The Demonologist: The Extraordinary Career of Ed & Lorraine Warren

by Gerald Brittle, Ed Warren, Lorraine Warren

Chắc hẳn ai trong số chúng ta cũng có đôi ba lần được nghe bạn bè hoặc người thân kể những câu chuyện huyền bí… và nhuốm màu rùng rợn về những bóng ma lẩn khuất trong những ngôi nhà. Dù tin hay không tin, những bóng ma vẫn luôn là chủ đề hấp dẫn trong mọi cuộc tán gẫu, trở thành cảm hứng cho nhiều cuốn tiểu thuyết cùng phim ảnh.

Tuy nhiên, đối với hầu hết người bình thường như chúng ta, ma quỷ chỉ là một ý niệm, hay tệ hơn là một nỗi ám ảnh vô hình trong tâm trí, hù dọa ta trong những cơn ác mộng mỗi đêm. Đã có ai thực sự nhìn thấy ma quỷ? Chúng có hình dạng như thế nào? Chúng có thực sự nguy hiểm và đáng sợ không?

Cuốn sách này sẽ tiết lộ cho bạn những bí ẩn đứng đằng sau các sự kiện siêu nhiên và cách chúng có thể xảy ra với bạn vào một ngày nào đó thông qua những câu chuyện “có thật” về Amityville, về Annabelle, v.v của Ed và Lorraine Warren – những chuyên gia hàng đầu của Hoa Kỳ về ma quỷ. Trong suốt năm thập kỷ, cặp vợ chồng nổi tiếng này đã thực hiện hàng nghìn cuộc điều tra và vén màn bí mật, tiết lộ vô số những thứ đã phá vỡ sự bình yên trong những ngôi nhà ma ám. Những thực thể kỳ lạ, những vụ quấy phá nghiêm trọng liên tiếp xảy ra và cả những lần tính mạng của họ ngàn cân treo sợi tóc vẫn không thể cản bước của cặp đôi này và chắc chắn không thể cản bước… những độc giả tò mò và yêu thích những câu chuyện kỳ ảo như chúng ta.

Genres: Horror, Nonfiction, Paranormal, Biography, Supernatural, Religion, Audiobook

320 pages, Paperback

First published September 13, 1980

About the author

Gerald Brittle is the author of 1980's The Demonologist. It's the definitive Ed and Lorraine biography. Brittle also wrote 1983's notorious, out of print The Devil in Connecticut, both which deal with Ed and Lorraine's "courageous fights against Satan and his minions."

Reviews

[Alejandro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes, I believe in the paranormal stuff and I am not ashamed of that.


NO ONE BELIEVES UNTIL...

And I don't blame anybody who didn't. I won't start a witch hunt! (pun intended)

I think that if you never have met anything paranormal, it's totally understandable if you don't believe in any of this.

So, it's normal that you won't believe in the paranormal until...

...something unexplainable would happen to you.

If you believe in God, then you have to accept the existence of demons. There is no light without darkness. Even the Bible mentions about demons and exorcisms.


PERSONAL EXPERIENCES

My family have a couple of ghost stories (just to name some highlights):

First, my paternal grandfather died when I was a kid and some time later many stuff starting to get lost in my home and reappearing again later. He didn't live with us, and while he was my paternal granddad, it was my mom instead the one who was certain that he was him behind of that. Some night, my dad was out working, I was slept and my mom was the only one awake (my brother hadn't born yet), so she "talks" to the air and she said to my grandpa that she knows that he love us very much but the thing about dissapearing stuff was scaring her too much, so she pleaded him to stop doing that. She didn't tell anyone that she did that for quite some time but right after she did the "talking", the stuff stopped to dissapear in my home.

Second, my mom was really close to my maternal great-grandmother and when my great-grandma was dying, the process took several time. One night, my dad got sudddenly awake and for a split-second he swore that he saw my great-grandma at the door of their room watching my mom. He awaked my mom and advised her to call to my maternal family's house since he thought that my great-grandmother had died. She phoned right away and they told her that indeed my great-grandma had died like half an hour ago and they were still making calls to tell all the family the sad news.

Yep, true stories. I gained nothing making up these.


101 ON THE WARRENS

The book is about the lives of Ed and Lorraine Warren, that they were paranormal investigators since the 1940's and they were quite known by clergymen of several religions, college scholars and even the military but it was until the "Amityville" case that they got publicity enough to be known by general public.

Lorraine Warren is still alive (2014 (when I read this book)) and she has clairvoyance skills. Ed Warren was a demonologist, one of the only seven demonologists recognized (at least on the 1970s) and the only non-priest person allowed by the Catholic Church to make exorcisms. Both dealt with hundreds of paranormal cases on the United States and England since the 1940s until early 1980s.


SOOO, THE BOOK...

