Jay's Journal is a 1979 book that was published in a diary format. The book is presented as an autobiographical account of a depressed teenage boy who becomes involved with a Satanic group. After participating in several occult rituals, Jay believes he is being haunted by a demon named "Raul." The book was edited and written by Beatrice Sparks, and is based partly on the life of 16-year-old Alden Barrett from Pleasant Grove, Utah, who died by suicide in 1971. In the mid-to-late 1970s, Jay is a religious, depressed teenager who begins a journal after being persuaded by his Sunday School teachers. He begins writing poetry venting his feelings about conformity, and discusses his parents, whom he frequently gets in trouble with. Jay begins a relationship with a girl named Debbie. Debbie begins to ask him to get her amphetamines from his father's pharmacy, where he works. He covers up the theft by filling the empty capsules with powdered milk. Although feeling guilty about what he does, Jay is far too infatuated with Debbie to refuse. Jay is caught stealing drugs by his father, who fires him. The pharmacy gets into legal trouble, and Jay is sent to a juvenile detention center. Jay expresses regret over his crimes in his journal and reminisces about life before. Debbie writes frequently, but eventually stops writing to him and they break up. Jay meets Pete, who introduces him to matters relating to the occult. Eventually, Jay claims to witness Pete move a chair with mental powers and make a wart on his finger disappear. He finds himself drawn to Pete, so much so that he is upset when he is informed that he will soon be released from the detention center. However, he realizes he misses his family and anticipates returning home. He eventually meets a girl named Tina, and they begin dating. Tina is involved with the occult, using witchcraft to influence school elections. She leads him deeper into the occult. Jay and Tina break up over it, but end up back together and form a coven with other friends. The coven increase their occult activity, strangling a kitten and attempting to revive it, attacking cattle, and bathing in blood to baptize themselves. Responding to their unease around the coven's activities, Jay and his best friends both start pulling away from the coven. Jay and Tina break up again after Tina reconnects with an old boyfriend. Jay begins to have visions of a demon named Raul and believes he is being possessed. His best friends both later die in separate car accidents, seemingly linked to the coven's practices. Jay decides to contact his Bishop for help. In his journal, he writes a note to his parents in the form of a will. The story ends with an epilogue in the form of a letter written by Jay's mother. She writes that they found Jay dead, having killed himself with a gunshot to the head.