The story is a parody of the tale of Faust, and follows the events of Sourcery in which the Wizard Rincewind was trapped in the Dungeon Dimensions. The Discworld version of Hell or Pandemonium exists simply because some people believe that it exists for them. In other Discworld stories, such as Small Gods, the afterlife is different or non-existent according to personal belief rather than divine judgement.
After magical disturbances occur throughout Ankh-Morpork, the wizards of Unseen University perform the Rite of AshkEnte to ask Death what is behind them; before being asked the question, Death informs them that it is Rincewind. Rincewind wakes in a strange place, having been summoned to a house in Pseudopolis by the thirteen-year-old demonologist, Eric Thursley, who wants the mastery of all kingdoms, to meet the most beautiful woman who ever existed, to live forever, and to be given a chest of gold "to be getting on with". He is disappointed when Rincewind tells him he is unable to deliver any of these things, and embarrassed when Rincewind sees through his disguise. Rincewind is disheartened to learn that the spells to confine the demon summoned are working on him; Eric's parrot tells him that because he was summoned as a demon, he is subject to the same terms.