SOURCE: "The Demons" (Fantasy & Science Fiction, March 1953) by Robert Sheckley

DESCRIPTION: "The thing in the pentagon was about fifteen feet high when the incantation was finished. It had to stoop almost to the ground to fit under Arthur's ceiling. It was a fearful-looking thing, with wings and a tiny head and a hole in its chest...The demon was blue and impossibly thin; his wings were vestigial stumps. They flapped once or twice against his bony chest before he answered." ("The Demons" by Robert Sheckley)

NOTES: Arthur Gammet is an insurance salesman who must raise a demon to save himself from another named Neeslebub. This demon follows Neeslebub's idea of what a demon should look like: "All our legends say that demons are fearful things, fifteen feet high, with wings and tiny heads and a hole in the chest that throws out jets of cold water." The demon traps Neeslebub in a jar, saving Arthur. The second demon is also an insurance salesman, so he and Arthur have a good talk about "shop" afterwards.

HISTORY: A classic circle story from Sheckley. This is not Sheckley's only story about demons. See Ferras too.