Beware the Night: A New York City Cop Investigates the Supernatural

by Ralph Sarchie, Lisa Collier Cool

A veteran NYPD officer describes how he moonlights as an investigator into the supernatural, offering a close-up look at some of his most shocking cases, including malevolent spirits, an incubus, demonic possession, bizarre rituals, and other terrifying incidents. Original.

Genres: Nonfiction, Horror, Paranormal, Supernatural, True Crime, Religion, Mystery

317 pages, Paperback

First published October 14, 2001

About the author

Ralph Sarchie is a retired NYPD Sergeant and Traditionalist Catholic demonologist.

Reviews

[El · Rating 1 out of 5]

July, 2014 - After the movie
Because movie. And I don't have to justify myself to you.

Eric Bana is awful, but Joel McHale is lovely. (After long internal deliberation through the first half of the movie, I agreed with my friend that it was indeed Joel McHale and not Limp Bizkit like I originally thought. And IMDB confirmed it.) If ever I need an exorcism, please call that pretty Jesuit priest for me.

November, 2014 - After the book
Every year for Halloween I wear a pair of devil horns to work. I've been doing this for years. I also wear a Santa hat for Christmas Eve. It's fucking cute. One year, one of my coworkers, who was a self-proclaimed devout Christian, sent me a work email (from across the hall, mind you) that said something along the lines of "If you don't believe in Christ, how can you believe in Devilish things?"

And then I killed her.

Not really. I seethed for a while. She's a nice enough woman, but the first day we worked together I knew there could potentially be a problem because she point-blank asked me about my beliefs and I point-blank told her my opinion, and she then made it her mission for the rest of the time she worked with us to convert me to Christianity.

I considered some responses, starting several emails and deleting them all: "Mind your own fucking business" or "Are you fucking kidding me?" or "I've just forwarded this to Human Resources and you can take it up with them." Instead I believe I responded something vanilla along the lines of how it's Halloween, my horns are for fun and are not indicative of any beliefs I might have, relax. Thankfully for us both she didn't respond because that was about the extent my professionalism could go.

Reading this book was like working with her again. Except instead of a lovely, sweet Christian woman who (if I remember correctly) was born and raised in the South before moving to Pittsburgh, here we have a Catholic cop-cum-demonologist from the Bronx. But the effect was much the same.

God is good, there are no good ghosts (sorry, Casper!), only Demons. Deeeeemmmmooooons! Sarchie is heavy-handed in his beliefs - anything that you do outside of the church can land you in deep water with Demons, including even thinking about Demons. The irony? This entire book is about Demons, so that's like saying "Don't think about pink elephants", right? So based on his own advice, he has just made all of his readers become possessed. Thanks, dude. Like I don't have enough going on in my life.

Throughout the book he tells accounts of his experiences with exorcisms, his friendship with Ed and Lorraine Warren, his experiences on the force and how being a cop is very similar to being a demonologist because in both cases you have to deal with assholes (Demons are assholes, all of them), and omg he's the best cop and demonologist ever. He's so good that he totally ignores a bishop's advice on how a layperson should not perform an exorcism and he totally does it himself anyway. And people actually call him up on their own to ask for his help!

Dear world: You're better off calling the Ghostbusters.

This book is filled with inaccuracies. Things maybe a lot of people don't really know or would pay attention to, but (for example) Aleister Crowley wasn't a Satanist. He was an occultist, not a Satanist because (as I'm going to pull from Wikipedia because that's all I have the energy to do right now) "as he did not accept the Christian world view in which Satan was believed to exist." You can't just call someone a Satanist if they themselves did not consider themselves to be a Satanist. There are statements like that which show a judgmental side to Sarchie that makes it hard for me to stomach the rest of his willful ignorance. I know the real audience for this book (good, god-fearing people like himself) will eat it all up, believe everything he writes, and go on in their ignorant, judgmental existences, spreading the same inaccuracies and biases.

It's an inconsistent book, bouncing around in the timeline, making the book as a whole choppy and messy, and seriously shut up about the Church already. Whatever point he was trying to make was lost because it was just one sermon after another.

Not that I even need to say any of this, but I'll do it anyway: The book was originally published under the title Beware the Night in 2001. The movie that came out earlier this year by this title, Deliver Us from Evil, is soooo loosely based on this book that it's laughable. You're better off just watching the movie, which is saying a lot because the movie (aside from the Jesuit priest) wasn't the best of the horror movie lot.

There is no mention of The Doors in this book. I thought that was really the weirdest part of the movie overall, so I wondered if the book included anything even remotely related to that. But, nope. It was just some random person's idea for the movie. Like someone who is a fan of The Doors, I guess.

This book just made me mad. And it makes me want to wear my devil horns every day for the rest of my life.

[Char]

I've only just started the first story and I'm out. Already there's disparaging remarks about housewives, paranormal investigators and us non religious folk. Admittedly, the remarks are just slights, but I don't care for the overall tone of the author. (Though the narrator was fine.)
DNF 4.30.15
No rating.

[Brian H · Rating 5 out of 5]

i am proud to say Ralph Sarchie is a personal friend of mine and i can state quite truthfully that everything in that book he has been through and he's a true fighter ! He has made tremendous sacrifices to do the work he's done and it's the best book on the demonic i've read. There is a feature film coming out next year about this book and it will surely be a fine tribute to this genuinely good man !

