A Pittsburgh Family’s Battle with Evil in Their Home

Probably the best book I have ever read on the paranormal. Bob Cranmer does an outstanding job telling the story of how he and his family overcame a demon that had been terrifying his family for years. Bob decides to fight back after his family starts waking up with claw marks on their skin and also seeing a grim reaper looking entity in the house. With help from numerous priests and mostly his strong faith in God and Jesus, Bob fights back at the Demon and never gives in. His persistence and courage is incredible. I could not put the book down and would recommend it to anyone. A MUST READ!

Slow start but picks up quick. A religious perspective on a demonic presence. I anticipated it to be more than it was but would recommend. Writing is not polished but maybe that adds to the authenticity of the events. Probably will see this made as a movie soon.

Hard to believe that a family lived through this. Felt upset with Mr Cranmer putting his family through this. Seems like he was on a private selfish mission.
I know that evil exists but didn't realize it could manifest itself to this degree. Peace and love to this family.

The First 60 % of this book focused on Bob Cranmer's political,religious and military careers. With a tiny bit of sentences about the house and and wife's and kid's personalities and health. Then there was some interesting and scary haunting wrote of. It's mostly a "Hey, look at ME&my larger than life careers. .and ego!"

I waited with a great deal of anticipation for this book having seen an interview with Mr. Cranmer on the local news especially living a short distance out of Pittsburgh in western Pa. Book is well written and an easy read. I expected it to cover in details the paranormal activity which it does not. Many of the activities are discussed however the story has more to do with the families triumph over evil and includes very detailed religious activities and readings. Very different from most paranormal books but none the less a good story.

The Demon of Brownsville Road was both one of the scariest and most uplifting books I have read in a long time. The accounts of the demonic infestation in the home were terrifying, making The Amityville Horror look like a children's book, but to see how a family's unfailing faith in Jesus can help anyone overcome anything was extremely encouraging. An excellent read

I thought the descriptions of rituals, reincarnations, etc. we're very strange, especially when involving the Catholic hierarchy. One might have expected the priest to scrub the house with sage if the "intuitive" instructed that it be done.

As others have noted, the story does follow the usual storyline. However, that should not be surprising as such phenomena are common across space and time.

turned out to be nothing but a political summary of Mr. Cramer and his career. the Brownsville house and it's demons only a weak thread. 4 chapters in and I'm done. sorry that I paid money for this :( but shame on me for not reading reviews first.

Do yourself a favor and skip to chapter 6. The first 5 chapters are just about the author and his political campaign. Very boring and has nothing really to do with the haunting . I almost returned this book. Chapter 6 is where the book starts to get good and in-depth of the hauntings and specific events.

This book was about how awesome the author was and less then 10 % was about the haunting or what ever, the book was unreadable I have never been so happy to be done with a story before, save your money

Given my background, I was highly unlikely to accept the themes of this book, but the writing was strong enough that I was able to suspend disbelief and enjoy the book for what it is—a spellbinding story of a family’s terrifying experience. I would have preferred much less detail about Bob Cranmer’s politics and more about the family’s emotions, but additional emotional details may well have been too painful for the family to share. I disagree with those who see no movie potential here—the trick is in how you do it, and a gifted writer could come up with a powerful movie script.

As several others have stated there is just too much stuff that has little to nothing to do with the haunting. It has taken forever to get moving. So much so, that I lost interest. I've read about 4 other books in the time it's taken me to get 2/3 through this. Too bad, I had high expectations for this. Better off listening to some of the podcasts that have Bob on discussing what took place.

Bob Cranmer seems very self-important. I liked the book, but got tired of reading how wonderful he was and how he was "chosen". Also, I really believe some of the problems with his kids were typical teenage and not all demons

Very scary! Great writing style. Recommended, but not a great night-time read. On the other hand, my daughter has no "scare bone" so she can read the scariest true ghost stories before bed and drift off into a deep slumber. Go figure. Anyway, if you're not like her, read this during the day :-)

This book is a compelling testimony of one family’s struggle to keep their sanity and their togetherness while being battered by malicious demonic forces over a period of years. After many happy years of family life something went awry at 3406 Brownsville Road that almost destroyed them. How do you tell such a story in a believable fashion without hype that will inspire and challenge readers? I think the Cranmers have achieved their goal.

Bob Cranmer offers a glimpse of what many families go through when a political figure is not around to navigate his wife and children through dangerous waters. Raising teens is tough work in our culture and parents need lots of patience and determination to guide them. When a cunning enemy lies within a house looking for ways to exploit human weaknesses and to generate distrust, the groundwork is set for self-destruction. Bob and Lesa were faced with a daunting decision: fight or flight. Their faith in God had been severely tested by the relentless attacks from unseen forces. They chose to fight the enemy with the spiritual weapons available to the Christian community. Thankfully there were gifted clergy and laity who could assist them.

