A woman was driving back to her home in California from Washington to California. It was late evening and snowhad begun to fall before she finally reached the little Oregon town where she planed tospend the night. Tired and ready for a hot meal and a goodnight’s sleep, she stopped at the first place she came upon. It was an old hotel on the main street. The lobby had a musty odor. The seedy clerk behind the desk signed herin. Her room was on the third floor -Room 310.

An elderly bellhop helped herwith her luggage. As soon as the door was opened, a blast of hot air struck the woman full in the face. With the hot air came something else, something she could not define but that filled her with dread. It was heavy and depressing, she explained, “with the strong scent of theevil.“ She felt as if she was about to faint. All...