[Sara · Rating 1 out of 5]

Seriously?? I want my money back. I saw a preview for the upcoming movie Deliver Us From Evil with Eric Bana and it looks scaaaaary. I saw that it was based on this book so I purchased it electronically on Amazon. I got about 20 percent through and gave up. Just way too many Catholic references as the cop who wrote it is hyper-religious. There is more scripture and references to blessed this and blessed that that I think I will just stick with William Peter Blatty.

[Sabrina Rutter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Demonic possession to me is the most frightening aspect of the paranormal, absolutely nothing is as terrifying! Imagine the hours of fun filled horror I spent while reading this book! It's all very entertaining as long as it's not happening to me, or someone I know. I could never do what Ralph Sarchie does because I would be out for the shock value rather than to help deliver people of their torment. I'm not saying I would want to leave people suffering under demonic attack, it's just that once I saw that this was real I would be heading for the hills utterly useless. It's truly hard to deny that Sarchie is telling the truth for the simple fact that he isn't looking to gain monetarily by charging the people he helps, nor does he seek out media attention. He simply does this to be one of God's many human helpers. He's a sort of foot soldier...

(I don't recommend reading this if you sleep alone at night)

[Jacob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not going to break any literary boundaries but this is a detailed and engrossing account of good versus evil. It's not as scary as others proclaim and is more generally creepy if anything. However, there is no glorification or exaggeration that takes place here. The matter of fact and measured way in which Sarchie details justifiably horrible demonic occurrences throughout his work lends credence and credibility to his oft overstated spiritual conviction for battling them. He's just a guy helping others, shedding light on the darkness.

[Frank Barrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read. This. Book. If you've had any kind of brush with the otherworldly, it will make you think twice about said encounters. I know it has me. The author is Catholic, and while I'm not, I didn't have a problem with his religion like other reviewers have. If you want to write a book about your experiences and are agnostic, Muslim, Jewish, Protestant, Atheist, Wiccan, or whatever, do so. This man knows Catholicism and uses his faith to help him through his cases. Very enjoyable, creepy, hard to put down read.

[Leah Polcar · Rating 2 out of 5]

Follows the formula of the real-life my-house/wife/husband-has-been-posessed-by-demons tale. (That this is actually a formula is sort of disturbing since one would hope the world was not rife with so many demons that a true-life demon mad-libs was so easy to construct). I was hoping that this book would explore how a detective reconciles reality with facing some crazy preternatural happenings; what must a cop think if responding to a call from a family and sees that actual stones are raining from the sky? Here, Sarchie is a true-believer and the book is about his non-cop-cases, what he calls (over and over and over and over again) the "Work", so there is no moment of crossing-over from disbelief to belief. While I am not knocking this book for that failure, since that is born from my personal preferences, it is unoriginal, repetitive, and poorly written. I would suggest if you are looking for real-life "ghost" stories, check out the Demonologist by the Warrens. Sarchie mentions it repeatedly and even though that book is no Booker short-lister, it still packs in more scares than this and is more believable and insightful, at least at 3am. If you are interested in the more intellectual issues surrounding demons and possessions, then I recommend Hostage to the Devil , weirdly a book Sarchie also discusses in detail.

[Mark Warren · Rating 1 out of 5]

Fraught with bigotry and ignorance

By simply paying attention to the details in this collection of stories, there is indeed a rather frightening agenda underlying this book -- maybe the entire genre. This book falls into the religious category, specifically the Roman Catholic faith, where the author and his associates are in possession (pun absolutely intended) of secret, esoteric, and of course powerful knowledge to combat and triumph (most of the time, 'failures' serving as 'proofs' that the given story is 'true' as will be all the stories to come) over 'demons' or whatever the author/perpetrator of this story genre prefers to call their alleged opponents.

The first few sections of this book reveal a great deal about the author and his associates. He's a policeman -- a powerful group in our society , I would say that in many ways they are privileged. He's a Roman Catholic -- but not your ordinary Roman Catholic; no, this person chooses not to obey the church reforms of Vatican Council II, a widely accepted attempt to introduce Liberal reforms to the old, entrenched power centers who have held power in the church for centuries. The policeman/author is directly guided by priests and bishops who also refuse to accept the Vatican's reforms -- their denial of the Roman Catholic Church reforms put them in great opposition to the infallible power of their own Catholic Pope -- Christ on Earth -- as they use/misuse beliefs and practices they use in demon-battling. This is a strictly Catholic problem; no Protestant 'allies' opinions can influence whether the author et al are acting and persuading their tragic clients and us. Denying or refusing to follow papal law and teaching puts them outside the Catholic church; not a very powerful position to be in when "investing" demons and demonic possessions etc.

The author et al show remarkable ignorance of basic religious studies. Their first story has the demons using the theological and historical dubious distinction about the so-called 'sign of the beast' -- 666. No one knows what this number means!!

This author demonstrates the insidious bigotry and ignorance he brings to his so-called work from the beginning of this book. The misogyny and patriarchal condescension is plain. He and his male co-investigator enter the house where their anti Vatican II bishop-boss has sent them. What are the immediate "signs" of demonic invasion? The house isn't absolutely clean, swept, vacuumed; their are dirty dishes in the sink; the father and husband of the house 'knows' something is wrong when he comes home from work and his dinner isn't started!! The misogyny escalates. Only the women are tempted and fall for the tricks of the demon. Our patriarchal investigators are on the trail of this demonic home wrecker and dinner-delayed. (Why the husband can't cook for himself or as a partner in household chores is never even thought of.)