The book was quite good and a very entertaining reading, however it didn't cover all the most important and famous cases of them.

While the book mentions here and there the topic of the "Amityville" case, it isn't exposed on detail. About that particular case, I don't know if it was a decision since the polemic status of may be a hoax. However, there are several other cases like the "Snedeker", "Union and Stepney Cemeteries" and "Smurl" cases, even the "Perrons" case, aren't commented in detail here, not matter when the publicity on the cover of the book mentions that that particular case that inspired the film of The Conjuring.

BUT...

While the cases that the book does cover are quite interesting and I didn't know about some of them.

Honestly expected a most complete biography of their cases, especially the most famous ones. I know that their career was quite long, but definitely the book should cover the most known cases.

However, the cases that the book covers, indeed are captivating, so I have no real complains and I enjoyed a lot the reading (and yes, it got real spooky at several moments!).

Besides the info and details about some of their cases, the book also it gives extended explanations about the differences between kinds of spirits, human and inhuman ones, and also the typical signals of the process of a haunting in any house.

Many of those cases with people involved in hauntings, they were guilty for being playing with books with dark rituals and most commonly with ouija boards. Certainly not matter if you believe or not in those things, there isn't any excuse to start playing with dangerous stuff like that.

In some really rare cases, the person affected didn't do anything to deserve it, they say that it's like one every ten years that this may happen.

So, in the most cases, someone in the family must do something to provoke the haunting.

Quite interesting enough, besides civilian families (in most cases), in the book is detailed a paranormal case on the West Point Academy and the military command there, asked for the Warrens to help them. And you can bet that so prestigious institution wouldn't call them if they wouldn't believe that they were dealing with something paranormal.

On the book too, they detailed various cases of hauntings and demonic possessions presenting the transcripts of recordings while talking with the possessed people.

And one of the highlights is that the book indeed cover the famous case of the "Annabelle" doll.

So, while I expected that the book would cover all the major cases of the Warrens, still the book is well written, quite entertained and highly recommended to any interested on the real deal of the paranormal phenomena.

[Jeffrey · Rating 1 out of 5]

Satan be damned.
Awful. Just awful. One of the most ludicrous books I've read. It was recommended to me as being one of the scariest books ever written, but it turned out to just be nonsensical. For those of us who grew up during the occult scares of the 70's and 80's, this book demonstrates the silliness people believed in and had children afraid of during that period. The basic message is Don't Play With Ouija Boards: you'll get infested, oppressed, and ultimately possessed by demons (who look like giant lizards if you were to see their actual form). As in most "true" haunting and possession stories, the devil seems to only be able to do things which are possible via current (for that time) film special effects technology. This book reads like a 1980 made-for-TV movie-of-the-week novelization.
So beyond the Ouija boards, I learned to avoid acquaintances and relatives who may have an interest or own anything occulty, mirrors, gifts from friends, rich sorcerers, secondhand furniture, picture of deity from other religions, dolls, anyone who had a loved one die recently, raping ghosts, rocks falling from the sky, levitations, dematerialization and rematerialization of objects, anything in 3s. And if you need to get rid of evil spirits: go to church, have only positive thoughts, paint you rooms white or yellow, & cut down a tree to allow more light into your home.

Positively hilarious.

[Misty Marie Harms · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ed and Lorraine Warren are considered America's foremost experts on demonology and exorcism. I really enjoyed this book and finding out more about the Warrens. I admire someone that can look evil in the eye and say "Not today, Satan". Furthermore, I know there are a lot of doubters, but I guarantee if they were in one situation the Warrens faced, they would wet their pants and run away. Very thought-provoking book. Recommend.

[Alisi ☆ wants to read too many books ☆ · Rating 1 out of 5]

I truly tried. I really, really did. I love anything that belongs to the realm of ghosts and ghost stories. They're my favorite horror stories and movies of all time so when I say the advertisements for The Conjuring, I had to read this book.

Incidentally, I did read the book first but I don't feel that whole 'read the book after the movie or else you'll be ruined' really applied to me. The movie wasn't scary at all and that's truly saying something. I mean, cheesy TV series like 'A Haunting' and 'Haunted' terrify me.

What ruined this book for me (in order of least to worst):

4. The number of times the author used the word diabolical. It was diabolical how many times it was used. Was there something NOT diabolical? Pft.

3. The examples of diabolical demonic things in peoples life just wasn't concrete enough. It was like 'oh, you talked on a ouija board and that's why you had a flat' taken to the extreme AND ON BOTH SPECTRUM. If you won money, it just be because a demon is luring you into something terrible. It's like you can't win. I will say that comparing it to old witch trials like throwing into a pond make sense now. You're damned if you do and damned if you don't. Basically. Find your dream house? Watch out! Demons are closing it. Got a painful hangnail? Fuck! Go find that holy water ASAP.

