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The Boy in the Attic: The Chilling, Real-Life Story of a Satanic Murder and the Truth that Haunts
Ireland 1973: a very different world. But a tiny village in County Dublin was about to lose its innocence for ever.
On a bright and sunny June afternoon, a seven-year-old boy was left in the care of his teenage neighbour. No one knew, or would even have dreamed of suspecting, that the teenager was a Satanist. The two went out to the fields to look for rabbits. The child was never seen alive again.
For the first time, in The Boy in the Attic, David Malone reveals the exact events of that summer day: how the youngster was lured to his death, how the teenager came to delve so deeply into the occult and the nightmarish scene awaiting police when they entered the attic.
But there is another disturbing question - how is it that this murder, which was easily one of the most shocking and horrific in living memory, was barely reported upon at all? Why have you never heard of the boy in the attic until now?
On a bright and sunny June afternoon, a seven-year-old boy was left in the care of his teenage neighbour. No one knew, or would even have dreamed of suspecting, that the teenager was a Satanist. The two went out to the fields to look for rabbits. The child was never seen alive again.
For the first time, in The Boy in the Attic, David Malone reveals the exact events of that summer day: how the youngster was lured to his death, how the teenager came to delve so deeply into the occult and the nightmarish scene awaiting police when they entered the attic.
But there is another disturbing question - how is it that this murder, which was easily one of the most shocking and horrific in living memory, was barely reported upon at all? Why have you never heard of the boy in the attic until now?
240 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 6, 2011
21 people are currently reading
273 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
December 31, 2018
Wow. This was a sad, sad tale. All the more so because it is true. It is about the murder of a child, by a seriously strange teenager ... but one most of us have never heard of. The author did a good job of tracking down info, and laying it out for us.
4 Stars = Outstanding. It definitely held my interest.
4 Stars = Outstanding. It definitely held my interest.
February 15, 2013
Sorry i paid money for this one. Makes me think of the old adage "never judge a book by it cover". I so thought I was in for something intriguing, but I was totally taken in by the cover. Unfortunately the author was unable to find out more about the case than the average Joe; records sealed and interviews thwarted. Author resorted to plenty of extraneous fillers pieced together and called a novel. Clever cover, though, I'll give him that. I have done what i haven't in years; skipped and skimmed irrelevant pages and portions, often uninteresting boring bits.
March 30, 2020
For a slim book this is a hard slog to get through. The crime is interesting enough but the book is repetitive and full of unnecessary additional information. Even if true crime is your thing. I’d give this one a miss.
April 27, 2012
I read this book in two days, an unheard of feat for me in recent years. I'm not a huge non-fiction fan, preferring fiction where I can happily leave the characters behind without remorse; but this book was entirely different. It was very well written and researched, bringing the reader back in time to childhood memories of the '70's. The content was handled with delicacy, but without shying away from informing the reader of every aspect of the story. The closing chapters offered the reader even more food for thought. Horrific and thought-provoking, elements of this story floated around my mind for days afterwards. As a crime fiction reader and writer it heightened my awareness of evil and more importantly, its repercussions for all those involved . . .
March 2, 2014
A very interesting book about a forgotten murder, made more mysterious by the satanic overtones in which it was carried out. It also provides a chapter dedicated to the phychological analysis concerning this murder, for those of you who want to know what makes a killer tick. I could see a movie out of this.
Currently reading
October 3, 2023My review is for the eBook.
This book is about a young boy that was possessed and it also involves a Satanic murder.
If you like this book you might also like the following books: Werewolf-Ed & Lorraine Warren,
Anneliese Michel-(A true story of demonic possession Germany 1976)-Lawrence LeBlanc, Satanic Killings-Frank Moorhouse.
This book is about a young boy that was possessed and it also involves a Satanic murder.
If you like this book you might also like the following books: Werewolf-Ed & Lorraine Warren,
Anneliese Michel-(A true story of demonic possession Germany 1976)-Lawrence LeBlanc, Satanic Killings-Frank Moorhouse.
September 1, 2025
The subject matter of this book is so shocking, it would be impossible not to convey the sensational nature of the crime, the events before and after - the whole multifaceted clusterbomb of a tragedy - without dramatic language. Yet the author treats this story and everyone affected by it - including the murderer - with a remarkable sensitivity.