And then there is the descriptions of the demonic activities -- and make no mistake, there are no ghosts or poltergeists or energies, there are only Demons with a capital and Catholic letter. The theological basis for demons and demonic possessions is pretty feeble. Jesus certainly casts out demons about as often as he greets people, and the apostles are awarded the exorcism power and cast out demons with equal proficiency. Theologically, God made men (and I emphasize the gender choice) to have power above the very angels, let alone fallen demons etc etc. Why would any human being need to fear any demon, from Satan down to little bubbles of lights bippity bopping around your house? All it takes, it seems from our modern exorcists vast fount of knowledge is one weak person -- and now cue the misogyny because every , literally EVERY, female in one household is duped into believing the demon and sending the household down the toilet...not to mention the husband/father having to wait for or cook his own dinner!!!

Plain common sense along with a not too onerous task of reading up on the positions of any and all of the major faiths regarding demons and possession is a requirement. You cannot -- I repeat, you CANNOT -- trust what these modern demon fighters say or do. They are outside the mainstream of their own religions and they demonstrate some of the most old-fashioned and well-known bigotry, stereotypical and prejudicial attitudes (especially regarding the place of all non-heterosexual Male biases to be found anywhere inside or outside of the scriptures of any religious studies.

Ignorance is bliss, to experience bliss is to be blessed, and to complete the circle, Sarchie and the Warrens, Malachi Martin and Dave Considine (sp?) are blessed with the bliss of their willful denial that their own Church officials have said these stories of exorcism and demonic forces running rampant in the world is a great, gross and dangerous mistake for people of faith to be propagating...with more publicity and success than any demon could possibly manage.

[The Local Spooky Hermit · Rating 1 out of 5]

I should have looked into this book before I got it. as soon as you open it it claims mental illness is really just a possessed person. I threw it. I thought this was fiction. turns out this is a Christian book bashing anything fun. fuck this book. yet somehow I'm trying to still struggling to finish it. I turned it into a game of underlining everything this books gets wrong in other religions, "witchcraft", heavy metal music, mental illness sufferers, just about anything a die-hard Jesus freak would think that anyone that strays from their cookie cutter world does.
there's a shit ton of underlining.
ps
even the movie is a flop in horror (if you are sensitive to flashing lights, don't watch the movie they do that every 5-10 minutes) go watch the conjering it's better and no cheap jump scares for no reason. ah but again the people behind that story are also asshole ghost hunters that suck at their job too. so eh.

[Cristina Oliveras · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was very unsettling and gave me trouble sleeping. I'm going to watch the movie this weekend and I anticipate it to have the same effect as this book did. I wouldn't recommend this read to the faint of heart. Not only was the book extremely disturbing, it was also educating. There was a lot of things I leaned about demonic forces that I never knew about. It also brings you closer to your faith whatever it may be. Ralph Sarchie is a brave and selfless man. May God be with him and his family through his work.

[RhS · Rating 4 out of 5]

To avoid confusion, this book is also known as Deliver Us From Evil, because a movie of that name was based on it.

I’ll skip the debate about whether demonic possession is a real phenomenon. It’s the same as trying to figure out if God exists. You can research your life away, and, in the end, it just depends on who you ask. In this case, we’re asking Ralph Sarchie, former NYPD sergeant and part time demonologist.

The critical issue with this book is deciding if Ralph is a reliable source.

His close association with Ed and Lorraine Warren gives me pause. The Warrens have more than one accusation of fraud smirching their reputation, but they’re a complicated topic unto themselves. Warrens aside, I’ve come to the conclusion that Ralph believes everything he says to be true so, in that regard, yes, his account is trustworthy.

So is this a good book?

That depends on why you’re reading it.

If you want to be frightened, you’re better off with the Hollywood version. Ralph is a pretty cut and dry man. He has a way of making exorcism sound like a grind. There are blood chilling moments and impossible feats, but the majority of it sounds repetitive and almost monotonous. He’s never seen a person levitate. All that head spinning and wall climbing seem to be inventions of fiction.

If you’re anti-religious, you should know that Ralph is devout, and ... well ... this is his book, not yours. Also, Catholics kind of have a monopoly on the whole exorcism thing so yeah, it’s gonna come up. They’ve cornered the market, at least for the Christian faith. I had to google a LOT of definitions to keep up with all the religious lingo Ralph drops.

If you have an open mind and you’re curious about an offbeat topic, yes, you’ll learn a wealth of facts about the Catholic view of possession and exorcism from this book.

True, this material could be better organized. Ralph has a tendency to drift off topic, telling stories within stories. But they’re interesting asides.

My “favorite” possession of the book involves a demon who uses the phone to communicate with his targets. One beep for yes, two for no. (A la Hector Salamanca.) Using this method, the demon poses as the ghost of a child murder victim, hooking his targets with sympathy. Recorded and transcripted conversations ensue. Obsession blooms. Relationships turn sour.

If you’re a spiritual person of any kind, a believer in things science can’t yet explain, Ralph’s experiences will probably fit within your lens of the world in some way.

And no matter what you think of his side hustle (he doesn’t actually charge for exorcisms, it’s more like charity work), he indisputably made NYC safer for many years with his police work. Thanks, Ralph, for being one of the good guys.

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review is going to be difficult for me. The book as a Demon fighting genre book is a fun book to read. My three star rating is based on that. It has little to nothing to do with the movie of the same title except for names and places.

I have some serious reservations about the author and his teachings. If you are going to read this book, you need to be warned about some things.

1. Don't go into this book thinking Ralph Sarchie is a Roman Catholic. He is not. He is a tradionalist catholic. Let me be clear, from 1988 until 2009 the Tradionalist Catholic Bishops were considered excommunicated. The Roman Catholic Church lifted the excommunication in 2009. However, the Tradionalist Catholics are still not in full communion with the Roman Catholic church due to them not recognizing the authority of the church leaders.

2.Sarchie seems to think that having 10 Excorcists in the US is an amazing and new thing. But it is too little and he and his lay people should be doing at least building excorcisms. He fails to inform the reader that Pope John Paul II called for EACH Diocese in the US to have its own Excorcists and set up the school for the training of these excorcists. Change takes a long time, but the positions are slowly being filled.

3. Sarchie speaks of working with Ed and Lorraine Warren. You might remember them from being the Demonologists who worked the Amityville Horror house. From their own website, Ed (who has died) is described as a Demonologist while Lorraine is described as a Trance Medium.

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church Sections 2116 and 2117:

2116 All forms of divination are to be rejected: recourse to Satan or demons, conjuring up the dead or other practices falsely supposed to "unveil" the future.48 Consulting horoscopes, astrology, palm reading, interpretation of omens and lots, the phenomena of clairvoyance, and recourse to mediums all conceal a desire for power over time, history, and, in the last analysis, other human beings, as well as a wish to conciliate hidden powers. They contradict the honor, respect, and loving fear that we owe to God alone.

2117 All practices of magic or sorcery, by which one attempts to tame occult powers, so as to place them at one's service and have a supernatural power over others - even if this were for the sake of restoring their health - are gravely contrary to the virtue of religion. These practices are even more to be condemned when accompanied by the intention of harming someone, or when they have recourse to the intervention of demons. Wearing charms is also reprehensible. Spiritism often implies divination or magical practices; the Church for her part warns the faithful against it. Recourse to so-called traditional cures does not justify either the invocation of evil powers or the exploitation of another's credulity.

So not only is Sarchie not in communion with the Catholic Church, he is not in communion with the church of Father Amorth, the Rome exorcist he cites in one section of his book. He also uses mediums which is strictly forbidden in most Protestant Christian denominations and not just the Roman Catholic Church. If he truly is a Tradionalist, I wonder what his Bishops think about this? Of course, New York has been known for being a permissive diocese no matter who you are.

Look, if you are looking for books on the Catholic Teachings on Excorcisms or real excorcists consider reading Matt Baglio's book The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist. It is about Father Gary Thomas, an excorcist in California. You should also consider reading An Excorcist Tells His Story by Father Gabriele Amorth. Fr. Gabriele Amorth is the Chief Exorcist of Rome. He has performed hundreds of exorcisms over many years.

[Joanna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sięgając po “Zbaw nas ode złego” Ralpha Sarchie wiedziałam na co się piszę, bo wcześniej już miałam nieprzyjemność czytać utrzymany w podobnym klimacie arcy-paździerz - “Demonologów”. Byłam więc przygotowana na stek bzdur, zatrzęsienie absurdów i idiotyzmy wylewające się z każdej strony. A jednak i tak Sarchiemu udało się mnie zaskoczyć!

Ralph Sarchie to policjant, któremu pewnego dnia pod wpływem fanatycznego uwielbienia, wręcz obsesyjnej miłości do Warrenów zamarzyło zabawić w demonologa. A jaka do tego najszybsza droga? Ano, zapisać się do szkoły demonologów prowadzonej przez słynne małżeństwo. Jak wiadomo wszem i wobec, przedsiębiorcza parka na swojej popularności zbijała niezłe kokosy i doiła ludzi na potęgę. Ale Pan Policjant tak łatwo nie odpuści i gotów byłby pewnie i zaciągnąć kredyty na swoje dzieci aby tylko móc uczęszczać na wykłady i stąpać tymi samymi korytarzami co jego bogowie Warreny. A pożyczkę za horrendalnie drogie kursy później spłaci się pisząc książkę! No i powstał ten oto twór, w którym Pan już- nie-tylko-Policjant-ale-i-Demonolog dzieli się „mrożącymi” w żyłach historiami ze swojej Pracy (bo demonologia to prawdziwa poważna Praca przez duże P! To ratowanie zdrowia! Życia!) takimi jak spotkania z ludźmi z kopytami i rogami kozła czy rozmowy z szukającymi u niego pomocy będącymi na skraju załamania żonami wilkołaków. Sporo miejsca Pan Policjant poświęca na prywatę - możemy się więc dowiedzieć jak obawia się że w przyszłości jego córka wpadnie w nieciekawe towarzystwo młodzieży ubierającej się na czarno bądź słuchającej Black Sabbath - to na pewno sataniści! Ale nie trzeba wybiegać aż tak w przyszłość - Pan Policjant już teraz drży o bezpieczeństwo swojej rodziny - bo co jak trafi mu się taki sąsiad jak jednemu z jego klientów - sąsiad przynoszący do domu książkę w skórzanej okładce. Przecież to na pewno  jest Biblia Szatana! Albo chociaż Necronomicon.
Gdyby ta “książka” serwowała tylko takie śmieszne i idiotyczne, acz nieszkodliwe historyjki to można by jeszcze przymknąć oko na wielce wybujałą wyobraźnię autora. Jednak w pewnym momencie zabawa w demonologa to dla Pana Policjanta robi się za mało i Sarchie zamarzył sobie zostać naczelnym lekarzem całej przepełnionej grzechem populacji. Jaki więc według policjanto-demonologo-doktora jest najszybszy i jedyny skuteczny lek na niewydolność serca, cukrzycę, depresję, raka, niepłodność, (wrzuć tu obojętnie jaką chorobę)? Modlitwa, Prosze Państwa! Ale żeby nie było, że Pan Policjant taki gołosłowny to ma i dowód - otóż potwierdza skuteczność tej metody leczenia na sobie! Pomimo wielu stresujących i śmiertelnie niebezpiecznych sytuacji jak spotkania z demonami i sztanami - nie imają się go żadne poważniejsze choroby - a to dlatego, że codziennie odmawia różaniec! Nie jestem lekarzem, ale pokuszę się o opinię, że głosząc takie farmazony autor zdecydowanie myli się twierdząc, że wyszedł ze spotkań z siłami nieczystymi bez żadnych urazów i uszkodzeń głowy.

I serio - tak jak jestem absolutnie przeciwna cenzurze czy paleniu książek - tak kiedy czytam takie szkodliwe głupoty - to bez wahania stwierdzam, że nie ma wyjścia i dla takich tytułów jak “Zbaw nas ode złego” stos i śmietnik to jedyne odpowiednie miejsce. Paździerz na poziomie “Demonologów”. Szkoda oczu, szkoda drzew, a przede wszystkim szkoda zdrowia i nerwów.

[Sharon · Rating 2 out of 5]

CW: sexual violence, religious bigotry/bias

I can already hear you asking: "Sharon, as a vocally Jewish person with a tenuous relationship with God and no belief in demons, why do you keep reading books by Catholics about exorcisms? Especially when you're so obviously not enjoying them?"
And to that I say, "FINE. I ADMIT IT. Exorcisms are a special interest, okay!!! I'm being held hostage by my own special interest! Are you happy now?"
And only you, reader, can answer that.

This book is... wild. Genuinely, I do wonder why so many cops keep admitting on paper to being assholes as teenagers/young adults. I mean, yes, we already knew this, but you don't have to say it out loud!!
Obviously Sarchie is biased towards Catholicism. He shows so much negative bias against people from other countries, especially immigrants from South America and West Africa, and claims they have "cursed" people or practice witchcraft. Whether or not you believe in that kind of thing, there's really no reason to be so loud about it 🙄 Additionally, one of the early cases in this book involves a Jewish cemetery, which I find incredibly disrespectful.
I literally don't care if you genuinely believe your religious system is the best, most correct one; these people asked for no part in your religious narrative. Show some respect.
There's also a lot of very unsettling content about sexual assault performed by demons. Which was.... a thing, I guess. As someone who doesn't believe, I found it very dehumanizing to read the way much of that was phrased.

Overall, a pretty easy story to read, but upsetting in a bunch of unique ways! 🙃

And now, because I'm mean, here's some light bullying! In honor of the Victorian child TikTok trend, here are some things I believe would send this man into a coma:
- The fact that I wasn't taught that Ouijia boards were evil as a child
- Reform Judaism
- Lesbians
- The phrase "I'm going to fight God in a Denny's parking lot"
- Catholics converting to Judaism

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was way better than I thought it would be. Yeah I have seen the book trailer for this book and want to see the movie because I like horror movies. However after reading this book I really want to see the movie. I am sure it will be scary. Not because it is a horror movie but because the events are real. The things that police Sergeant Ralph Sarchie saw and experienced are chilling and will leave you with nightmares. Think the Exorcist times 40. While, I still have some doubts about the paranormal I don’t totally discount it. I have had some encounters but on a scale of about 2/3. Not a 10/11 that the people in this book had. I am thankful for this.

What I found the most intriguing about this book was Mr. Sarchie’s faith in God. Like Mr. Sarchie states he is not trying to convert anyone with his faith. However if you don’t feel a little religious after reading this book I don’t know what to tell you. The relationship between God and Satan and paranormal activity is not that hard to believe are related. I believe in God. If you like a good scare or like nonfiction than you should check this book out. You just might have second thoughts about the paranormal.

[Melinda Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Deliver us from evil” is one New York Cop’s account of his work with the paranormal and how he helps out priests etc with exorcisms when he’s not on duty. There’s a very heavy religious slant and slight judgment on behalf of the author if you’re not of his faith, so this provides quite a tone when you’re reading the book.

There’s a lot in here that worries me in terms of leading people to try things they shouldn’t at home – especially any type of fasting or ‘exorcisms’ and whilst the author does say ‘don’t try this at home’, its less of a loud warning and sort of a read between the lines deal that you really need to look for when you’re reading the text.

For someone with such a colourful history of paranormal investigations, Ralph does tend to repeat himself, so there’s a lot of duplication in the book that it could have done without.

Regardless of what you might believe, there’s certainly enough content in here to give you a good scare (or let your imagination run wild when the lights start flickering on and off in your home!) but you need to be prepared for a religious onslaught when you’re reading it.

[Bill Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

What did I think? This book was outstanding, and now I want to learn more about the Work so I can protect myself and my family from the adversary of this Earth, the Devil. At times I felt the author repeated himself, for clarity I believe. I enjoyed the sense of humor he had despite these situations. This book was outside of my normal tech book reading but it was well worth the tangent in my library.

Satan is real, and I support the view in this book on that matter. If you believe in God then you should also believe in Satan. The cold chills, sounds, and other horrors described in this book will give you goose bumps. While I'm fully aware these demonic spirits only have power over us if allowed by are will or by God as a test such as the story of Job which Ralph quotes in this book. I found that highly interesting, and I felt it was very appropriate.

