Malevolent spirit turning up in fireplace (4)
I believe the answer is:
peri
'malevolent spirit' is the definition.
(spirit in Persian folklore)
'turning up in fireplace' is the wordplay.
'turning up' says the letters should be written in reverse.
'in' indicates the answer is hidden within the clue.
'irep' can be found hidden inside 'fireplace'.
'irep' backwards is 'PERI'.
(Other definitions for peri that I've seen before include "Spirit of folklore" , "Prefix denoting 'around'" , "Fairy queen" , "Beautiful fairy-like creature" , "Beautiful fairy" .)