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blearywitch's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
5.0
Everyone who knows me well is aware that I'm a horror movie enthusiast. I've been watching horror movies with my mother since I was seven years old. She'd turn the lights off so we scare ourselves shitless and then go to bed. Since then my motto has always been "the scarier the better". I love horror books too but there aren't that many that makes my hair stand on end. My favourite kind of horror is demonic possession so The Exorcist, and The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Penny Dreadful, and Ju-On (the original Japanese movie) are top tier.
This book has been on my list since 2019, recommended to me by my boss who is a devout Catholic. It is the true account on which The Exorcist movie was based on - Robbie Manheimm (real name Roland Doe) was a 13yr old boy living in Washington DC, and his haunting took place six miles from The White House. I assure you, six pages in and I'm already freaked out but I turned the lights off and continued reading under dim lights to enhance the experience. Now I don't know if I'll be able to walk from my library to my bed in the dead of the night. I only lasted thirty minutes before I chickened out and ran off to hide under my bed covers.
Catholics and Muslims have a lot of similar superstitions - Old people say if you hear knocking or someone calling your name when you know there shouldn't or couldn't be anyone, don't respond. We also believe that ghost infestation can happen when a site has got magicians dabbling in the occult; by "place memories" of sin or violence (think asylum & torture); by repeated sinful activities (such as site of ancient fertility-cult rites); by poltergeists. In these places we usually read a prayer.
Demonic possession stages: Infestation - scratchings and thumpings in the house, disturbing the sleeper (pulling mattress/tipping him out of bed/shaking the bed/chair he sits in); Obsession - scratches appearing on the body/words materializing from within the skin; Possession - victim lose consciousness and demon plays in his body using his eyes to see with, ears to listen with, mouth to speak with, and victim suffers burns when touched by holy objects.
The epidemic of possessions among nuns in the Ursuline convent in Loudun, France that I read about in the book "The Devils of Loudun" by Aldous Huxley was mentioned as one of the sources the Jesuits, Father Bowdern, and Father Bishop studied while investigating Robbie Mannheim's possession.
Prior to teenage Robbie in 1949, a 40 year old woman was exorcised in Earling, Iowa in 1928 and a frightening summary of her exorcism was detailed (from pg. 75-77). In this book the records show she was referred to as Mary, but when I researched, she shows up as Emma Schmidt and her exorcism lasted from 18 August to 23 December 1928.
This book discusses (legitimately so as a Muslim) that the existence of evil is not to be questioned but the issue that arises when an exorcism is requested is to acknowledge the presence of the devil himself in a human being. We remember that God put restrictions on the devil and if the devil could do everything he wanted then there would be no living human left on earth but he is lurking and prowling looking for those he could devour. Ordinarily, the devil tempts. The basic hypothesis about evil: do not go near it. That's why as children we are always advised to not go near something that can project evil. Don't go looking for trouble. To battle evil, the priest exorcist has to touch evil and focus on it knowing full well that he is mere human agent of God pitting himself against a powerful enemy with long experience in perpetrating evil.
I don't know what's scarier: the possessed showing whites of the eyes while screaming and laughing diabolically, or eyes closed. Both are hair-raising scary. As this book is a detailed and thrilling true account of the 1949 possession and exorcism, it is not for the faint-hearted.
This book has been on my list since 2019, recommended to me by my boss who is a devout Catholic. It is the true account on which The Exorcist movie was based on - Robbie Manheimm (real name Roland Doe) was a 13yr old boy living in Washington DC, and his haunting took place six miles from The White House. I assure you, six pages in and I'm already freaked out but I turned the lights off and continued reading under dim lights to enhance the experience. Now I don't know if I'll be able to walk from my library to my bed in the dead of the night. I only lasted thirty minutes before I chickened out and ran off to hide under my bed covers.
Catholics and Muslims have a lot of similar superstitions - Old people say if you hear knocking or someone calling your name when you know there shouldn't or couldn't be anyone, don't respond. We also believe that ghost infestation can happen when a site has got magicians dabbling in the occult; by "place memories" of sin or violence (think asylum & torture); by repeated sinful activities (such as site of ancient fertility-cult rites); by poltergeists. In these places we usually read a prayer.
Demonic possession stages: Infestation - scratchings and thumpings in the house, disturbing the sleeper (pulling mattress/tipping him out of bed/shaking the bed/chair he sits in); Obsession - scratches appearing on the body/words materializing from within the skin; Possession - victim lose consciousness and demon plays in his body using his eyes to see with, ears to listen with, mouth to speak with, and victim suffers burns when touched by holy objects.
The epidemic of possessions among nuns in the Ursuline convent in Loudun, France that I read about in the book "The Devils of Loudun" by Aldous Huxley was mentioned as one of the sources the Jesuits, Father Bowdern, and Father Bishop studied while investigating Robbie Mannheim's possession.
Prior to teenage Robbie in 1949, a 40 year old woman was exorcised in Earling, Iowa in 1928 and a frightening summary of her exorcism was detailed (from pg. 75-77). In this book the records show she was referred to as Mary, but when I researched, she shows up as Emma Schmidt and her exorcism lasted from 18 August to 23 December 1928.
This book discusses (legitimately so as a Muslim) that the existence of evil is not to be questioned but the issue that arises when an exorcism is requested is to acknowledge the presence of the devil himself in a human being. We remember that God put restrictions on the devil and if the devil could do everything he wanted then there would be no living human left on earth but he is lurking and prowling looking for those he could devour. Ordinarily, the devil tempts. The basic hypothesis about evil: do not go near it. That's why as children we are always advised to not go near something that can project evil. Don't go looking for trouble. To battle evil, the priest exorcist has to touch evil and focus on it knowing full well that he is mere human agent of God pitting himself against a powerful enemy with long experience in perpetrating evil.
I don't know what's scarier: the possessed showing whites of the eyes while screaming and laughing diabolically, or eyes closed. Both are hair-raising scary. As this book is a detailed and thrilling true account of the 1949 possession and exorcism, it is not for the faint-hearted.
autumnsannotations's review against another edition
1.0
Bored me to TEARS! This was probably the most bored book I’ve ever read. It’s supposed to be non-fiction, but you can clearly tell the author is biased when it comes to this story. It WAS informative. I needed to read it for a podcast, and I did get the info needed however.
vminton706's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
slow-paced
3.0
This book is my besties favorite so of course I had to read it! It started out a little slow but it picked up a little over halfway through and for a non fiction book it really held my attention (though I will say I read it in the voice of Rod Sterling hahha) and honestly it’s just made me that much more excited to read “The Exorcist”
neesy7's review against another edition
2.0
Boooorrriiinnngggg. About 100 pages too many of repetitive Catholic exorcism ritual.
jonathanfs's review against another edition
2.0
Though filled with fascinating content, this book's writing style put me off quite early. I am glad, though, that I slogged through the first half. The stories were not nearly as creepy as I had expected, but there was a vast amount of information about various Catholic orders and ceremonies that were a lot of fun to encounter.
gi1pierrez's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
3.0
amandaalexandre's review
2.0
At first, it was disturbing. Then it went on and on Catholic-politics and I lost interest.
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