2. The bragging was way, way, WAY too over the point. He says, over and over, how he's the ONLY non-catholic exorcist recognized by the Church and how much proof he's gotten over the years. All of which is BS. If he had such solid proof, than it would've been documented. That's what scientists want, right? Documentation, not you tell us what you saw over and over and over again.

1. The worst, though, was his assertion that demons steal money to teleport into the bank accounts of satanic wizards. Famous cases like the Amity Horror were the brother in law lost 1500 for his wedding was teleport into an EEEEBIL wizard's bank account. Apparently. Sounds legit. He states that these ebil wizards never have to work a day in their life. That the money just floats into their bank accounts and I thought: 'geez, do these two have something against trust fund babies? I mean, I'm all for the evils of greed and all that but come on!'

[Lori · Rating 1 out of 5]

Total garbage. Fake as the Fox Sisters (in time Margaret Fox Kane's conscience got to her and she confessed they were faking it, spilling all). Fake as The Amityville Horror fraud which some participants confessed was a very well-planned hoax that began with them deliberately buying the house, and subsequent owners have debunked it, yet people still believe it's true. I laughed out loud at times, most of all at the doll story. Oh well, I enjoyed The Conjuring and most of the Annabelle movies. Patrick Wilson is so easy on the eyes. Ed Warren didn't look a thing like him. As if.

When I first read "The Amityville Horror" I believed it and was terrified. When some friends and I went there and parked outside one night along with many other lookie-loos we were seriously creeped out. That was before I read Carl Sagan's "The Demon-Haunted World" and subscribed to "The Skeptical Inquirer" which has now been surpassed by many excellent web sites. Still, it's fun to be frightened, money was made, in the case of the Fox sisters a life was ruined, in the case of Amityville the damage had already been done before the hoax was begun, and in the case of the Warrens perhaps they deluded themselves but I had the feeling reading this they were laughing all the way to the bank.

[Julie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Another book about fake demon hunting charlatans. Ugh. Tried to read this. DNF.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book mostly because I think the Warrens are good for a laugh every once in awhile and that some of the stories in it could be creepy if completely unrealistic (and in my opinion, entirely made up).

Instead of being creepy, this book is mostly full of a kind of bizarre and excessive praise of the Warrens and how special and amazing they are and no one else can do what they do. It was pretty disgusting and arrogant (even though I know it wasn't written by one of them, the author was so clearly enamored of them it may as well have been).

And then there were the times when more than anything it was just kind of sad, such as the story about the homeless man in an alley who was "completely repulsive" and whom Ed Warren thought was "obviously possessed" when in fact, he was more likely just mentally ill. The second half of the book seems to be predominately taken over by asserting the opinion that many cases of possession are mistakenly identified as mental illness, when in fact, it is more likely the other way around. Kind of left a bad taste in my mouth.

So maybe this is a good book for people who believe all of this nonsense, but it's not a good book if you're looking for something creepy and possibly interesting, like I was.

[Danielle (The Blonde Likes Books) · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Demonologist had been on my TBR for a while, and I felt like this Halloween season was the perfect time to pick it up! I'm really in the mood for some creepy books about hauntings and possessions at the moment, so naturally this one fit the bill!

I'm a huge fan of horror movies, and The Conjuring and it's spinoffs are some of my favorites. For those of you who are unaware, that series of movies (including the Annabelle franchise) are all based on cases that Ed and Lorraine Warren handled throughout their career, and several of them are included in the book.

The Demonologist outlines many of the cases that the Warrens worked, including the Amityville Horror case. It talks through the history of the case, what causes hauntings and possessions, and some background on the religious elements that go into exorcisms.

This book is definitely going to be hit or miss for people, depending on your beliefs and whether or not you're a fan of horror - I won't get into this in depth, because it's not the place, but I'll say that I don't believe in the supernatural, but I LOVE horror movies, so even though this book is classified as nonfiction, I read it like it was fiction and enjoyed it regardless. That said, I'm not about go to playing with an ouija board or trying to summon demons as a joke just in case I'm wrong ;) no need to test that theory! Ha!

Anyway, I ended up reading the book in one sitting because I was so intrigued. There were definitely parts that creeped me out, and some that I found myself rolling my eyes at, but that's not surprising given the that the book was written in the 70s. All in all, I was completely hooked, and loved reading the passages and responses to questions that the Warrens were asked by the author.

I think fans of horror movies, or who want to hear "true" accounts of exorcisms will enjoy this one! This was a 5 star read for me, and definitely got me out of the reading slump I'd been in!