Several book reviews highlight the shortcomings of the authors, the tedious political backstory, the lack of suspense, etc. To my mind these issues do not detract from the credibility of the story or the crisis that the Cranmers faced. Bob made a gutsy decision to share the good, the bad and the ugly of those traumatic years with the hope that people in similar circumstances will continue the struggle for freedom from demonic oppression. The reader is forced to look at the material presented about demonic oppression (house infestation) and arrive at their own conclusions. As the saying goes, for those who do not believe in the demonic world, no explanation is satisfactory. For those who believe in such a nasty spirit world at war with us humans, no explanation is necessary. The Bible is clear enough about our struggles against the world, the flesh and the devil. The book treats all three admirably. And the victory is the important lesson to recognize and celebrate.

The appendix by Adam Blai, a Catholic demonologist, gives a rare insight into Catholic understanding of the presence and power of evil spirits. The reader would be foolish to dismiss all this material as fantasy and speculation. St. Peter writes: “Be sober and vigilant. Your opponent the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8-9) Some challenging questions for the reader to ponder are: Do I believe in Satan and evil spirits? Do I believe that evil spirits can occupy a house and torment those who live there? Is moral decadence and wickedness the major cause of house haunting? Does the Christian community have the authority, wisdom, and courage to deal with these evil spirits in a decisive fashion as Jesus and the Apostles did? Good and evil are forced to coexist in this world. Christians trust in the power of God to save and deliver them from personal sin and the kingdom of darkness.

I liked the book. Yes the introduction to the characters at the beginning of the book was lengthy, but all of those people kept coming up later in the book so knowing about them was helpful. The story is hard to believe, but I have heard several TV and radio interviews with the author and he is totally convincing. It really helped that he named names such as the clergy members who assisted him. Made everything much more believable. I think all of this really happened. Kind of scary as if it can happen to his family it can happen to mine. The part at the end about reincarnation was odd, but a demon sprinkling a blood like substance on the walls of your house isn't exactly an every day occurrence for most people either. Good read.

This book should have been much shorter, considering the author spent the better part of the first 12 chapters delving into his past political and military accomplishments. When he finally got around to writing about the demon/haunting, I found it somewhat interesting, but not scary at all. The story telling was very repetitive to me, and all through the book Mr. Cranmer continued to find reasons to mention his brilliant career and to pat himself on the back. Maybe he should have just wrote his auto-biography, instead of a ghost story. But then again, no one would have bothered to buy a book about some snob who used to hold a political position in Pittsburgh. As a Pittsburgh native myself, I've never even heard of this guy. My time would have been better spent deleting this off my kindle and moving on to something a little more interesting.

IT was an interesting read -but I felt , after all the big time demon problems the way the story ended was a big letdown. I was hoping for more information on the evil spirits. If they knew that they had to bring someone from New York to get rid of the evil spirits, they should have called him sooner

Basically the author blames his wife's breakdown and his children's misbehavior on the Devil. Every bump in the night signals evil. The author doesn't seem to be terribly self-aware of the potential that his aggressive style of handling matters both at home and at work might be causing some of these issues. Not scary enough to be a good horror read or introspective enough to be a good personal narrative.

Although well written this book was disappointing to me. I anticipated this book's release for months and was looking forward to a truly frightening "true" ghost story. However I was rather disappointed that it became more of an autobiography of the author. Although the author has lead a quite accomplished life it was not what I thought I was buying. Truly disappointing.

Being born and raised in Pittsburgh or "The Burgh" as we refer to it here, I was very excited to read this book. It contained two of my favorite things, my home town and the Paranormal for which I have always had a fascination. But after reading this book, you would never know that it was written by a Native of our fine city. Mr. Cranmer seemed intent on painting our city in a very negative light. Referring to Mob ties and corrupt police forces and racial undertones that simply do not exist here.

I was also annoyed to find that the first 10 Chapters contain hardly anything about the evil they battled inside his home and more about his political career over the years. It was more a testimonial where he continually patted himself on the back and crowed about how he single handedly saved our city from the scourge of society. In fact I likened him to Superman ripping his shirt open to reveal a capital letter S for SuperCranmer!!!

Chapter 11 is where we finally start getting a glimpse of the Evil that was faced on Brownsville Road and I actually started to get interested for the first time in reading this book. There are parts of the story that are very believable (horrible odors, animals being effected, personality changes) and some parts where it seemed Mr. Cranmers ego came out to play again (Yelling at the Demon and it slinking away like a insolent child).

The point where this book lost any credibility for me was when Ryan Buell and his band of misfits from the PRS (Paranormal Research Society) were brought in to investigate and document what was happening in the home. I won't get into specifics, but this group is under investigation as we speak.

All in all it's not a bad book and worth the read, but be forewarned the Title is very misleading. Yes, it is about a Demon in their home and yes it does tell the story about the ordeal the Cranmer family endured, BUT it's more of an afterthought then the main focus of the book. The main focus at least for the first 10 chapters is his political career and his own personal achievements, which really added nothing to the story.

