoking a palpable sense of terror and guilt tied to a potential crime he cannot recall. As the narrative unfolds, Frayser confronts chilling apparitions, including a spectral vision of his mother, adding layers of familial tension and horror. Through vivid imagery and a brooding atmosphere, Bierce engages readers with a narrative that blurs the line between reality and the spectral realm, promising unsettling revelations as the tales progress. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
|
| Language |
English |
| LoC Class |
PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature
|
| Subject |
Short stories, American
|
| Subject |
Paranormal fiction
|
| Category |
Text |
| EBook-No. |
4366 |
| Release Date |
Aug 1, 2003 |
| Most Recently Updated |
Mar 29, 2022 |
| Copyright Status |
Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads |
578 downloads in the last 30 days. |
|
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