A sixteen-year-old Satanist murdering his seven-year-old neighbour and crucifying the corpse is the kind of story that should have made the front pages of the tabloids for years. Especially in a quiet suburb of Dublin, Ireland, in 1973. Yet it got just a few paragraphs on an inside page of one Irish newspaper and one Canadian paper (there was no apparent link with Canada).
The facts that the murderer was a minor and pleaded guilty wouldn't explain why the story wasn't screaming from the newsstands; murders of children by children are so rare that they receive massive coverage.
This book should have been a bestseller when it came out, but I had never heard of it until I came across it by chance (thanks to Amazon's algorithm). (To put this in context: I'm a former tabloid reporter living in Dublin and I read a lot of true crime.)
As a piece of investigative journalism this book is very impressive; Malone has done extensive research including old-school legwork, and he asks all the important questions - not least "why" and "how": How did this boy from a respectable, deeply Catholic family get introduced to Satanism? Who corrupted him? Why were the red flags not spotted?
While the author attempts to fill in the gaps with a lot of (legitimate)speculation, he relies on facts - hard, painstakingly researched, checked and double-checked, analysed and counter-analysed pieces of information.
The author explains the ethics behind his decision not to reveal Lorcan Bale's last-known location, but provides enough information for anyone to guess. A cursory online search reveals plenty of information including Bale's email address, recent photo and even his blog on the topic of Jesus! Having served just seven years for the murder of a seven-year-old boy, and having acquired a university degree in prison, he's by all accounts leading a respectable life in a nice part of London, working as a civil servant and enthusiastically volunteering in an Anglican church (he's even smiling out at us from a parish newsletter).
Christian forgiveness makes an exception for anyone who harms "little ones" ("...better that a millstone be cast around their neck...") but no doubt there are people, Christian and otherwise, who genuinely believe Bale is really rehabilitated. These good people will attempt to persuade the cynics to forgive and forget. Regardless, the fact that Lorcan Bale is not exactly scuttering into the shadows - he hasn't even bothered to change his name! - suggests he believes he has been forgiven.
A sixteen-year-old Satanist murdering his seven-year-old neighbour and crucifying the corpse is the kind of story that should have made the front pages of the tabloids for years. Especially in a quiet suburb of Dublin, Ireland, in 1973. Yet it got just a few paragraphs on an inside page of one Irish newspaper and one Canadian paper (there was no apparent link with Canada).
The facts that the murderer was a minor and pleaded guilty wouldn't explain why the story wasn't screaming from the newsstands; murders of children by children are so rare that they receive massive coverage.
This book should have been a bestseller when it came out, but I had never heard of it until I came across it by chance (thanks to Amazon's algorithm). (To put this in context: I'm a former tabloid reporter living in Dublin and I read a lot of true crime.)
As a piece of investigative journalism this book is very impressive; Malone has done extensive research including old-school legwork, and he asks all the important questions - not least "why" and "how": How did this boy from a respectable, deeply Catholic family get introduced to Satanism? Who corrupted him? Why were the red flags not spotted?
While the author attempts to fill in the gaps with a lot of (legitimate)speculation, he relies on facts - hard, painstakingly researched, checked and double-checked, analysed and counter-analysed pieces of information.
The author explains the ethics behind his decision not to reveal Lorcan Bale's last-known location, but provides enough information for anyone to guess. A cursory online search reveals plenty of information including Bale's email address, recent photo and even his blog on the topic of Jesus! Having served just seven years for the murder of a seven-year-old boy, and having acquired a university degree in prison, he's by all accounts leading a respectable life in a nice part of London, working as a civil servant and enthusiastically volunteering in an Anglican church (he's even smiling out at us from a parish newsletter).
Christian forgiveness makes an exception for anyone who harms "little ones" ("...better that a millstone be cast around their neck...") but no doubt there are people, Christian and otherwise, who genuinely believe Bale is really rehabilitated. These good people will attempt to persuade the cynics to forgive and forget. Regardless, the fact that Lorcan Bale is not exactly scuttering into the shadows - he hasn't even bothered to change his name! - suggests he believes he has been forgiven.
December 1, 2011
This would be 3.5 stars if Goodreads allowed for such nuance. It's an interesting read, well written and Malone does treat his subjects with respect and fairness. I kind of get the sense he's almost overly decent, perhaps a less sensitive journalist might have gotten more out of the story.
