Rating: 
Summary: A frightening well written book
Review: I couldn't rank a 5 star because some information were lacking in the book. Mr. Allen has made a great job, it's not his fault. He used the scientific method in his writings, which gives a higher credibility to his work. The priecher who helped him in this book was also just great, but the vows of silence from other Fathers who performed the exorcism gives us the impression that some information is lacking and those information would helps in better understanding the phenomena of possesion if there's such a thing. But anyway, a great book. P.S.: I couldn't sleep well in the night I read the book.
Rating: 
Summary: My strange experience with this book
Review: I have always wanted to tell this story someplace, and here seems as good a place as any. I swear that what I am about to describe really happened. It was pretty scary. Although we now live in Pennsylvania, my husband and I used to live in St. Louis. We know where the Alexian Brothers Hospital is and some of the other landmarks in the book. When this book came out it was released in St. Louis first, before it had a nation-wide release. I purchased the book with the intention of sending it to my father in NY State as he had liked the movie The Exorcist. The first night I read 1/2 of the book. The following day while cleaning the livingroom I heard the distinct sound of rapping and/or scratching coming from a corner of the room, up near the ceiling. My husband laughed it off as either a mouse or my over- active imagination from the book, but later that night he heard it too. We had never in over 10 years had a problem with animals or mice in the walls, etc. In the book...the possession starts with rapping sounds. That night I read the rest of the book, although by this time I was a little frightened. The following morning my mother in NY State called to tell me of an odd occurrance. The phone had rang the day before and when she answered it the person asked for "Sadie", my mother's name. When she said, "This is Sadie" the person started talking, according to my mother, "gibberish". She couldnt understand what they were saying or even if it was a male or female or what language they were speaking. When she asked who it was the person stated "Emily" which is my name. My mother said, "This is Emily, my daughter?" to which the person said, "yes" and then started speaking gibberish again. My mother hung up. What is odd is that the phone number at the time was listed only in my father's name and I hadnt lived at home for almost 10 years. How did this person know BOTH of our names? Because this freaked me out even more, that day I wrapped up the book and sent it to my parents. I didnt hear anything about it until about a week later when I asked my mother if she had the book, she said she did, and that my father would thank me for it but he wasnt at home. I asked where he was and she said that he was at the hardware store buying mouse traps as "We have heard scratching in the walls for a week now, so we must have a mouse." This incident happened about 10 years ago. Nothing else happened after that, my parents never caught a mouse, the scratching stopped, and the book appears to be lost as I havent seen it when I have been over there. But it was very odd when it happened. So...read the book, it is a fascinating story. But if anything odd happens to you or your family, please write a review and let me know. Thanks.
Rating:
Summary: A well written book one of the best I've read yet.
Review: I have the book with the authors name in it and I was wondering how much it is werth. I found out from My grandmother that Fr. bowdern is my great uncle.
Rating:
Summary: This may be the best book I ever read.
Review: I thought it had a real feeling to it the way he explained. Very Frightening. I found it to be the best non-fiction book that i have read.
Rating:
Summary: What I was expecting and more...
Review: If you saw the movie you definitely have to read the book. Mr. Allen objectively gives us a recount of the only documented exorcism performed in modern American. This particular edition includes a copy of the notes taken by the assistant to the exorcist. Whether or not the victim "Robbie" was truly possessed is something that the reader has to decide for him/her self. The author does not lead you towards any one of these alternatives; he just states the facts as they were according to the research he had done on the notes of the exorcism, witnesses' interviews, and interviews to people who were involved directly or indirectly. What can be asserted is that Robbie's environment opened the door for darkness to set in his naive mind and soul; and someone had to do something about it. He was an innocent child. This innocent child had people around him who loved him enough to DO something about it. His family sought help from pschiatrists, pastors, a Catholic priest who was not prepared for what he was facing. Although not being Catholics, his parents knew that the Catholic Church "knew about these things" they "had to help Robbie". It was their only chance to save their boy from dementia or most certainly death (to himself or others). The struggle of a fine Catholic priest who although was convinced of the possession was not completely willing to confront this terrible task in 1949 -- when the Catholic Church "was being brought to the 20th Century" and an exorcism had to be kept secret -- to save a boy's soul as well as the mental health of his family was his priority. Father William Bowdern did not work alone, this child's family, other priests, the Alexian brothers, all were involved in the exorcism, but it was Fr. Bowdern's deep faith and his training as a Jesuit that kept him and the others together as one against the greatest of all evils.
Rating:
Summary: This book is terrifying!
Review: It only lost the 5th star because the lack of some information. It's not the author's fault (whose made a great job gathering all the information togheter), but rather the priest's for keeping it secret.The most amazing thing is that it was true and no fiction writer could be so terrifying.