The local news did a piece on Mr. Cramer's story and I was sufficiently interested to pre-order the book. It arrived three days ago and I just finished. That alone is telling because it rarely takes me three days to get through a roughly 300 page book. The first one-third of the book was a mini autobiography of Mr. Cranmer and his political career in Allegheny County/Pittsburgh. If you are from Pittsburgh you already know about him. If you aren't, it really isn't relative to the demon part of the story. The rest of the book was a bit tedious. I quickly grew tired of his self-congratulatory tone. Self confidence is nice, but enough already. And I seriously doubt that your average Catholic is going to get such attention from the Pittsburgh Diocese. Mr. Cramer certainly doesn't hesitate to drop names. The smidgen of history about the area was interesting and the parts actually about the demon were also mildly interesting. I was actually relieved when I got to the end. I see the book as mostly a way for Mr. Cranmer to make a few bucks from people like me who were intrigued after seeing the news story and a way to keep his name out there should he make another run for office.

I finished this book about a month or two ago and it was bad in so many ways, it has taken me a while to figure out how best to convey my thoughts. I explain the reasons for my 1-star rating in greater detail below, but to summarize them in one sentence, this book gets 1 star because it is NOT a book about a haunting, but a poorly written, self-congratulatory memoir of Bob Cranmer's political career, religious beliefs, and family problems. I do not recommend this book to anyone.
First, the writing in this book was horrendous. I imagine there are middle school children that could put together better structured sentences and paragraphs. There apparently was a professional author involved and presumably an editor with the publisher, but you would not know this by reading the book. There was one paragraph where two nearly identical sentences were contained in the same paragraph and separated by another sentence. I thought I read the same line over, but I didn't; they simply left in two sentences that conveyed the identical point. It seems like the author and editor allowed Mr. Cranmer to write in a stream-of-consciousness manner with little or no oversight. It was hard to believe a book with this many sentence and paragraph structure issues was allowed to be published.
Second, when the title of a book is The Demon of Brownsville Road--emphasis on the "Demon" part of the title--you would think that it would be filled with chilling accounts of encounters with the demon/entity haunting the house. This type of stuff is all over TV and movies, so it seemed obvious that this would be the focus of the book. However, as many other reviewers have mentioned, more than the first half of this book is Mr. Cranmer recounting the trials and tribulations of his upbringing and political career in Brentwood and Allegheny County. While some background is always necessary for any story, this went beyond background and took over the subject matter of the book. I'm from Allegheny County near Brentwood and absolutely no one cares about local politics. They just don't. People especially don't care about a local politician when they are expecting to be reading about a haunting.
Third, even when the book turned away from his political background and seemed like it was going to get into some accounts and incidents involving the demon and the haunting, these were lost in the endless sea of religion and family problems. The actual incidents themselves seemed like an afterthought and were given minimal discussion. It should be mentioned that I have nothing against religion or Mr. Cranmer's beliefs, but there's absolutely no need to fill pages with block quotes of prayers. That he used prayer can be conveyed in a sentence without wasting the reader's time with full transcripts of the exact words he used in the prayers. With regard to the family/domestic issues that were a heavy focus in this book, I almost got the impression that the problems in the house were more due to the family strife and less from the demon. At points in the book, Mr. Cranmer makes vague connections between the Demon and his family's problems, but they weren't convincing. Rather, it seemed like a way for him to unburden himself from responsibility for some of the problems his family had. But I digress.
Fourth, and finally: the foreshadowing. The endless foreshadowing. I have never read a book that had more foreshadowing than this one. It seemed like each time Mr. Cranmer recounted some "battle" with the demon (which consisted of him saying what prayer he spoke, or that he played Passion of the Christ), he would end it by saying something like "but this would be nothing compared to what we would face later." He did this over and over again. When you put that much foreshadowing into a book (which I do not recommend anyone do if they want their book to get good reviews), you better have an amazing, climactic battle. This book had no climax. Just like that, Mr. Cranmer banished the demon just as he knew he would all along. The way it was written, you wondered how Mr. Cranmer knew he had beaten the Demon, but you also wondered whether the whole thing was just made up. Look, I don't doubt that he went through some dramatic stuff at this house, but the way it was presented just wasn't all that convincing.
In closing, what could have been an awesome ghost story turned out to be a very poorly written and very boring memoir/autobiography about Mr. Cranmer. Do not read this book unless you want to be put to sleep.

This changes my perspective on many things from my old stomping grounds. I grew up in Carrick and drove by here all the time. I recognize names and relate to the fact that this is not a professional writer looking to make money from another novel. This is a guide to what could happen and what to do if it should happen to you.

Comprehensive account of demonic oppression. Although Bob Cranmer is a little wordy (especially at first), it does do well to flesh out a complete account of what happened in his home for several years (and what could have led up to the events). This is one of the best accountings of a demonic oppressed family and household that I have ever read.

I liked it, it may not translate into movie however, the author was most stubborn about remaining in this house until it was cleansed. Frankly, I would have moved, however the entitiy followed the occupants and also inpacted friends and and others. It has a "Conjuring" feel to it. No doubt he experieneced it and I was pretty stunned that his employer was so receptive to the struggle he and his family endured.

I really wanted to like this book. If more had been written about the haunting and less about Mr. Cramner trying to prove what a great orator, politician, father and citizen he is, it would've been better. I should've known, though -- I listened to him on numerous podcasts and he did the same thing. But he assured listeners that he didn't want to tell too many of the scary stories because it would ruin the book...not the case.