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got hold of this book after watching the movie The Conjuring on Dvd and wanted to learn more about Ed and Lorraine Warren. I am a huge horror movie fan and am well versed in movies like The Exorcist and other demonic, paranormal films out there. I approached this book not just to learn about the Warren's but also because I wanted to be scared, which is why I love horror in general. It is fun to be scared! So I didn't take the book too seriously but instead suspended my disbelief just enough so that I could be taken in by the stories that Ed and Lorraine described. I "wanted" to be scared listening to the audio book in the dark, as I was reading it during the week of Halloween and getting into the spirit of things. While some of their claims borderline on the outrageous, there were admittedly some things brought up that made me stop and think. I remember in high school being in the basement of the school theater with some friends playing with a Oujia board. I admit having some dark fascination with those types of things, again mainly just for the novelty of it. But this book, if anything, did make me consider that perhaps it isn't right to play around with dark things like that even just for fun or entertainment. Anyway I'd advise anyone I know who was curious or wanted to read this book to do so strictly for entertainment value and to be scared. It does offer informative info about exorcisms in real life and a bit of the history behind it. If you are a fan of horror, movies or novels and especially things paranormal, or involving "ghosts" or spirits, you may find something of interest here. And by the way the movie the Conjuring was quite good if you are a horror fan, but I'd recommend watching that movie alone for the best effect. Then if you liked it, this book is a great follow up.

[Marianna Neal · Rating 3 out of 5]

A reader's enjoyment of this book is going to depend entirely on how they feel about possession, exorcisms, and he supernatural in general. It's not going to convince anyone one way or another, so the skeptics are likely to find it ridiculous, and the believers will likely find this interesting and at least slightly terrifying.

Personally, I found myself somewhere in the middle, since I'm a big fan of The Conjuring films, and was really looking forward to learning more about Ed and Lorraine. I have to say, I wished the book was a bit more personal, characterizing them as people, but The Demonologist is 100% focused on the career (as the title suggests) of the pair. The book discusses various cases the Warrens were involved in (very briefly for certain cases), while also detailing their point of view as far as dealing with the demonic goes. It does get repetitive—every case comes down to the basics: weird things happen, demons are exorcized, things get better.

As for whether or not this is fabricated—there are still a lot of questions when it comes to the validity of the testimony, and the extent of Warrens' involvement in certain cases.

[Christian Schultheiss · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay okay wow this book was a unique and intriguing read. Now both due to the sheer amount of tales mixed with real encounters I’ve personally had both the fortune and misfortune of experiencing, have truly opened my eyes permanently to the the supernatural and that just because we can’t touch or prove something is there doesn’t mean it isn’t. And this essential deep dive into the warrens and their remarkable if astounding stories some well made films and some lesser known but all deeply impassioned and moving and truly a breath taking and worth it read if even if just as a remarkable memoir of the famous dynamic ghost fighting duo. I really wish I knew of more stories pertaining to this topic since I find it endlessly fascinating.

[Christopher · Rating 1 out of 5]

UPDATE 12/14/17: What a great opportunity to revisit this sorry excuse for a book. Basically, Gerald Brittle sued Warner Bros. because he claimed to have rights to the story of The Conjuring and its sequels. Warner Bros. said no you don't, because they are true events that really happened. Brittle retorts, nuh uh, these stories can't possibly be true because they involve ghosts and demons and stuff. Give me $900 million dollars or else prove that ghosts and demons are real. Instead of proving that ghosts are real, they settled for an undisclosed amount of money. It's always a good sign when an author is extorting money from someone else to prove that what his nonfictional book is fictional.

ORIGINAL REVIEW:
I know, I know. I should have anticipated this. I mean, it is a book about demon hunters. A supposedly nonfiction account of two people who uncover ghosts and exorcise demons for a living.

What I expected was a kind of fun romp through the supernatural world that I don't really believe in but am still at least a little interested in. I wanted to read a book written by a skeptic, like me, who would probe into the lives of the subjects and try to separate the truth from the lies.

What I got was a book written by a fawning, gullible, pandering groupie whose primary objective is to swallow every lie fed to him by Ed Warren. There is zero critical insight in this book; no ability or even desire to discover truth.

The book reeks of the outdated fear popularized in the seventies and eighties that there is a witch or a Satanist in the house next door, just waiting to call forth demons from the abyss or to sacrifice your child on a pentagram on their bedroom floor.

The Warrens are frauds and that's all there is to it.

[Olga Kowalska (WielkiBuk) · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you believe in paranormal dimension, if you believe in ghosts, demons and the endless war between good and evil you must be warned - the story of Ed and Lorraine Warren might deepen your fears. If you don't believe - you might change your point of view. Whatever is the outcome, one is certain after reading "The Demonologist" - remember that not looking into the abbyss does not mean that the abbyss is not looking back, from the darkest corners of evil.
If you're a fan of horror - it is a must, even if it's just for fun.
---
Lektura „Demonologów” być może jest miejscami nieco przeterminowana, miejscami naiwna, dziwnie w duchu new age, bo w końcu dotyczy przede wszystkim lat 70., niemniej – jest przerażająca. Oczywiście to jedynie kwestia wiary, ale mimo wszystko robi wrażenie ta opowieść o chaosie, niewyobrażalnym strachu i tragicznych w skutkach atakach na pozornie niewinnych ludzi. Staje się tym bardziej niepokojąca, jeśli wierzymy w Boga (obojętnie jakiego wyznania), jeśli wierzymy w sferę duchową i odwieczną walkę dobra i zła. Bo nawet jeśli przyjmowaliśmy istnienie demonów, diabłów, czy duchów za oczywiste, to mimo wszystko wspomnienia, czy wyznania Warrenów zdają się przenosić tę wiarę na o wiele wyższy, potworniejszy poziom. Nagle okazuje się, że sfera duchowa nie jest już czymś, co można ignorować, tylko nieodłącznym elementem ludzkiego istnienia. Czy tego chcemy, czy też nie.

"Niewielu ludzi zdołało zgłębić w swoim życiu prawdziwą naturę świata, w którym żyjemy. Badanie i doświadczenie Warrenów przekonują nas, że gdzieś tam istnieje inny świat – domena istot nazywanych duchami, istotami niematerialnymi, które wiodą odrębny i niezależny od człowieka żywot. (…)
Wychodząc z takiego założenia, Warrenowie utrzymują, że otwarta postawa wobec duchowego wymiaru życia może przyczynić się do zwiększenia naszego zrozumienia świata, dzięki czemu zyskamy możliwość pełniejszego przeżycia danego nam czasu."

[Rachel (TheShadesofOrange) · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.0 Stars
This is very much a case of a book that was not intended for me. I read this with my Patreon book club and otherwise I probably would have never picked this one up. This is a book written for people who believe in the possibility of ghosts and haunted houses… which I do not. I was hoping the book would make me believe, but I found the arguments for the belief in the supernatural to be weak.

[Benito Jr. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe it’s just me, but there’s nothing like a “Based on a true story” message at the start of a movie that drives a horror fan to Wikipedia afterwards. I’m guessing that I can’t be the only one who came to this book after watching James Wan’s The Conjuring, and the truth is that I picked up the book to be entertained -- more specifically, to be scared. (Ed Warren may argue that this makes me a more inviting candidate for demon visitation, or a more innocent spirit manifestation, but at least I have better weapons now.) The Demonologist is touted as a reference book for exorcists-in-training, and you can’t get more authoritative than that -- provided, of course, you give credence to the preternatural in the first place.

So is it scary? Oh, it is -- but only if you’re a believer. And by “believer” I don’t necessarily mean a devout and practicing Catholics like Ed Warren, I mean anyone who concedes even the slight possibility of people lingering on -- whether as spirits or as mere energy -- after death. If you believe this, then from there it’s a slippery slope -- at least if you allow yourself to be seduced by the Warrens’ lucid explanation -- to accepting the existence of malevolent entities. But it sure helps if you’re a Catholic, and I guarantee you, you’ll be good and scared.

As a book though -- and not just in terms of the stories being told -- The Demonologist is a mixed bag. The chapters are divided somewhat arbitrarily, sometimes by case, sometimes by theme, and it’s confusing. Structurally, it’s repetitive, as the same practical advice gets duplicated towards the end. Stylistically, The Demonologist is a bit of a mess, as it’s written as a series of interview transcripts by Gerald Brittle, who isn’t the most critical raconteur. Some of the cases would have been more effective in the telling had they been fully narrated in the first person by Ed Warren. (Note that Lorraine Warren, clairvoyant and Ed’s wife, is as much a part of the interviews, but there’s only one demonologist in the title.)

At certain points one wishes Brittle -- and indeed, there’s not much of him in the book, which is why The Demonologist reads more like dictation -- would interject with questions of his own. Ed Warren would interpret, with seeming authority, a demon’s utterances -- and then turn around a page later and remind the interviewer that “demons are master liars” and that nothing they say -- ostensibly the basis for Warren’s pronouncements -- should be trusted. Or Warren would expound at length on the demonic realm, for instance, then glibly provide the caveat “I’m a practicing demonologist, not a theologian.”

What makes The Demonologist particularly interesting is how it stands as a kind of template / blueprint for just about every haunted house / demon possession cultural artifact in the past few decades -- far more so, I would argue, than William Peter Blatty’s The Exorcist. (I mentioned something similar in my blog entry on The Conjuring; it’s no different from previous movies, but that’s because of the source material.) Every film staple you’ve seen -- doorknobs that won’t turn, people that levitate, furniture that moves, mysterious knocks on the walls, footsteps in the middle of the night -- they’re all enumerated here as evidence of an “inhuman presence.” Even waking up the same time in the middle of the night (I felt the proverbial shiver down my spine just now, re-reading the passage below):

Most notably, the individual in an infested environment will have an unshakeable feeling of another presence in the house. This sense of presence will develop to a point where the individual… may begin waking up at fixed times of the night, or at precisely three o’clock in the morning.

