Project Gutenberg 2024-05-26 Public domain in the USA. 155 Costello, P. F. Finlay, Virgil 1914 1971 Finlay The devil downstairs $aNew York, NY :$bZiff-Davis Publishing Company, $c1957. Produced from the January 1958 issue of Fantastic magazine. Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net "The Devil Downstairs" by P. F. Costello is a humorous fantasy novel written during the mid-20th century. The book explores the intersection of the supernatural and everyday life through the story of Joe Emerald, a private detective who unexpectedly becomes entangled with the Devil, who takes refuge in Joe's basement while planning a new crime wave. The narrative blends elements of comedy, supernatural intrigue, and moral questions about good and evil, making it an engaging read. The story begins with Joe's peaceful life being disrupted when he encounters the Devil hiding in his basement. Initially dismissive of the situation, Joe soon finds himself in a humorous battle of wits with the creature, who attempts to possess Joe and utilize his skills for nefarious purposes. After a series of comical events involving Joe's wife, Pearl, and their children, the Devil is ultimately trapped and bound, resulting in a period of peace in their town as crime mysteriously diminishes. However, after the Devil escapes by switching bodies with a mouse, chaos ensues again, leading to a comedic yet profound exploration of the nature of evil and human susceptibility. The climax reveals unexpected twists involving amnesia and identity, leaving readers to ponder whether the Devil can truly be put away forever. (This is an automatically generated summary.) 20240320165317costello 1957 US Reading ease score: 86.1 (6th grade). Easy to read. en Fantasy fiction United States -- Fiction Families -- Fiction Devil -- Fiction Detectives -- Fiction PS Text Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy Category: Humour Category: Novels 118123 2025-07-29T07:51:57.880391 text/html 93390 2024-05-29T00:35:45 text/html 498510 2025-07-29T07:52:01.883378 application/epub+zip 498855 2025-07-29T07:51:59.302408 application/epub+zip 244721 2025-07-29T07:51:58.442407 application/epub+zip 1076051 2025-07-29T07:52:03.668323 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 1068020 2025-07-29T07:52:01.307366 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 107702 2025-07-29T07:51:57.572387 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 87868 2024-05-29T00:35:45 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 17248 2025-07-29T07:52:03.816318 application/rdf+xml 33529 2025-07-29T07:51:58.804355 image/jpeg 5252 2025-07-29T07:51:58.620371 image/jpeg 1802698 2025-07-29T07:51:57.913357 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia