Fear by L. Ron Hubbard

Summary:

• James Lowry, professor and ethnologist, claims publicly that demons do not exist. That's when he loses his hat and four hours of his life. When he tries to find them, he confronts the very real possibility that these creatures do exist and that they are entangled in his life. They force him to find both and to find the demon lodged inside.
  

Comments:

• This first appeared in the WWII-era magazine, Unknown, edited by John W. Campbell. The magazine's focus was to treat fantasy as if it were science--an idea of combining supposedly conflicting elements (supernatural vs. natural) that's still appealing.
• Fast-paced tale that follows a strange nightmare logic. Readers are likely to recognize the dream-like structures.
  

Application:

• Probably longer than most students would want; however, the nightmare imagery/logic is likely to appeal to a certain subset of students (tale recommended by Stephen King--if that will help explain the subset).
  
• The idea worth exploring here is that science may not have all the information necessary to dismiss ideas out of hand. This idea may not be as effective with more skeptical students as they could contend that if demons were to actually confront those who disbelieve, should not the world's skeptics not exist?
  
• On the other hand, you could ask the student to reflect on the title and the ending and ask whether the fantastic events actually took place. Maybe they can debate, using the text, why it may have happened and why not.