"Dance of the Demon" takes place in the Mexican state of Yucatan in the 1974. Shelly Kelly is a PhD student working with a Centennial State University archaeological crew at Kaah Xwaay (Town of Witches) located in a remote jungle south of Merida. Upon arrival a graduate student vanishes; they find a tomb at the site that has just been looted; and the remains of a blood sacrifice are discovered atop the central pyramid. The remains of the missing graduate student are found floating in a cenote (well) near the site. His skin had been removed-apparently to impersonate Xipe Totec (Our Lord the Flayed God) in an apparent attempt to revive an ancient ritual. After a nighttime visit by a demon priest wearing the skin, bungling university officials become concerned over the institution's image and dispatch a delegation from the anthropology department along with a crusty old reporter to stir up some good news. Members of the field crew discover that one of their unsavory colleagues working in a nearby village is responsible for the looting, but before action can be taken, the skinless body of one of the visiting female professors is found in a cave beneath the looted tomb. Angry Mexican officials arrive to terminate the project, but change their mind when they learn that the archaeologists have made the amazing discovery of Xibalba (the Mayan Hell) located in a cave complex beneath the main pyramid. The university issues a series of inaccurate press releases that undermine the project-thus scooping and infuriating the crew and the Mexican government. For a while a local village healer takes the rap for the killings, but in the end the demon priest dances through the field camp one last time to claim his rightful place in the Underworld.