And yes, I woke up at three in the morning for two successive nights after reading this book.

[Cat Scully · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a must-read for anyone wanting to write ghosts or learn more about the difference between demonic and ghost possession. It's also for those curious about the Warrens after seeing THE CONJURING movie that released to DVD recently.

FAIR WARNING. It's more about demonic possessions than ghosts. But if you didn't know the Warrens only really handled demonic cases, then you will after reading this book.

It does a basic overview but it doesn't go into detail of a wide variety of cases. It does cover Annabell the Doll and some about what really happened during THE CONJURING cases but the really intriguing part is the hints at Amityville. I want to pick up another book and see if I can find out more about it. Overall, I will be rereading this book again and again, but with the lights on.

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting trip into the world of Ed and Loraine Warren, one I've been meaning to read for some time.
The following quote really possessed me (duhhh):
"Until roughly a century ago, all mental illness was treated as a sign of possession. Today, all oppression and possession is treated as a sign of mental illness. This drastic change from one absolute interpretation to another has done nothing to solve the ongoing problem..."
I am completely convinced getting over "absolute thinking" is the final boss of our current evolutionary phase of humanity, and possibly one the majority will never be able to overcome.
For me, the content of this book was frustrating not because of the interviews with Ed, Loraine, or others, or the author (who used more exclamation points than I have seen in a minute!!!!!), but the fact that their work is often interpreted through absolute lenses, both materialist and theistic. We are so limited in our understanding of just about everything, and both these extremes often miss the large and small nuances which make the study of any phenomena valuable, an attempt at the truth.
Can we have truths without absolutes? I believe we can...as long as we don't get cocky about them.

[Tanya · Rating 1 out of 5]

Life’s too short to finish shitty books.

I love ghost stories. I really do. I love them enough that I’ll sit through awful movies and tv shows – Paranormal State level awful. It was actually that show where I first became aware of Lorraine Warren – a sweet, elderly woman who senses paranormal entities and such. The name slid into my mental file cabinet, and I never thought about her again. Then I saw The Conjuring (which I found highly entertaining) and Ed and Lorraine Warren were a pretty central role. A combination of peaked interest, internet research and a friend’s tweet led me to The Demonologist.
For the rest of this review, see http://hellphiesfiendishfiction.wordp...

[Chad · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is one star for content and five for entertainment value because it's such a hoot.

Ed and Lorraine are charlatans without peer. I love these guys!

[Erin Clemence · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little bit of background- I adore movies and books about exorcisms, possession and otherwise paranormal events. The Conjuring series continues to be one of my favourite horror/thriller movie series. Some more background- I think it’s all bunk. In fact, I like to watch movies and TV shows about ghosts and possessions to try and find reasonable and sane explanations for the behaviours and actions of the people involved. Is it all for attention? Mental illness? Is that cupboard that closed randomly attached to someone pulling a string? Did they leave the door open and create a draft? All of these and more plague my inner thoughts; and with that being said, I am a self-proclaimed devout skeptic. And yet……..I cannot get enough. I am drawn into this dark, demon world of demons and Ouija boards and I can’t get out.

“The Demonolist” by Gerald Daniel Brittle is a fiction/non-fiction novel based on the lives of Ed and Lorraine Warren, the demonologist and his psychic wife, in which movies such as The Conjuring are based. I identify this novel as fiction/non-fiction because it reads and plays out like a biography of the Warrens, a personal interview detailing some of their most haunting stories and locations, however the subject matter continues to be pure fiction to me.

If you have seen The Conjuring movies, The Demonologist simply provides more detail on the stories discussed. There is more background, such as the considerations Ed and Lorraine discuss before taking on a case, as well as information provided at the lectures and seminars the Warrens have participated in over the course of their career.

This novel is written in an inconsistent manner in that Brittle writes most of it as if it were an interview, with questions posed to Ed Warren, and then Ed’s answers. However, parts of the novel are written as a story, with a beginning, middle and end, particularly when detailing the Warren cases. Brittle also uses an inane amount of exclamation marks, for unknown reasons. Also, if you have seen The Conjuring movies, a lot of the material in this book is a bit redundant.

However, this novel also provides a lot of information on the beliefs of society, how people come to be possessed by demons, the specific demons that have wreaked havoc, and other interesting information that only the Warrens (and a select few) possess. I loved reading about the occult and the dark practices that brought about some of the demonic activities, and appreciated the fact that the Warrens included psychological and scientific theories about some of their observances.

Overall, this novel is likely only going to be interesting for hard core fans of the Warrens or the occult (or to skeptics like myself) but it definitely provides a wealth of information. Anyone who wishes to know how to avoid “demonic possession” and the role religion plays in our beliefs will definitely learn a lot through the descriptive first-hand experiences of Ed and Lorraine.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok, so I will admit it....I was fascinated by this book. A bit of background on me....I grew up in a family in which Catholicism was a very central focus. I was warned as a teenager not to play with Ouija boards for many of the same reasons that the Warrens discuss in this book. I was interested in the idea of "The Exorcist" in high school. The priest of our parish was teaching our religious class one year and we actually watched the movie in class. He also discussed how he knew one of the priests that took part in the exorcism in St. Louis, MO, upon which the movie is based. SO.......I guess you would call me a believer. I love the adrenaline rush of being scared by a horror movie or ghost stories. However, to be quite honest, nothing scares me more than the devil and his followers, and it is a different kind of scared. It is not "fun"; it truly terrifies me.

I found this book to be insightful and intriguing. It is so hard to read something like this with a scientific eye. It is always hard to balance faith and science. So, I threw the scientific side of my brain to the wayside (for the most part) and went with the Warrens on their journey. I am not totally sure about EVERYTHING written in this book. At times the Warrens did seem to contradict themselves and I still had a lot of questions. For example, why they would choose to put all these supposedly "diabolical" items in a museum for multiple people encounter for the sake of making money? Wouldn't that increase the chance that someone would be affected by these unholy items? That does not make sense if the Warrens' intentions were purely selfless. So, I guess that I did not completely lose my skepticism while reading this book......

Definitely an intriguing read no matter which side of the fence you find yourself (believer vs. non-believer).

[Erika · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is definitely one of those "did I read the same thing as everyone else?" books.

I'm just going to throw it out there that, according to a search, there are 272(!) exclamation points used. In a book primarily about demoniacal (I will never use demonic again) possession. Suffice it to say, I had some issues with the writing of the book.

But even as frustrating as the writing was, it had nothing Ed Warren. I guess I should have assumed that it was going to focus heavily on the Warrens themselves, rather than the cases they worked on. Some of their cases are discussed, but it is less on the people directly involved with the activity, but instead the repercussions that the Warrens faced. And the fact that they constantly put themselves in danger of being killed, but they help anyway--of course. Not to mention that, Ed particularly, is incredibly well known amongst demonic entities, almost every religious community in the US and the UK, and can pretty much blink and exorcise (albeit temporarily) an entity from someone. He is just that amazing!

So, I'm probably making the book seem worse than the it actually is. There are moments of it being genuinely interesting and creepy. There were a couple of cases that were new to me and gave me a starting point to actually look into them. But for the most part, it was all about how amazing Ed Warren was from the man himself(!), with a little touch of Lorraine (who in my opinion is far more interesting, but I digress) added in. When it was all said and done, it was a not so well written account of a man who probably did amazing things, but just read as being so annoyingly pompous that it was detrimental to the book as a whole.

[Felicia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book follows the career of Ed and Lorraine Warren. I first became interested in Lorraine Warren through her appearances on the TV show Paranormal State. Seeing her work on the show, I was interested to know more. I learned of The Demonologist: The Extraordinary Career of Ed and Lorraine Warren from a book written by Ryan Buell. When I saw this title, I knew I needed to read this book, and I wasn't disappointed. Being able to read about the things that they had experienced in their career was deeply interesting. The story that won me over in particular is when they talked about the doll, Annabelle. I recommend this book to anyone interested in the paranormal. If you are a skeptic, or downright do not believe in the paranormal or do not enjoy ghost stories, this book is not for you!

[Aric Cushing]

This book falls on its face..
And recovers itself. But Regan thinks most of it is fabricated
so that the Warrens could make money during the time of 'The Satanist' and 'Cult' waves of fear. Due to the debates, it's worth a read just to see how much you believe.

[Danni The Girl · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is hard to rate this book as it’s all meant to be true.
You won’t believe in the paranormal until you’ve experienced it first hand.
When I was younger a lot of things happened, which I won’t forget.
But this is just beyond. I can’t believe any of this myself it just seems so unbelievable.
However I liked the style of writing and it’s well structured. There’s a lot of repeating of how the demoniac works. I would still recommend.

[Ammar · Rating 2 out of 5]

35% into the book
Nothing is happening
Nothing major is described
The Conjuring along with Annabelle were the only cases in details
A lot of reputation in the narrative and nothing about the lives of the Warrens
I had to DNF

[Jim Dooley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I decided to read THE DEMONOLOGIST for two reasons. First, I'd recently rewatched the movie, THE CONJURING, and this book contained the "true life" versions of the main cases mentioned in the show. The second reason was that Vera Farmiga, who played Lorraine Warren in the movie, indicated that this was the book she used to prepare her for the role. ... She also said that it scared the Hell out of her and she wouldn't have it anywhere in her home to keep anything from gaining admittance.