I am also not certain that the story was as unknown as Malone presents it, as a child in County Meath in the mid seventies I believe we were aware of this case, or if not, one remarkably similar to it.
This story may well have been better suited to a long form magazine piece rather than a book. Compounded with the passage of time, paucity of media coverage and non-cooperating witnesses, Malone's reluctance to press on those who did speak with him results in a somewhat thin tale. The procedures immediately post-crime may strike non-Irish as casual and strange but I feel it's an accurate depiction of how things were done at the time.
Kudos to Malone for his integrity; he doesn't go where the evidence doesn't take him and he displays humanity in his dealings with those negatively effected by the events. Overall, it's objective, captures the sense of the times in Dublin and fair-handed in approach. Worth a read.
Spoiler Alert
He does manage to track down the protagonist, Lorcan Bale today. Lorcan chooses not to cooperate with the book and Malone is gracious in accepting that decision. The author is also conscientious in protecting Lorcan's current whereabouts. Malone provides the email exchanges in the book; I can't help but feel his approach to Lorcan was a bit ham-handed. Perhaps he was under deadline pressure but my sense is that Lorcan may well have offered more were he approached more subtly. We'll never know.
I am also not certain that the story was as unknown as Malone presents it, as a child in County Meath in the mid seventies I believe we were aware of this case, or if not, one remarkably similar to it.
This story may well have been better suited to a long form magazine piece rather than a book. Compounded with the passage of time, paucity of media coverage and non-cooperating witnesses, Malone's reluctance to press on those who did speak with him results in a somewhat thin tale. The procedures immediately post-crime may strike non-Irish as casual and strange but I feel it's an accurate depiction of how things were done at the time.
Kudos to Malone for his integrity; he doesn't go where the evidence doesn't take him and he displays humanity in his dealings with those negatively effected by the events. Overall, it's objective, captures the sense of the times in Dublin and fair-handed in approach. Worth a read.
Spoiler Alert
He does manage to track down the protagonist, Lorcan Bale today. Lorcan chooses not to cooperate with the book and Malone is gracious in accepting that decision. The author is also conscientious in protecting Lorcan's current whereabouts. Malone provides the email exchanges in the book; I can't help but feel his approach to Lorcan was a bit ham-handed. Perhaps he was under deadline pressure but my sense is that Lorcan may well have offered more were he approached more subtly. We'll never know.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 11, 2015
This book was beyond disappointing and nothing at all like what the cover & back promise it to be.
I picked this book up because I have a fascination with novels about ritualistic murder, so I had high hopes for this one.
Sadly the murder itself is explained ( and with explained i mean matter of fact explained, no details no descriptions what so ever) in roughly 20 pages.
The other 200 pages are mere filler in my opinion ! It's information about neighbours, old classmates etc ... and mostly stuff that has nothing to do with the main events.
I do agree that the surroundings need to be explored and that the timeline and social norms and whatnot need to be explained to better grasp the situation. The fact that that information is 10 times more present than the murder itself strikes me as not entirely ok.
Basicly I felt cheated by this book.
I picked this book up because I have a fascination with novels about ritualistic murder, so I had high hopes for this one.
Sadly the murder itself is explained ( and with explained i mean matter of fact explained, no details no descriptions what so ever) in roughly 20 pages.
The other 200 pages are mere filler in my opinion ! It's information about neighbours, old classmates etc ... and mostly stuff that has nothing to do with the main events.
I do agree that the surroundings need to be explored and that the timeline and social norms and whatnot need to be explained to better grasp the situation. The fact that that information is 10 times more present than the murder itself strikes me as not entirely ok.
Basicly I felt cheated by this book.
May 3, 2015
I judged this book by its cover and was very disappointed. I read a lot of true crime and found this to be a very weak retelling of a murder with very little information provided that couldn't be scrounged up by an ordinary person. There is a ton of information that has nothing to do with the case and it seemed like the author couldn't decide if he even wanted to get to the real details, the stuff that the cover advertised. All in all, it's sad this horrific crime was never given the attention it deserved but the author didn't do the story any justice either.
January 13, 2016
What an engrossing read. I couldn't put this one down until I'd turned the last page. The author takes you on an extensive journey to track down everything he could find out about a rare case indeed -- an Irish child murder. There are always going to be more questions than answers in this case, but the author did an astounding job of researching and presenting facts for us to chew over. Don't miss this one.
