the mauling by the she-devil creature was unerringly thought to be responsible for the bizarre change in his being , and as far as the post incident , so-called perceptive individuals were concerned , those that were apparently in the know about matters of the occult , the entire escapade was unreservedly blamed on that frightful attack at the hands of the fanged fiend , the prevailing theory being that frederick had obviously been inflicted with some sort of demonic curse .