Can't get this fascinating book off my mind. I read it a second time to let everything sink in. First reading I stayed up late to find out what happened next. It is an entertaining page turner. I found it a well written and interesting read. I read mainly non-fiction and enjoy the personal background stories. Cranmer's life story is rather remarkable. This book was obviously not written to be sensational . If you want more cheap spooky thrills you've missed the significance of this book. It forces one to consider the reality of the spiritual realm and all the implications it has for your faith in God or lack thereof. It's straightforward prose and lack of hype add to the story's believability. If the story is true,and I believe it is, it can change your whole view of life. That is why this story is important. It's good the author had the courage to tell it all.

I thought the book was well written, however I think most of the things with his sons was typical teenage rebellion. Along with mental health issues, but demons are easier to pin that on when you're religious and can't accept your children have mental health issues.And alot of the stuff just sounded down right fake and not to mention the picture of the ghost looked like someone was holding a camera and smoking I replicated it many of times.

I have read some of the reviews on here and while everyone is entitled to their own opinion of the book, I have to disagree with the "too much written about his political career" comments. I found the history of his career, of Brentwood, and of his family and the house to be quite fascinating. I read this book in two days and that is a rare thing for me to do.

This is Randy's wife. I read this on my Kindle. I'm interested in this subject and I keep an open mind. I think there was an interesting story in here, somewhere, but it got bogged down in unnecessary detail and way too much backstory. Yes, there is a lot of foreshadowing, but that's because it takes forever for the story to get to the actual subject matter of the book. I was frustrated that Mr Cranmer was still rambling on about his political victories and struggles at 1/4th of the way through the book. Like every other politician, he spends a lot of time tooting his own horn. Which is fine but he was not a politician on the national stage, but was a city councilman in Pennsylvania. Now, if you can make it past the boredom of all the backstory details, the story of the demonic infestation is interesting and insightful and should satisfy readers interested in the genre. I don't doubt that this family went through something horrific. My advice is to wait and buy this book at a reduced price.

I haven't finished with it yet, but I agree with some of the other reviews. There was a lot of unnecessary details about the Author Bob Cranmer's Political career and it didn't contribute to the storyline, it actually started to bore me. But then the facts about what happened at 3406 Brownsville Rd piqued my interest again and I started to enjoy the book, can;t wait to finish it.

I threw the book away.The story might have been an interesting one-if true or not-but the style it's written is soooo boring and awful.Apparently,there's a family with a demon in their house and the author writes everything down without mentioning his feelings.No fear,no anger,no sorrows...Like:"Man,take it easy,it's only a demon,nothing special.Rather amusing,ok?"
Not one scene described with intensity or full of emotions...this is like a report of the weather forecast!

I just have to say that the first four chapters are nothing but the author stroking his own ego. Indeed, chapter five begins with "Even with all of my ambitions and accomplishments, the most important thing to me was always my family." I had hoped chapter 5 would start out with a new tone - I don't know - maybe something to do with a haunting. Owell...

I was a little disappointed in this book..so much unnecessary information about his "political" background with the city, I wanted to scream and throw the book across the room every time it was mentioned. (I settled on just basically skipping chapters 3 & 4 in the end). Was also surprised that with his in-depth military career he would take so much crud from his kids and not throw them out the door. I know...it was the "demon" making the kids act that way (rolling eyes). Save your money get this from the library or from a friend.

Clear, well-written account of what happened to this unfortunate man and his family. Mr. Cranmer has no reason to seek fame or money and in fact runs the risk of hurting his credibility by telling his story. Nonetheless the message is powerful: demons and the devil are real. And so is God. So given the choice, why would you choose anything other than God?

I should not have spent my time reading this book. It covers too much about Mr. Cranmer's political career. The style of writing is unprofessional. No one likes a good ghost story better than me but this one was not really believable.

Sometimes I saw a similarity to "The Amityville Horror" which made it less believable. I was a little surprised by the language used by this supposed Christian. It was a constant switching back and forth between spiritual attitudes and the dialogue the characters used. I found this objectionable. I understand that the family was subjected to all sorts of terrible torment, but I'm not convinced they handled it well.

It is a good suspenseful story as far as the occult aspects go. When it comes to the political narrative it was annoying to read.
I was an Allegheny County employee when Mr. Kranmer was in office. His description of fighting political corruption and reforming county government is not totally true. This book would benefit if the first quarter Listing his political accomplishments and fights were omitted.

This book went into to much detail on the background of everybody's life . It didn't explain how the haunting really started it just starts popping up in parts of the story. I rather read the story of how it started and how it got worse for them . If my kids were trying to kill themselves and my wife was having breakdowns I would take my family out of there and live in my car if I had to. No house is worth a family falling apart and hurting each other. That I don't understand. I read a lot of True Haunting books and this is one of my least favorite. It just drags on and on and it's confusing at times. This would not be a good movie. I wasn't scared at all. You want to be scared read this A Deadly Haunting. A True Story Told By Deborah Moffitt. .

Sorry that I wasted my time on this book. I kept with it for too long, hoping it would get better. Much drudgery and repetition. If this is a true story (doubtful) and this guy stuck with that house for so long, well........I won't slander anyone, but the story is totally unbelievable.

I haven't finished the book yet but it is so well written that I don't want to put it down. Like it just flows and you can't to see what he has to say next and what is around the next corner. I seldom write reviews, but this is a great book and if you are interested in this type of reading you will love it. Just getting to know his family is interesting.

This is an account of events that culminated in an exorcism over 2004-2005. The author, Bob Cranmer, is a former commander in the 101st Airborne, and County Commissioner in Pennsylvania.The events are verified by dozens of witnesses.

Cranmer's first inkling that something might be amiss was when his low-ball offer to buy the old house was accepted without any negotiation. For the first five years, the abnormal events remained minor in nature, such as lights turning on or off, unexplained footsteps, and objects that moved when no one was looking. But then things worsened and the family members began experiencing sudden and severe changes in personality. The formerly happy family was now being slowly stretched and twisted apart as they grew to hate one another, and in the cold September of 2003, one incident with his 19-year-old son landed Cranmer in jail. They were faced with the decision to either stay or move out, but unlike the previous owners, chose not to pass the problem to another family. Cranmer was Baptist, but because of the magnitude of the problem, decided to contact the Catholic Church with its long tradition of performing exorcisms. As the exorcism went on over several years, Cranmer learned about the history of the place where his house was built, what was buried in his yard, and what happened on the second floor in the 1920's.

The book has two shortcomings: the first is that it lacks suspense considering the intensity and duration of the underlying events. The second is that the author's political backstory occupies too much of the book. If it were possible, a simple re-edit by the author would really help the book reach its potential. Otherwise, everything else is positive: the account isn't sensationalized; the author even apologizes that there's no dramatic climax at the end. Witnesses are clearly identified by name, eg, Fr. James LeBar, Adam Blai, among many others.

Poorly written, poorly edited, politically motivated. How many times do we have to hear how great Bob is? Apparently Brentwood is the epicenter of all evil & Brentwood, no...the world, should all be grateful to Bob Cranmer for saving us.

There has been an influx of these true paranormal books over the last few years, sadly many while perhaps having an interesting story, are so badly written that it just detracts and ruins the reading experience. Thankfully that is not the case here, we have a well written, easy to read book, which is also documented by the likes of Ryan Buell, and his paranormal group, as well as members of clergy. There are no typos, no silly errors, just a very interesting story which is a joy to read, as it were.

Do not waste your money!!! I was so confused reading the 3rd and 4th chapters. The first half of the book was about how great Mr. Bob was through his entire political career. I have no idea why this back story was even relevant to this book. I thought I downloaded a story about a family who were being haunted in their home. Instead I read Bob referring himself as "GREAT" more then once, and the trials and tribulations of his mob filled city and dirty cops. Bob really liked to talk about himself especially in regards to how much better he was to other people. The further I read the more annoyed I got!! I thought who is this person?? Does he know that he's suppose to be writing about his home that was haunted?? I looked him up on Wikipedia because I was curious on how the public viewed him. Let's just say he left out a few things out. which I'm surprised!! The guy talked about everything in the book except his haunted house!!! I take that back he did write about his house and put a lot of blame on the evil spirits for his wife's nervous breakdown and his sons attempted suicide. which people could argue that this guy is just in complete denial with his family's emotional needs. Please save your money! Do not make the same mistake I made. You will be very disappointed.

This was a truly frightening book, and the whole time I read it, I kept saying to to the author, "Get your family out of there now and fast." But, unfortunately, Mr. Cranmer never did with the exception of his grandchild and daughter. He risked the safety and health of his family for a house. Although the story was a very good read for a former resident of Pittsburgh, I am still shaking my head because the author let his family be subjected for years to the wrath of demons, which caused them to have health issues and mental health issues.

I thought this book was about an evil haunted house but instead was more about Bob's political career and troubled family. Only bits and pieces about actual 'events' that took place that are hardly frightening. Blaming 'possession' on his teenage son's troubles seemed unrealistic (anyone have a teenager??). This book hardly goes into any detail about the house actually being haunted by a demon, but instead wastes too much time on the background of Bob and people he sought help/advice from to help control his family. You will also notice the book has the word "I" in it about half a million times. It isn't about the family's battle with evil, it's all about Bob.

The author spent way too much time talking about himself, his political connections, important friends and all the things he's done in his life. I was well into the book before he got to the meat of the story. Even then, at the end of each chapter was the promise of the real horror, but it never came. He spent a large amount of time explaining that he was not afraid, just greatly annoyed. He was so busy advising the priests on what to do next. This book was a total waste of time.

After hearing the author on a podcast I ran out and bought this book (audible edition). Boy that's 13$ I wish I had back. Most the book is a autobiography about the author talking about his life. According to him he single handily turned Pittsburgh around and was the greatest politician of all time.

The ghost story parts are disappointing also. You can plainly tell that he so wanted his family to be perfect but blames his wife having a breakdown, getting behind on bills, his kids normal teenage problems that lots of families have on a demon making them so bad things. Take part his wife ha breakdown, goes in a hospital and when she gets out she is better. In his mind he thinks it is because she isn't sleeping in a haunted room when in fact it's because she is on meds now.

The book starts good, then makes you shake your head at the author bragging about himself, then turns into a comedy as you can see him blaming problems on a imaginary demon. Save your money and pass on this. Very weak. One of the worst true story ghost stories I have ever come across.

Good interesting book. I
Like the fact that it’s true and verifiable. I found the first half a little boring but it picked up nicely. God bless anyone who reads this. I saved some essential prayers. Thanks. God Bless those who lived through this.

This book starts out really slow, and can be a little preachy at times, but this family's story is nothing short of incredible. Some other reviewers are saying this guy's kind of a narcissist, and that may be the case, but I contend that the end result is worth all the slow 'personal-backstory' bits. The end twist literally left me speechless (not with fear, but with awe; you'll see).
Also, realize that this book is from a decidedly Catholic perspective, told by a man with a background in Republican politics. The whole thing has a very strong pro-life message as well. That might not appeal to some; do with that information what you will. It may be noteworthy that the book also reads like an autobiography of the Cranmer family, especially Bob's political pursuits. I thoroughly enjoyed the book overall.

I live near where this book takes place so naturally I had to buy it and read the story of what went on. I'm sooo glad I did because I couldn't put this book down and finished it in just 2 days!! However, I feel like you have to be into paranormal things in order to enjoy this book and open to believing this persons experiences - which is difficult for most people.

There is a simple reason why I gave this book five stars- it is believable. Many of us, including myself, have gotten the wrong impression about the preternatural and diabolic from Hollywood or from these horrible ghost hunting shows where things only work if they are arbitrary.

What makes this believable is that it is almost under sensationalized. You have a former U.S. officer, long serving politician, and first class business consultant who could have embellished the story to reflect any number of B movies with all of the screaming, morbid views and gore but what we have is a genuine family dealing with sadistic evil that only wishes to see man fall into despair.

Before many choose to unwisely involve themselves in the paranormal I suggest they read this book and fully understand the toll
that can befall those that have only curiosity to guide their actions.

I was captivated by Mr. Cranmer's story when I saw him interviewed on Pittsburgh's Action News station online.
I was having some health issues that made reading a book very difficult, so instead I purchased the audio book.
I was not disappointed with the story. I was only disappointed that Mr. Cranmer was not narrating it. Don't get me wrong, the narrator is very good, but in my opinion Mr. Cranmer has a certain charisma about him that carries through in his voice. I have watched several of his TV interviews and listened to numerous podcasts and radio interviews and have found him to be extremely witty with a great sense of humor.
I think if he would narrate an audio book, it might make parts of the book more palatable for those who don't have the patience to get through the beginning of the book where he introduces himself, his background, credentials and accomplishments - All of which I think are a necessary foundation for his story of the house on Brownsville Road.
I am surprised by some of the harsh negative critiques I have read about Mr. Cranmer and his book. Of course everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I can't help but think that many of those negative comments were written by people who disliked him before he even wrote the book. Being involved in politics, as Mr. Cranmer was (and I believe still is), one is certain to make some enemies. If he was pleasing everyone, I'd question his ethics AND his sanity.
Anyway, I definitely recommend this book to people who don't have a beef against this man and his family, and especially to those who have had experiences they can describe as paranormal. Yes, it's healthy to be skeptical. But I also believe it's important to be open to listening to other people's experiences no matter how different they are from your own. And remember, a true scientist is skeptical of his own skepticism.

Mr. Cranmer, if you read this review, I am very sorry for your loss.

The story this book is based on never happened and has been debunked numerous times. This is simply the effort of a waning politician to cling to some form of notoriety. The book is poorly written, full of inaccuracies and embellishments about the author (Brentwood hasn't been a tough area since about 1928, for example) and has no real plot. Its like someone is sitting around a camp fire telling a particularly dull and not well told ghost story while also telling his audience how great he is at everything between shots of Jack.

Pass.

This thoughtful, well written, and richly detailed piece of writing will be appreciated by anyone who has experienced the paranormal. I appreciated this author's insights and honesty. Anyone whose had paranormal phenomenon intrude upon daily life knows just how difficult it can be to make sense of the events. Its important for folks like Bob Cranmer to take the time to share experiences like these that can shake one to the core, challenge the stability of an entire family, and leave marks that last a lifetime. Stick with the story and you will not be disappointed.

I couldn't put this book down! I had to keep reading until the end. I grew up near Brentwood PA and went down Brownsville many times to visit my Aunt. I also remember looking at these grand houses wondering who lived there. This book has the right amount of suspense and keeps your attention from beginning to end. It's a must read if you are intrigued by the paranormal. Get this book. You won't regret it, but it may make you sleep with the lights on for a while.

I couldn't put this book down! I had to keep reading until the end. I grew up near Brentwood PA and went down Brownsville many times to visit my Aunt. I also remember looking at these grand houses wondering who lived there. This book has the right amount of suspense and keeps your attention from beginning to end. It's a must read if you are intrigued by the paranormal. Get this book. You won't regret it, but it may make you sleep with the lights on for a while.

I wish I could give this book zero stars. I don't actually know why I bothered reading all of it...I guess I was hoping it would get better at some point. I was wrong. I do not recommend this book to anyone. If you are reading this book to have the hair on the back of your neck raise or get the heebie geebies, you will be disappointed. This was a poorly executed "fact" based style book.

I am a Pittsburgh native and I actually live close to the house on Brownsville Rd. I pass the house everyday and never knew anything ever occurred there. When the book was announced on the news I was very intrigued and really wanted to read what had happened there. Well, I got to read what happened there but I was very disappointed in the actual content of the book. In my opinion there was too much content on the "history" of Bob Cranmers' life; his military background and his political career. There was too much unnecessary content about the history of Brentwood as well.

When you are reading a book about a Demon possessing a house, you expect certain things. I wanted to read more about the house. I wanted better details and descriptions of the encounters the family had. I wanted to be drawn into the book and none of that happened. It was so disappointing!

This book was especially interesting to me because I was married at St. Paul's Monastery in 1985 by Fr. Edwin Moran. He is absolutely the person I would go to in this situation. This book proves that God is very real and unfortunately, so is the devil. I don't know if I would have lasted through all of these events.

I thought this book was about an evil haunted house but instead was more about Bob's political career and troubled family. Only bits and pieces about actual 'events' that took place that are hardly frightening. Blaming 'possession' on his teenage son's troubles seemed unrealistic (anyone have a teenager??). This book hardly goes into any detail about the house actually being haunted by a demon, but instead wastes too much time on the background of Bob and people he sought help/advice from to help control his family. You will also notice the book has the word "I" in it about half a million times. It isn't about the family's battle with evil, it's all about Bob.

Being a big fan of books on real life hauntings & demonic possession, I found it extremely hard to get through this one. I'd say 90% of this book is the author talking about how great he is, and all of his accomplishments. The 10% that is devoted to the actual "haunting" isn't terrible, although very scattered throughout the same pages of him talking about himself. The timeline jumps all over the place, and every time you think the author is finally getting into the nitty gritty of the haunting, he somehow again finds a way to get side tracked and talk about himself. If you're going to name a book "the demon of Brownsville road", it should not mainly read like a memoir about the person involved. Yes, some back story may help, but not like this. Very disappointed with this one. I have still never found one as great as "The Haunted" by the Warrens.

This book is too long and bloated with too many details about the author's life. I was interested in the story because it has been featured on local tv stations in Pittsburgh Pa. I recommend googling and watching those videos instead. This would have been a much better story if there was some editing -- ok a lot of editing. Listened to as an audio download from the library.

The story was fascinating. The history and possible causes to the demonic infestation was extremely thought provoking and really stayed in my thoughts for days (now well after a week) afterward. I can't believe the hardship that this family endured as a result of living in this home. I can't say that I would have stayed but the story explains all in detail. Excellent read!

Loved the book! I grew up in the neighborhood where the house is. It was interesting to read about familiar old stomping grounds. Went to one of Bob's talks about the house. Found him to be very believable and credible. I hope he never has to deal with that evil again.

After waiting for this book for nearly six months, I am sorry to reveal that the book was a disappointment. As a Brentwood resident and a historian, I found the book lacking in many areas.

This book would and hopefully will make an excellent movie!

The writing is quite amateur and unfortunately, the editor(s) failed to address the many grammatical, style and structural errors contained within each chapter. I first noticed this issue on the acknowledgments page:

"I dedicate this book primarily to my wife and children who endured this Hell and stood with me through it all. The leadership of Cardinal Donald Wuerl and Father Ron Lengwin of the Catholic Diocese, combined with the determination of Father Michael Salvagna and Father Ed Moran of the Passionist Monastery in Pittsburgh."

The second sentence caught my eye and I re-read it several times, hoping I was reading it incorrectly. The use of grandiose adjectives, applied liberally in far too many cases, distracted me from the story and quite frankly did little more than irritate me as a reader. The constant foreshadowing was unnecessary and elementary. We already know there was a demon - it's in the title and on the cover. Therefore, the constant reminders that something bad was going to happen were unnecessary. Also, the fact that the background information dragged on unnecessarily for chapters made the foreshadowing really annoying. In general, the average reader can forgive structural transgressions. Although there are more issues on which I could expound, I would not steer anyone away from a book simply based on my observations noted above. That being said, there is a reason I recommend not buying or reading this book. (How's that for foreshadowing?)

More important than the quality of the actual writing is that this book feels less like a ghost story and more like a political commentary wrapped in a cloak of self-defense and preservation. While it may be the case that this home was haunted, the situations and events described in this book could also be blamed on the pressures a family experiences when a member of that family becomes involved in politics. Wife has a nervous breakdown... sons are tired of fitting a mold and so they rebel in outlandish ways with one attempting suicide, perhaps as a plea for attention... Teenagers and wives do these things all over the country, look it up.

This book was a serious let-down for me and it is fairly insulting to the community. I hope that my review is helpful.

This is an intriguing account of of one family's struggle with a demonic infestation in their home, and is all the more interesting because it come from a fairly prominent local figure. Some reviewers seem to have criticized the "excessive background and personal information" that sets the context for the story. I would say that is one of its strengths. It seems far too often that readers expect true ghost stories to read like a novel when they are meant to be historical in nature. Context matters, whether you believe in the supernatural or not. Overall the book was very readable and held my attention throughout. I would recommend it to anyone interested in the supernatural, especially if you are from western PA.