[Martyna · Rating 1 out of 5]

When it comes to satisfying my hunger for knowledge and curiosity, this book is nowhere near it. There is not even a trace of any scientific and also at least a methodical approach to the discussed issue, nor the recognition that for someone the topic can be a nonsense. Instead, there is this mindless faith and religiousness that emanate from it.

Sarchie and Cool have some irritating writing style. They repeat themselves notoriously. When the author mentions something once, we can be sure that he will return to the same issue at least three more times. Information on the manner of possession, the distinction of spirits from hell demons to ghosts of human origin, even the stupid fact that the hero does thorough research before each case - these and other issues will be repeatedly rolled out. When we read about them again, discouragement finally begins to break in. And this was probably not the author's intention.

Unfortunately, the scenes that should make your blood freeze are not described particularly well. Most chapters are based on a simple rule - a detective gets a call, recognizes the case, describes several symptoms of demonic harassment, and drives out the demon alone or with the help of a priest. Zero tension, suspense and emotions.


"Deliver Us from Evil", despite its considerable potential, seriously fails. Perhaps Sarchie should not take on the fictionalization of his memories alone, or only with a co-author who has little experience in fiction, and put the matter in the hands of a professional, supervising the progress of work himself.

[Keith Howlett · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am always trying to find true life accounts of exorcisms so when I saw this book I thought yes. I was very disappointed after reading this book. This police officer gives his account of spiritual warfare swearing to love Jesus and that the Catholic faith is the right way to God. First thing he changes from catholic to a more purest form of Catholicism so he can practice exorcisms. The guy loves the faith so much that he cannot even listen to his own Pope. The Pope declared that the right of Exorcism must be completed by a priest and not a layman. Ralph Sarchie does not like it so he changes his allegiance. Now let's get down to the real motive behind this book greed. Ralph Sarchie is now expanding to a reality show. Pope also declared that exorcisms are not to be taped or recorded in any way and that the only record be of the official written account of the rite. Ralph's like I can't make money that way so to hell with the Pope. The opening of Ralph Sarchie's you tube page shows him doing a "exorcism". Knowing these facts makes Ralph's writing look very fake to me. If people are really possessed and in need of help, it is people like Ralph that continues to keep people from believing.

[Megan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really wanted to love this book. However, the writing was terrible and the author repeated several of his points with EVERY SINGLE STORY. Plus, I feel like he is following the rules that he WANTS to follow rather than follow what the Catholic Church actually teaches... I don't know. I LOVE books like this, but this one just didn't have the same effect...

[Sue Roth · Rating 1 out of 5]

While the information is interesting from the perspective of a "real-life demonologist" and policeman, the tone is so self-important and self-congratulatory as to be annoying to the reader. Virtually every bump and noise is deemed of infernal origin. Overbearing, paranoid, and just plain boring.

[Lore · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF

When the book started, we were introduced to Ralph Sarchie - self-proclaimed demonologist and a full time NY Police Sergeant, along with his friend, Joe – a legal aid and “living bullshit detector”- dealing with a case on Halloween (and the following days after). I found this a little cliché, I mean really – did it have to start on a Halloween case? (Worst of all, it actually gave a small shout out to an experience at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, adding to the cheesiness already. Really people? Really?) Not only that, this case (so far) is the one I hate the most. Why? Well, just like having it around a Halloween setting is cliché, the family that Ralph was sent to investigate is cliché as well. They are haunted by a ghost named “Virginia” that was a murdered bride-to-be, with a fiance accused of her murder (and killed himself in shame, despite not actually killing her); oh, and her parents may have also been murdered. All this happening with no old newspaper or record of any kind. I feel like I’ve seen this on Lifetime, but whatever.

Eventually, the “friendly” Virginia is exposed as a “demon” and exorcised from the home by Ralph, his partner, and a priest (I think. Too lazy to look it up.) Trust me, this story was just so stupid, presented horribly with a lot of problems (such as sudden changes in stories by the haunted family, Ralph too quick to say Virginia is a demon – without good evidence, and a lot of other stuff.) I was just done with it once Ralph started screaming demons!
Currently, I am about 40% in yet somehow have 8 more hauntings (chapters) to read about. Here is a list of my biggest problems with the book so far (and will probably remain throughout the rest):
1. “I’m not a religious fanatic” (pg. 3) – Ralph Sarchie.

I SO beg to differ. This guy nearly ends every chapter with some quote from a famous priest, a reminder to put everything into god (or suffer for all eternity), a long prayer, a hard-on message for Jesus, and everything else wrapped in a sweet Hail Mary blessed bow. It becomes so suffocating. I got nothing wrong with religion, and I do understand how important his faith is to him, but my god, I get it! Stop telling me almost every page you would like to suck god’s dick.
Side note: He tries to play an odd, past, semi-atheist (slight agnostic) character that “discovered” evil, and became a god fearing Catholic to fight it, but at the same time tries to say he always believed in god – he just didn’t go to church enough. Yeah…it’s a very confusing back and forth.


2. Demons are the cause of every problem. Or the devil. No option.

Every case isn’t about evil spirits, or ghosts that got a bad past that just won’t leave. No, it’s demons. Every time. Because demons have nothing better to do then haunt/possess a suburban family in the hills. *shakes head* I also think it’s very funny he thinks THE DEVIL is going to haunt a few people in an apartment complex, because that's what he wants to do with power after the fight with god. Annoy stranger neighbors with wall tapping. Oh, how evil!
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Though he, Ralph, might not mean the devil is literally there in person (just his evil influence) he doesn’t make it clear. Or specifically, the author – Lisa Cool (who actually wrote the book for him) – doesn’t make it clear. Either way, I laugh!


