# III explained — Short Fiction

> Chapter companion for Short Fiction by Frank Belknap Long.

## What happens

Two newspaper announcements from the Partridgeville Gazette for July 3, 1928, report an earthquake that damaged the financial district and the murder of occult writer Halpin Chalmers. Chalmers was found nude, decapitated, and covered in a blue slime in an empty room, with bizarre geometric symbols and frantic writings about 'Doels' and 'breaking through.' The police suspect an unknown guest.

## Themes in this chapter

### Fear of the Unknown

Chalmers' writings express terror of unseen entities 'breaking through' and his desperate attempts to ward them off.

### Madness and Psychological Trauma

Chalmers' frantic, nearly illegible scrawls and bizarre geometric designs suggest a mind unraveling under extreme stress.

### Science and the Supernatural

Chalmers references the 'Einstein formula' alongside occult symbols, blending scientific and supernatural elements.

## Character check-ins

### Halpin Chalmers

Found murdered in an empty room, decapitated and covered in blue slime, with cryptic writings about supernatural entities.

### Mr. L. E. Hancock

Neighbor who discovered the odor and reported the crime to the superintendent.

### Detective Sergeant Douglas

Investigating officer who suspects poisoning and sent slime samples for analysis.

## Key lines

> I am waiting and watching. I sit by the window and watch walls and ceiling. I do not believe they can reach me, but I must beware of the Doels.

Chalmers writes that he is on guard, watching the walls and ceiling, hoping the entities cannot reach him but wary of the Doels.

_Shows Chalmers' paranoid vigilance against supernatural threats._

> Good God, the plaster is falling! A terrific shock has loosened the plaster and it is falling. An earthquake perhaps! I never could have anticipated this. It is growing dark in the room. I must phone Frank. But can he get here in time? I will try. I will recite the Einstein formula. I will⁠—God, they are breaking through! They are breaking through! Smoke is pouring from the corners of the wall. Their tongues ⁠—ahhhhh⁠—

In a panicked final message, Chalmers describes the plaster falling due to an earthquake, darkness closing in, and entities breaking through the walls with smoke and tongues.

_Depicts the climax of Chalmers' terror and the apparent breach of the supernatural into his room._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_17_se/chapters/iii
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_17_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_17_se/chapters