I grew up not 5 miles away from the house and it is an interesting story about the paranormal as well as local history. I enjoyed it very much overall, but the parts about his personal/ political stories were somewhat boring.

This author definitely had God on his side when dealing with this malevolent force. What I love is this book isn't just about all the the "scary stuff" this demon inflicted on him & his family but it focuses on what a true faith in God can do if we believe the Bible and the promises in it. What a testimony to his faith in God and perseverance. It's amazing.

This book reads more like advertisement to be a Christian or else. The demon is in the house because of the abortions perform there and because of the Indians who were just trying to defend their land. The wife does not pay the bills and has a secret credit card, it's the demons fault. The husband and wife making love is a good defense against the demon. Of course we cannot overlook the playing of The Passion of Christ on loop.

It was a waste of my time.

I thoroughly enjoyed this well-documented and entirely believable account of a demonic haunting. The author is very credible, and I found the writing to be grounded and not overly sensational. This is a very difficult subject, and I commend this author for having the courage to publicly come forward with this account. People need to realize that these types of hauntings occur, and that people suffer because of them. I think this book will serve as a support for the people who will go through or have gone through similar hauntings.

After waiting months for this book I can't believe how disappointed I am. It's not well written and the author has a very high opinion of himself. I'm from Pittsburgh and he makes it sound as though he was the savior to the area. I didn't care for his autobiographic section. (which is most of the book)....I wanted to hear about the house. By page 42 I was contemplating skipping parts to get to the demon part. After I finished the book I handed it off to a friend who wanted to read it so she didn't have to buy it. She too is struggling to read it.

I really tried to like this book. Really. However, the author's self-aggrandizement removed any sympathy for the author. I did begin to feel sympathy for the family as they had to live with him. If you live in the Pittsburgh area, this provides a glimpse into the politics of the region. Although, as a previous reviewer stated, it sounds like Bob Cranmer single handedly saved the Pittsburgh area after he leaped over tall buildings in a single bound!

Received this book from a friend, who wanted my opinion. After reading the book, I think it is an attempt to explain what might be considered by some to be "questionable" behaviors and events in the author's life. The haunting is sporadically referenced throughout the book, carefully intertwined with the most dramatic events of Cranmer family life.

I would not recommend this as a strong book about paranormal activity. I also cannot recommend this book as a historical reference of any sort. It is best read as a regional community piece about one individual's triumphs and tribulations.

The cover would suggest this is an all out ghost story. It is not. It's a memoir with some paranormal activity included. A better title might be, "I am Bob Cranmer. This is My Life. And My House Might be Haunted."

This is a decent book once he actually gets to the haunting. The first hundred or so pages are about his political career and how awesome he thinks he is, which has nothing at all to do with the topic. His arrogance is distracting, and so annoying that I almost stopped reading the book altogether. Not only that but he rudely discounts the work of some people who it sounds like helped him out a lot with what was going on in his house - He mentions everything certain people did but then says "They really weren't very helpful." It did get more interesting though, and was a pretty fun read in the end.

I found the story to be very compelling. I was amazed by the extent to which the author battled the evil force that occupyed the Cranmer family home. The story very clearly illustrates the struggle. I found the book easy to read and very well written. Not just your average "scare me" story, but a real life account of a real struggle with a real evil force. Highly recommended.

Being from pittsburgh and knowing the family I was curious to read this book. Unfortunately the book was poorly written. It is repetitive and has more information about Bob and his career than the "activity". Furthermore, I think this book was a petty excuse to use the paranormal as a cop out for bad parenting. To blame the "entity" for his children's moods and bad behavior is ridiculous. It sounds like Bob needs to find a new spotlight since politics no longer suits him. You can't blame demons for bad genes.

I read this because I'm from Pittsburgh. But be careful as this book should be read with a knowledge of GODS WORD, NOT MAN'S interpretations. Or as Jesus says fables if men.
I had very uneasy feeling because they dabble in the occult, and use a medium. She says she's not, but something is talking to her, and leading her into reincarnation, and other unbiblical practices. PRAYING to the dead is forbidden, yet they pray to Mary and saints...all dead. We are all saints of GOD. We are also called priests and kings, But JESUS is always to be preeminent.
He alone is the Great High Priest. it's a very contradictory BOOK.
I don't pray to Michael, Israel's Angel, because I'm not permitted to.
They use the very things JESUS condemns. She and the priest, and their family are very deceived into believing she TALKS to God and the spirits. And this leads the whole family into false teachings.
BYW, There are no Ghosts. God doesn't leave spirits here.
THERE IS NO PURGATORY, NO limbo for unbaptized babies. THEY,
as I said are mixing GOD WITH things God hates.
And the premise these are fallen Angels is again, because the medium says they ARE.
REMEMBER, Satan is a deceiver. By using any form of divination she opens herself to the ruin of great soul. And leading others into deception.

I really loved this story, but I am super skeptical about how much truth there is to it. I had spent a lot of time in Pittsburgh so I knew a lot of the places he was talking about, but there are a lot of really strange things about the story that just can't be realistic, like the fact that they fought this fight for so long....