Well, that was both cryptic and intriguing. I was hoping for a spooky story, but it seemed there was more to this one than a ghostly narrative.

It didn't scare the Hell out of me, but it did give me the creeps ... and a Ouija board that hadn't seen the light of day for years is now gone.

The purpose of the book is not to excite or amuse. It is a book of warning using some of the Warren's most famous cases as illustrations. The title is a reference to Ed Warren who was apparently the only non-ordained demonologist in the world. He would not conduct exorcisms, but he would try to expel demons.

Probably the most famous case that involved the Warrens was known as The Amityville Horror. They were not the central figures in the story, but they knew the priest who tried to help and they assure the Reader that all of the happenings recorded are true.

Now, I read Jay Anson's book many years ago. I remember thinking that it was unnerving until the time Kathy Lutz levitated. At that point, it became a Halloween story for me.

Reading THE DEMONOLOGIST, I was told that levitation isn't that infrequent in cases of demon infestation and/or possession. In fact, it is one way that you can tell whether you are dealing with a ghost or a demon. A ghost is unable to move an object weighing more than a pound. A demon can more objects weighing hundreds of pounds.

There is a consistency in the narratives that will likely make the Reader uneasy after a while. Although no two events unfold in the same way, there are boundaries. Granted, a person could be driven mad or killed before that boundary would be reached.

The point made over and over and over again is that people, either through ignorance or sinister intent, are responsible for a demonical presence "crossing over" into our world. The soul is the part of God that inhabits humankind, and that is why it is so important for demons (who hate both God and humans) to corrupt and possess it. Once I read what could happen when this crossing occurred, it didn't become a matter of believing it or not. It was more simply, "Why take the chance?"

There was a point I wish I could have directly questioned. In a couple of stories, the demon ordered the inhabitants to go away. The Warrens mention that demons are not location based and that they will stay with the humans they are tormenting. Considering that and their desire for possession of the soul, it seems odd that they would desire the inhabitants to leave.

The Warrens admit that demonic intervention is still infrequent. People with mental instability are not possessed. (Watch the eyes, though!) At the same time, every major religion has a ritual for driving out demons. If you believe incidents are the result of deluded minds, why would that be?

The story of Annabelle, briefly retold in the film, is mentioned here along with a picture of the infamous doll in its securely locked case. Those chilled by the unsettling visage of the doll in the movie will likely be disillusioned to see the photograph. Annabelle is an oversized Raggedy Ann doll. I'm fine with the doll staying right where it is, though ... I don't need to see it.

I'll mark this book as one I'll need to ponder further.

[tattwa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Są takie książki, które są w stanie obrzydzić człowiekowi samą czynność czytania i to jest właśnie takie barachło. Potwornie nudna, a do tego szkodliwa książka, mocno nadgryziona zębem czasu i śmieszna w swoich kołtuńskich wnioskach. Nie jest straszna ani niepokojąca nawet przez sekundę, w zamian oferuje bardzo dużo wywodów na temat bojaźni bożej i obecności boskiej łaski w życiu. Autor zdradza rażące braki w wiedzy lub po prostu bezmyślnie powtarza wyssane z palca informacje, którymi częstuje go Ed Warren. O samych Warrenach i ich oszustwach, a także o licznych zaniedbaniach z ich strony warto przeczytać w poważniejszych opracowaniach. Ale nawet pomijając bogobojny ton tej publikacji i dając na moment wiarę w prawdziwość tych opowieści, są one po prostu tak boleśnie nijakie, że aż przykro. Jakim cudem James Wan nakręcił na ich podstawie całkiem przyzwoity horror - trudno powiedzieć (chociaż to wyjaśnia jego wtórność i zachowawczość). Cierpiałam przy tej książce prawie 1,5 miesiąca i zmęczyłam ją tylko dlatego, że na Instagramie publikowałam co głupsze z niej wyjątki z komentarzami. Gdybym miała to przeczytać raz jeszcze, wolałabym się chyba zatłuc plastikowym kubkiem.

[Brithanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5 stars ⭐⭐⭐

While I enjoyed my time reading this- I don't think I have enough to say about it for a full review! I got what I wanted out of it, and learned a few things along way, but I started losing interest towards the end, and the repetition of certain facts really started to do my head in! 😅

[Dee · Rating 1 out of 5]

1,5 ⭐

To było trudne przejście dla mnie. Lektura kiepska, strachu brak, nuda, nuda, nuda. Styl, w którym napisana jest książka jest ciężko przyswajalny i nie wciąga mnie w opowieść oraz informacje, które mają być przekazane.
Daje pół gwiazdki więcej za niektóre fragmenty, które mnie zaciekawiły.