Bob Cranmer

Cranmer's book recounts the (supposedly) true story of what happened to him and his family at their home in Pennsylvania. If you're a fan of historical evidence of, well, anything, be aware that almost nothing Cranmer presents as historical fact in this book can be supported. It's a literary and supernatural "trust me, bro."

Cranmer is a really unlikable narrator, but he likes himself enough to make up for any number of people disliking him. He spends a lot of time telling us about himself and his accomplishments, and none of this has anything to do with the book's ostensible subject.

This book lacks suspense or, really, any narrative structure at all. Cranmer spends way too much time padding out the beginning of the book with his own life story. When the haunting actually starts, there's none of the suspense or building creepiness horror fans will expect. Instead, he recounts Event A, followed by Event B, followed by Event C. It's just an endless catalogue of happenings, none related to the reader with any more excitement or importance than the other. There's no point where you can't put the book down because you're so excited to see what's going to happen next. For a demonic infestation, it's awfully dull.

Cranmer comes off as such an unlikable and narcissistic person that I struggled to focus on the haunting at all. Instead, I kept finding myself psychoanalyzing how the vast unhappiness of his family, the obvious strain on the marriage, and the mental health issues experienced by several family members were driving what was going on. Cranmer thinks that he can do no wrong but is more than happy to point out the failings of his family members. I'm not in the least surprised that the house was a very unhappy and disturbed place, but I find it hard to believe that there was anything supernatural going on.

There's some unintentional humor, like Cranmer's penchant for playing the movie The Passion of the Christ 24/7 to drive the demons away. The book is very preachy in terms of religious content, and I do think it's interesting-- psychologically-- that Cranmer and his coterie of religious advisors found a way to blame fallen women for the supposed demonic infestation.

If you're a fan of spooky stories, this isn't a great example of the genre. It's dull, and Cranmer's pompous personality gets in the way of any real enjoyment of the book.… (meer)

I read "The Demon of..." *falls asleep.............snore............* Oh sorry there! I was bored of my own review of this extremely boring book that I actually finished reading because I hoped, I HOPED, that it would get better.

The reason I take issue with this book is not because it's written very poorly, or that the first half of the book is all about how amazing Bob Cranmer is (he starts to come off as pretty narcissistic), but because Bob Cranmer is not a nice man to his family.

Yep - this book is boring. The first half of the book is all about Bob. Bob's "historic" political career. How Bob's background in military intelligence (which to most military is an oxymoron) helped him research things...on Google. Bob loves Bob.

Bob may also love his family - he tells us many times how he would fight to the end for them - but he talks about his daughter and his wife with a sense of disappointment. There are no spoilers for this book because if you've read or seen any "true life" ghost book or tv show you know the outcome already. In the epilogue Bob talks about how his family fares. Only the young men in his family have come out on top. His daughter - well she didn't live up to his expectations. His wife - she lost the 80 pounds she gained during their years of torment.

What? Why do we need to know these things? They are totally not relevant to the story.

Heck, the book is not relevant to the story.

This might have been a better book if Mr. Cranmer and his co-author (who's not listed above...) had written the book as a based on true life experience. They could have added some punch and interest. But instead this book reads like a really bad blog About Me post. With a bit of religious stuff and some paranormal activity thrown in.

It's not scary. It's not at all suspenseful. It's sad more than anything. But not sad enough to elicit tears. It's just an all around not worth the price book. Wish I hadn't bought it - guess I was just in the Halloween mood.

Skip this book.… (meer)