In a short epigraph, an expert in American folklore poses the question of what happens to the “demons” and supernatural forces that immigrants to the United States brought from their home countries.

Shadow Moon is in prison for three years for aggravated assault and battery. Due to his size and strength, he has survived prison without being troubled. He has spent his incarceration learning coin tricks and reading Greek histories recommended to him by Low Key Lyesmith, a “grifter from Minnesota” (12) with whom he shared a cell for a short time. In the run-up to his release date, the guards’ strange mannerisms and questions about Shadow’s wife Laura confuse Shadow. Two days before his release, Shadow is summoned to the warden’s office. The warden informs Shadow that Laura died in a car crash, and as an act of compassion, Shadow is being released early.

In shock, Shadow travels to the airport as a storm gathers outside. On the plane, he falls asleep and dreams about a man with the head of a buffalo. The man warns Shadow that he must “believe […] everything” (22) if he wants to survive. In another dream, Low Key warns that someone in the prison is trying to kill Shadow.