SOURCE: "The Friendly Demon" (1726) by Daniel Defoe

DESCRIPTION: "'Then the spiritual doctor asked his patient if he knew him. The butler answered no. 'I am," says he, "the wandering ghost of your old acquaintance john Hobby, who has been dead and buried these seven years; and ever since, for the wickedness of my life, have been lifted into the company of those evil spirits you beheld in the fields, am hurryied up and down in this restless condition, and doomed to continue in the same wretched state until the day of Judgment--" ("The Friendly Demon" by Daniel Defoe)

NOTES: The Friendly Demon (Defoe uses 'ghost' and 'demon interchangeably) is one of a group of ghostsnatchers that try to tempt the butler into evil and then carry him away. The Friendly Demon tries to help by warning the butler. He claims to be the spirit of a departed acquaintance (possibly a lie), John Hobby. At the end the Demon offers to cure him of two illnesses but the butler's lack of trust (based on the advice of bishops) costs him these miraculous cures.

HISTORY: What struck me as most interesting is how the plot involving the demons was similar to the story of "Hoichi the Earless" in Lafcadio Hearn's Kwaidan and how the character of Hoddy may have inspired Charles Dickens' Jacob Marley (also a friend who has been dead for 7 years and has come to help). Defoe has his tongue firmly in his cheek on this tale. The ambiguous ending doesn't take sides. Should the butler has accepted the draft and cured his ills or was it another infernal trap? You decide.