Chapter 1 (pages 1-20) Summary

A Scanner Darkly is a story about drug abuse in Orange County, California. The novel begins with an account of one addict's strange belief that he is infected with biting bugs. Jerry Fabin's delusion soon spreads to his friends, who are also druggies. When another druggie, Charles Freck, visits Fabin, Freck ends up collecting bugs in jars with his delusional friend. After leaving Fabin's house, Freck runs into Donna Hawthorne, a drug dealer, at the mall. He recognizes Donna and arranges to buy some Substance D from her. Substance D, also known as slow death, is a popular yet deadly drug that is believed to be created synthetically in labs.

Jerry Fabin believes that bugs are plaguing him, even though a doctor tells Jerry that there are no bugs. He researches bugs in the Britannica and decides that his...