In a Dark Place (Ed & Lorraine Warren)

I couldn't hardly put this book down. I loved how it was written. Truly chilling. I just bought a ton more of the warren books but I am a little disappointed to see that they are not by the same writer. I might wind up getting more books just from the author because I enjoyed it so much.

Perhaps the most (in)famous case of a demonic haunting behind, of course, Amityville.I gotta say, In a Dark Place is very well written; it's easily digestible though not too simplistic and it's a definite page-turner without being overly sensational and melodramatic. And most of all, the case portrayed is truly frightening with the house's history being sadistically one of a kind, hence the infamy of this case.Now other reviews have stated how great this book is, and I agree with them to a large extent(I rated 5 stars after all) but it isn't perfect and considering the price tag, you should be aware of it's cons before buying. So here it is..My biggest complaint is the book's lack of focus on Stephen, who also happens to be the person most affected by the house.He's given due attention at first but when things pick up and he gets more and more haunted the book annoyingly pulls away from him and focuses more on his mother, who is subject to much less intense(at the time) hauntings and doesn't even believe Stephen's stories. What this means is we never truly get the full story what happened to Stephen in this house, which is a damn shame considering he was the one most affected by the house/demons.My second complaint has to do with the marketing. First, this is certainly not the 'most terrifying true case of demonic possession ever', in fact, a true possession of Stephen is entirely debatable, I'd say demonic 'obsession'(pre-cursor to possession) is better fitting. Even if he was truly possessed other cases easily surpass this one in extremity, "Devil in Connecticut" and "Begone Satan" quickly come to mind. That's not to say this book isn't horrifying, it very much is in many ways, but don't buy into the overly sensational marketing like I did.Also the book heavily promotes the Warren's being involved, but they don't even enter the equation until the last 1/4 of the book and even then, their grandson and nephew are far more heavily involved in the case then they are. Also at this point, the book feels a little rushed like the author is sprinting toward's the end. He could have easily put in 50+ more pages into the final act of the book/case.Now all that said this is still a great book and it is most certainly paranormal history whether you like it or not. The history of the house and the related attacks make this haunting truly unique and while it doesn't line up to the marketing it is nonetheless a thoroughly chilling book. But the question remains...Should you but this book despite the price tag?I'll put it this way, if this book were standard price, I would urge each and every fan of the paranormal to pick this up. But it's not standard price so I guess you have to ask yourself, how bad do you want it?

Very happy

This is a story known by many due to the movie “Haunting in Connecticut”. I have seen the film only once and only have a vague recollection of it. Chances are for entertainment purposes there was some added drama but if I remember correctly it was somewhat close in basic premise anyway (family moves into an old funeral home, it’s haunted…blah blah blah). The book itself is unique from the other books that I have read in the Warren series. While many of them were co-written by people in the journalism or academic fields this one was written by a Horror genre writer. Its structure is different. It’s more like a narrative, third person novel than the interview/fact telling style of the other books. I think in this case, for the non-fiction reader the latter is a better delivery style (on the other hand for the fiction reader this will probably be a more pleasant and familiar flow). This is not to say that the writing of this book is bad. Quite the contrary, it’s a well written story. However it does not read as true for me when in fact it is. I just wonder what is factually part of the story and what is license taken by the author.

I read the previous books in this series, and for me, In a Dark Place is the most disturbing by far. By all accounts, the Snedeker family did nothing purposeful to invite the evil that came into their lives and almost destroyed them. It was there lurking in that funeral home long before they showed up, waiting for a chance to assault the living.In past books, Ed Warren talked about the three stages of demonic activity: infestation, oppression, and possession. Or did that come from ‘The Conjuring’? Now, we find that there are actually five stages: encroachment, or permission, infestation, oppression, possession, and death. Happy endings are never guaranteed, I guess—even after an exorcism.Although the book makes it clear that no one in that family was trying to invite anything in by way of Ouija boards or Tarot cards, Stephen, the teenage son, was very susceptible to suggestion due to his illness and eventually agreed to let the demon “show him things.” So, in essence, he granted permission. From there, everything proceeded as expected, except that what the demon did to individual family members is both chilling and repugnant—especially for the women. And what made things worse was the fact that both parents continued to deny what was happening.Several months ago, I saw the film ‘The Haunting in Connecticut,’ which is loosely based on the book. In that story, the boy—now named Kyle—is a hero who frees tortured souls. Unfortunately, no such gloppy Hollywood ending happened to the Snedekers. I recommend reading In a Dark Place to anyone interested in better understanding the demonic. Then watch the movie as pure entertainment.