3. Stereotyping like a motherfucker.
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Ralph is the most stereotyping dude I have ever read about; in a book that’s been labeled as “non-fiction” I mean. In the first case, with the Virginia ghost, Ralph blames the possible haunting on a previous tenant that rented out a room in the house. Why? Because he/she painted the room black. Dafaq?! Let me tell you, Mr. Cop, emo/goth DOES NOT EQUAL some kind of devil worshiper. Seriously. Also, the family being haunted admits to not liking the person very much (so bias ahead alert), and also admits to not remembering much about he/she. Only that they had criminal history and allegedly had ties with the occult. One – is the criminal history for stealing candy or armed robbery? Details matter. Second – where did possible occult ties come in? The family didn’t remember much about them, but pulls this out their ass? (I believe Ralph/Joe led these people to suggestive thoughts of the person (to explain their problems away), and if you read the chapter you can see what I mean.)
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Other stereotypes include weird other religions (with weird names) are into baby sacrifices, grave robbing for curses, and making it their job to insult Jesus despite not believing in the dude. Also, women are too weak to handle spooky stuff (he sends a lot of the female family members away during exorcisms and couldn’t believe a strong built-athletic woman had a naturally feminine voice despite her stature. A lot of its odd side comments I probably looked too far into, but I also couldn’t just skip over them either.)

4. Evidence? (Collecting and giving is a problem)
He, despite talking about such high levels of activity in each case so far, does little to capture any of it! He mentions a little about filming during interviews, but not a lot of the other activity. Like the random scratches, door rattling, things being thrown, loud voices clearly heard BY EVERYONE! Why aren’t you trying to get any of this? Ralph is a little conflicted on this issue. When it comes to recording stuff it’s very little, and he bad mouths a lot of other “investigators” that pride capturing over helping the families, though also says that if more people could be given proof of evil/demons/the devil, it would help a lot more people “go to church and save themselves.” So why not get some of this stuff and tell the people? Many might not believe, but some may and that’s all that matters right? Instead, Ralph just has the “believe more or don’t attitude…but seriously I do kind of care, just not as much as you think, but still take my word for it. I’m a cop. Cops don’t lie.”
Ralph says:
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I say:
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Also, in regards of evidence, I’ve actually googled some parts of these stories and some “facts” don’t add up. Like in the incubus case, he claims that a satanic cult lived in the house before, killed a frog for a ritual, molested boys (especially the cult leader’s boys) and maybe even killed a baby. Scratch that, he didn’t say it, but another (random/unidentified) cop on scene did. I looked for this everywhere, you think that’d make the news, but I found nothing. And later on the cop says they locked up the cult leader for the molestation, but again found no record of this.
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5. Repetition is the biggest flaw of this entire book.
Every chapter its: I love Jesus, it’s a ghost not a demon; always have holy water, crucifix, and my (authentic) True Cross (that he never stops bragging about. *barf*); the fact he’s a cop, that everything is a demon, or Satan, or the Devil, or Lucifer; that his partner Joe is a “bullshit detector” though it doesn’t seem to ever be put to use; the fact that he’s laughed at by others, that HE LOVES GOD AND JESUS (with a full raging boner) and for the lover of everything ENOUGH ALREADY! He repeats every chapter the levels of possession (infestation, oppression, possession) and even goes into the steps processes each time. We got it from the first mention, stop saying it again and again! The cases are written as if the last cases wasn’t written prior, so I think that’s the cause of the repetition, but for the sake of my sanity I skip over the constant repetition. It just never stops!
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I have a lot more problems, but on some degree I do still enjoy this book. Some parts of the case are interesting, and I’ll admit I love the parts where Ralph and Ed Warren talk with each other. I love the Warren files, which is what led me to this book, but they are very different in style and how they are presented. Hopefully the book loses a lot of the repetition going on (which is annoying me the most), and I can give up on some of the need of proof (since I can just google most of it.) Maybe I’ll enjoy the book if I ignore this stuff I hate so far.
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[Sandy Lewis · Rating 3 out of 5]

The movie “ Deliver Us From Evil” which is based on this book is much better in my opinion. This book is so filled with religious overtones that it’s distracting.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like many other people, I was introduced to this book through the Eric Bana movie DELIVER US FROM EVIL. That movie was so ridiculously over-the-top that I was dying to know in what way it could have possibly been "inspired by real events."
Well, the book is certainly more restrained than the movie, though not by much.
BEWARE THE NIGHT is not a fun book to review, because I don't really know what to make of it. The degree to which you enjoy it will depend on how highly you rate the author's credibility. People just looking for something fun and scary will find it too preachy; those approaching it from a religious standpoint will likely be repulsed by Sarchie's unconventional theology and abrasive personality.
Personally, I believe demon possession is a very real phenomenon. I am open to the possibility that the book's descriptions of certain supernatural events are at least partially based in fact. But that's as far as I go. Sarchie seems to be writing in earnest, but provides no corroborating evidence for anything. (Conveniently, he is of the opinion that video footage of performed exorcisms should by-and-large be suppressed to prevent giving the demons added exposure.) However, on YouTube there is a fifteen-minute documentary on Sarchie (filmed as a DVD extra, I'm assuming) in which he goes toe-to-toe with a woman who I would say is either demon possessed or a pretty good actress. I'll let you determine which.
So far, Sarchie seems to have avoided any outright allegations of fraud. However, he got his start thanks to Ed and Lorraine Warren, who have credibly been accused of fraud numerous times. Sarchie puts a lot of stock in the Warrens, despite the fact that Lorraine Warren's supposed psychic abilities seem to fly in the face of Biblical admonitions not to become involved with divination and mediums.
Sarchie's own theology often strikes me as very suspect, starting with the fact that he believes in ghosts (but not poltergeists--there's a difference). He also believes in nature spirits, human auras (which he claims to be able to occasionally see), and other New Age-sounding concepts. You'd be a fool not to question the majority of his assertations, especially since he later admits that "demonology" is solely based on trial and error, anyway. Furthermore, since I'm not a Catholic, I can't help but wonder about the advisability of using Holy water and blessed salt when performing exorcisms. Sorry, but I couldn't help but chuckle when Sarchie's partner sprinkled Holy water on the telephone after being contacted by someone he believed possessed by an evil spirit.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review also posted @ Go Book Yourself




Ralph Sarchie is an NYPD cop who works as a demonologist and exorcist in his free time. He is a devout Christian and believes that everything happens for a reason, Gods reason.

According to Ralph people become possessed from dabbling in black arts, being the victims of evil curses but mostly because it's "Gods will". I find it a little fucked up that any god would subject his/her people to things mentioned in this book! Ralph reckons that what happens to these people brings them closer to god but I'm not so sure..

I am one of those people who believed that these cases of demonic possession were actually mental health issues. When you read of cases like annaliese michel you'd have to wonder if she would had survived if the right people had intervened.

At least in this book Sarchie admits that the majority of people claiming to be possessed are suffering mentally and he does urge them to seek medical help.

Sp your probably wondering if this book is preachy? Well yes, it is. As much as Sarchie tries not to be ( he even states so several times) his ideals form the basis for all his opinions. The only way to avoid being possessed is to be a devout believer and go to church weekly and pray daily and if you don't your screwed!

The writing itself isn't great I have to say. It's very repetitive and the pacing is sluggish for for the most part.

Personally I didn't take the religious aspects too seriously and enjoyed the book for what it was: a collection of creepy stories. I actually had to stop reading it at night because it was freaking me out!

[Liz Bot · Rating 3 out of 5]

Worth it, but be warned: this book is a thinly-veiled diatribe of all the reasons the reader should immediately repent and become born again into any religion at all (although Sarchie probably prefers that you, the reader, become a Catholic.)Sarchie attempts to put the fear of God into the reader by delivering homily at the end of every chapter or as often as he can sneak in a little sermon, but he really doesn't care if you don't believe in God. Really! He promises!

Stylistically, this book is a mess. The writing is only marginally better than what you might expect to find in a first-year creative writing course; in particular, Sarchie refuses to include footnotes and instead frequently digresses right in the middle of a page using italics to ensure that you know he's on a tangent. He overuses phrases, repeats ideas, and relates information that has no discernible relation to the subject of a story. All this with a co-author who seems to be equally as incompetent a writer.

So why am I still reading this book? It's trashy. Absolutely delightfully trashy. I've been largely skipping any portion of hyper-religious lecturing and sticking to the stories, which are very eerie. It's entertaining and easy. What he absolutely lacks in prose Sarchie makes up for in the details he includes. It's really like listening to the DARE cop come and tell you horror stories about drug use: poorly related, but still engaging. I expect that the movie will be better. Hopefully the fear-of-God nonsense will be toned down JUST a little bit.

[Nancy Ellis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book about the experiences of Ralph Sarchie, a former NYPD Sergeant, who through his work on the worst streets of New York became acquainted with the evils of demonic possession and also with the work of exorcists in the area. A devout Catholic who makes no apologies for his faith but also makes no claims that only Catholics have access to exorcism, Sarchie became a part of a group performing exorcisms. He eventually retired from the police force to devote his entire time to the Work, as he refers to it. There are some amazing stories in this book of the power of evil and the struggle to deliver its possessed victims back to their "normal" lives. He talks a great deal about his own experiences on the police force and the people who influenced him in his choices, as well as the importance of his faith. It's a wonderfully written, thoroughly engaging book.....and pretty darn scary in parts!

[Rob · Rating 1 out of 5]

I only made it through 2/3 of this book. It started out quite terrifying, and had my attention for quite a while. . .until I realized I was listening to basically the same story over and over. Sarchie does revere and reference people who have been proven as frauds (the Warrens), so, I am not sure how credible his stories are. I was listening to this, not reading it, so, I did not pick up on its repetitive nature until I listened to it on a small road trip. I kept zoning out and saying, "He just said all of this in the last chapter. . ." I will likely watch the movie, because this had the potential to be good source material for a film, but, I am over this book.

[GG Stewart’s Bookhouse · Rating 1 out of 5]

I could not read this book fast enough! No, not in a good way. The tittle should have read "deliver me from this book". He repeats himself so often I memorized most of it! It's a boring book that goes all over the place at times, it takes you a whole page to realize his talking about something else and then three pages later his back to his original story. On the afterword he says he does not push his religion on anyone, really? The whole book is about religion and his beliefs and opinions about religion. I changed my mind on seeing the movie. I'll wait for HBO or Showtime it's not worth a Redbox rental.