May 8, 2020
An interesting read on a case that I hadn't heard of. The book was an okay read but I felt the author did tend to repeat information throughout the book. I think the biggest credit must go to the parents of John who handled themselves amazingly well in circumstances that no parent should ever have to go through.
November 19, 2013
Story was very sloppy on details and kept repeating itself struggled to finish, which is a shame as I've never heard of this case before, very disappointing :(
November 4, 2024
A highly disturbing case ... but a well written read by David Malone.
November 6, 2012
The cover makes the books sound more sensational than it actually is. In fact the author goes out of his way to avoid sensationalism. The murder was horrific but the facts, when revealed, are somewhat moribund.
For example, "No one knew, or would even have dreamed of suspecting, that that the older boy was a Satanist." It has never been established that the murderer, Lorcan Bale, WAS a satanist. He just appears to be a bit of a loner with an interest in the occult.
The answer to the question posed on the cover as to "how is it that this murder, which was easily the most shocking and horrific in a nation's living memory, was barely reported at all?" appears to be that perhaps the Newspapers were playing it safe, waiting for the macabre details to be revealed in evidence during a murder trial, only to be frustrated when Bale pleaded guilty, and Horgan’s death was reduced to an open and-shut case. Also the state’s failure to issue a death certificate appears to have been an administrative mistake with the inquest being opened, adjourned and not completed until almost four decades after the murder.
The author sets himself a risky challenge in attempting to uncover Bale’s motives because, without his co-operation, the answers are impossible. The extent of contacts between the two is not revealed until the final chapter. It is obvious that Bale had refused to tell all long before Malone was forced to conclude: “We still don’t know what Lorcan Bale was thinking and feeling as he sat in that attic staring at a dead child.” We learn only that he now lives abroad, is married, a committed Christian and has a secure office job.
For example, "No one knew, or would even have dreamed of suspecting, that that the older boy was a Satanist." It has never been established that the murderer, Lorcan Bale, WAS a satanist. He just appears to be a bit of a loner with an interest in the occult.
The answer to the question posed on the cover as to "how is it that this murder, which was easily the most shocking and horrific in a nation's living memory, was barely reported at all?" appears to be that perhaps the Newspapers were playing it safe, waiting for the macabre details to be revealed in evidence during a murder trial, only to be frustrated when Bale pleaded guilty, and Horgan’s death was reduced to an open and-shut case. Also the state’s failure to issue a death certificate appears to have been an administrative mistake with the inquest being opened, adjourned and not completed until almost four decades after the murder.
The author sets himself a risky challenge in attempting to uncover Bale’s motives because, without his co-operation, the answers are impossible. The extent of contacts between the two is not revealed until the final chapter. It is obvious that Bale had refused to tell all long before Malone was forced to conclude: “We still don’t know what Lorcan Bale was thinking and feeling as he sat in that attic staring at a dead child.” We learn only that he now lives abroad, is married, a committed Christian and has a secure office job.
October 3, 2012
What an intriguing book. When I started to read it I asked my grandmother who is 83 if she knew of it as she lives in Howth & because the court case was there she may have known something but she didn't. It was awful the way the murder was covered up. I'm not to sure how I feel about Lorcan now. I think he should have done a longer prison sentence then 7 years but now he seems to be trying to give back working with the church etc or maybe this is a cover & he hasn't changed at all. We will never know.
November 21, 2019
3,5*
A forgotten story of an unexplicable gruesome murder of a 7 year old perpetuated by a minor. The cases in which a kid kills another kid are very rare.
The author not only explores the case in Ireland that shook a small town in the summer of 1973, but also provides us with a background on the dark arts and the society at the time.
We get to explore the darkness of the human mind and look for the answer to the question we all ask ourselves in this situations: why?
A forgotten story of an unexplicable gruesome murder of a 7 year old perpetuated by a minor. The cases in which a kid kills another kid are very rare.
The author not only explores the case in Ireland that shook a small town in the summer of 1973, but also provides us with a background on the dark arts and the society at the time.
We get to explore the darkness of the human mind and look for the answer to the question we all ask ourselves in this situations: why?
November 19, 2012
Gives good insight into the late 70,s in Ireland, not for the faint hearted
November 30, 2012
Obviously a very sad story. The writer paints an interesting picture of Ireland in 1973, a very different world to the one we live in now.