Rating:
Summary: A Modern Exorcism
Review: The Excorcist had such a powerful impact on the American psyche at the release in 1973, that it is difficult for the average person to separate those images of Regan from anything else related to the idea of "possession." Thomas B. Allen comments upon this fact, however, does little to differentiate it as well. The thrust of the book is a well documented "biography" of the events that led "Robbie" into a frenzied state later defined as demonic possession. While some of the facts are interesting, and much can be brought out of this book, it is generally a slow and dry read. Allen illuminates the mysteries that have surrounded this story that occured sometime in 1949, where a little boy began ranting and raving with maniacal noises of a beastly nature, as well as paranormal events of either psychic or poltergeist in nature. Allen does a good job explaining the most well developed and studied cases of demonic possession of psychologist T. K. Oesterreich. Essentially there are 3 stages, which seemed to be present in this case of Robbie: 1)infestation, usually of sounds, rappings, in the environment, 2) obsession, where the subject inherits the spirit, and 3) possession, the take over, or new identity. In Robbie's case, all of these elements seem to be in place, and once the biological, mental and paranormal were exhausted as a possible cause, then one had to look to the spiritual, in which we need an exorcist. This is the story that inspired William Peter Blatty's now classic horror 'The Exorcist.' While the latter has much more to offer in the way of entertainment, it is in exaggerated form. Some elements of, say, voice distortion, physiological changes, markings on the body are present in the case of Robbie, they do not go to the extremes of Regan of a full-blown physical make over. Thomas B. Allen succeeded in making the right connections about the history of the case, however, his retelling needs a spark of life to make it more interesting. Aside from this, a complaint I want to make is the about the publishing. While the pages are good quality and the printing is clean, there seems to be some confusion in the pagination. Once the story is finished, he ends it with the authentic reproduction of the diary that was written on the days of the exorcism in 1949. Following the diary is the author's endnote. Then the puzzling part - a blank page on the left side, and quarter of a page of something about Robbie that begins in the middle of the sentence. The pages follow 296-297. Then to the bibliography, sources, chapter notes, ending with an index. The page 297 seems to come from nowhere, as there is no other page I noticed that was incomplete. What is this mysterious page? Its quite possible that my copy is a fluke, but based on the page numbers, I sincerely doubt this. I reccomend this book to those that are curious of possession and certainly adds to anyones study in demonic possession a supposedly authentic case. Many of the details are still shrouded in secrecy, mystery and history. Those that were alive at the time are either dead or unwilling to talk. "Robbie" whose name is never revealed apparently is still living, but laregly unaware of the events and therefore does not have much to say about it.
Rating:
Summary: You can read it like a good horror story,butdon'tbelieve it
Review: This book is well written and a and terrifying read. If you are a possession believer, this book may just give you a heart attack. But while I found this book a good read but just having a hard time believing the whole tale and thus can't really get scared by it. I really wasn't able to find any evidence of real possession in this book, and the fact that the boy gone back to compelete normal a week after he got locked up was real suspicious. The boy's account of the final strugggle between good and evil: a white robe guy beat demon into a pit, and the demon vanished sounded just way too childish to be believable. And of course, all those marks on the boy's body could have inflicted by himself. Beds shaking, strange noises ect. all are are things even I can do. These all sums up to me like nothing more than a troubled teenager begging for attention. I actully laughed out loud when I read about the time the boy had "no school" written on his chest when his parents were talking about send him to school. But what do I know, even if all the boy's neighbors and childhood friends call him a clever prankster.
Rating:
Summary: You can read it like a good horror story,butdon'tbelieve it
Review: This book is well written and a and terrifying read. If you are a possession believer, this book may just give you a heart attack. But while I found this book a good read but just having a hard time believing the whole tale and thus can't really get scared by it. I really wasn't able to find any evidence of real possession in this book, and the fact that the boy gone back to compelete normal a week after he got locked up was real suspicious. The boy's account of the final strugggle between good and evil: a white robe guy beat demon into a pit, and the demon vanished sounded just way too childish to be believable. And of course, all those marks on the boy's body could have inflicted by himself. Beds shaking, strange noises ect. all are are things even I can do. These all sums up to me like nothing more than a troubled teenager begging for attention. I actully laughed out loud when I read about the time the boy had "no school" written on his chest when his parents were talking about send him to school. But what do I know, even if all the boy's neighbors and childhood friends call him a clever prankster.
Rating:
Summary: hauntingly exciting
Review: This book reads like a scary movie but its real. I couldnt put it down and i am now looking for more books on the subject. Realy scary at times.
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