All Men are Ghosts

In the opening dialogue, a curious narrator sits down with the enigmatic Panhandle, a self‑styled authority on the unseen world. Panhandle argues that genuine spirits never acknowledge themselves in the humble terms humans assign; they see themselves as possessing a reality far more intense than our own. Their contempt for what they deem our clumsy, squeaking existence fuels a secretive, almost academic rivalry that frames the whole inquiry.

The narrative unfurls a hidden Psychical Research Society of ghosts, whose members debate the legitimacy of human life with a mixture of indifference and scorn. As the conversation deepens, readers glimpse the ghostly world’s reluctance to reveal itself, preferring whispered contacts only with the few humans deemed worthy. This first act sets a tone of witty philosophical speculation, inviting listeners to reconsider what it means to be real.