The hairy ones shall dance

A skeptical narrator who once performed as a stage magician and now investigates mediums recounts a séance in a lonely hollow that erupts into sudden, violent supernatural terror when a hideous, shaggy creature appears and attacks participants in the Devil's Croft. The narrative blends methodical attempts to control and test alleged materializations with moments of panic, death, and survival, as witnesses prepare sworn statements and other investigators promise further inquiry. Throughout, the account examines the clash between skepticism and belief, the problem of fraudulent mediums, and the unsettling possibility of forces that resist ordinary scientific explanation.