Read
March 25, 2013sad but true story of a crime in 70's Ireland! didn't hear bout the case until lately doesn't seem 2 b something people want 2 remember!
May 11, 2013
Can't believe that this happened and the first I heard of it was in the book. Truly terrifying!! Great read though,once you pick it up you'll keep going until you have finished it!
May 24, 2020
So good
A friend from this town recommend this book. Hard to believe it a true story. murders in Ireland don't do much time in jail
A friend from this town recommend this book. Hard to believe it a true story. murders in Ireland don't do much time in jail
February 22, 2019
Awful. Poorly written..repeated and rephrased the same store..a story that really could of been only a few pages long. DON'T won't waste your time.
June 1, 2019
Pass
Hard to get a 2 from me, but it was rough getting through this book. It was interesting subject matter, but told in a very not interesting manner.
Hard to get a 2 from me, but it was rough getting through this book. It was interesting subject matter, but told in a very not interesting manner.
October 13, 2023
2.5
lowkey boring and i dont think i took in half of it, could have been an article rather than a story. I also felt as if parts of it were sensationalized. it was an interesting case, don't get me wrong, just felt the medium didn't do it justice.
lowkey boring and i dont think i took in half of it, could have been an article rather than a story. I also felt as if parts of it were sensationalized. it was an interesting case, don't get me wrong, just felt the medium didn't do it justice.
November 12, 2024
Save your money and Google it
You come across as a sincere writer but this ended up as a full of filler book, so much to pad out a story that you revealed nothing that couldn't be googled.....boring....
You come across as a sincere writer but this ended up as a full of filler book, so much to pad out a story that you revealed nothing that couldn't be googled.....boring....
July 17, 2020
I never heard this story before well written and intriguing
September 23, 2024
Quick read. Interesting story but a lot of filler.
June 8, 2013
I had never heard of this case myself so my curiosity was peeked and I was interested in learning more. Unfortunately, the book was very week on details and subject to a lot of repetition, which made the small book a tough and boring read.
While I and many other reviewers appreciate that the author must have conducted a fair amount of research and tried to give people a vivid idea of what Ireland might have been like to live in at the time of the crime. It has to be said that most of the time the extra information just felt irrelevant and padding for the shortfall in the information recoverable about the case. It may have been better to just outline all the history in the beginning or as an appendix.
The moving back and forth of the story throughout the book made it difficult to see a clear picture of where the book was actually going. It reads like the first draft of university paper, which needs to be cut down.
One of the main things I guess that bothers me though is the fact that in the beginning he states that Horgan's family wish to have nothing to do with the book and the last chapter discusses, not till he was a short while from publishing this book did he try to contact Lorcan Bale himself. He is then surprised when he gets a response which says he does not wish to discuss the case. Apart from this Mr Malone is relying on the interviews of some of the witnesses to the case.
Personally, while stories can be interesting I think in this instance the book has been done in bad taste.
While I and many other reviewers appreciate that the author must have conducted a fair amount of research and tried to give people a vivid idea of what Ireland might have been like to live in at the time of the crime. It has to be said that most of the time the extra information just felt irrelevant and padding for the shortfall in the information recoverable about the case. It may have been better to just outline all the history in the beginning or as an appendix.
The moving back and forth of the story throughout the book made it difficult to see a clear picture of where the book was actually going. It reads like the first draft of university paper, which needs to be cut down.
One of the main things I guess that bothers me though is the fact that in the beginning he states that Horgan's family wish to have nothing to do with the book and the last chapter discusses, not till he was a short while from publishing this book did he try to contact Lorcan Bale himself. He is then surprised when he gets a response which says he does not wish to discuss the case. Apart from this Mr Malone is relying on the interviews of some of the witnesses to the case.
Personally, while stories can be interesting I think in this instance the book has been done in bad taste.
February 17, 2012
A murder in Ireland in 1973 which barely got a mention in the press inspired Malone to do the research for this book. The cover paints it as sensational. But there are problems with this book. First, there is not enough material, so Malone has to pad it out with chunks of irrelevant information and tedious repetition. Second, how do you organise your material? Should it be a straight narrative of events or the story of your research? What we get in this book is a mixture of both and it doesn't really work. It's obvious that Malone put a good deal of work into this book but the result isn't as good as it could have been.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews