A metaphorical story about the conflict of human reason and ideals with the dehumanizing mechanism of social institutions. A satire criticizing the negative relations between people, condemning the evils of human characters and the resulting qualities - pride, envy, malicious gloating, hatred and mammonism.

A group of French students are drawn into the psychological and sexual games of a mysterious man called Duchemin. Once they sample his "fear powder" the students experience a series of hallucinations.