Steven A. LaChance

Possible Triggers: Supposedly true horror; Animal Killings
It began in May 2001. From the book:"Having been cramped in a small apartment with his children for a while, LaChance was eager to stretch out. His lease was up anyway and fearing homelessness he looked at every classified ad for a possible lead. So, when an opportunity arose to look at a real house for rent in Union, Missouri he jumped at the chance. Not only was it big, but it also had a yard and quiet neighborhood. Or so he thought. Moving day came on a Friday and nothing of note happened inside the house, however, a local pulled up to the curb and said something odd: “Hope you get along okay here.” LaChance consults paranormal investigators, psychics, and priests, but the demonic attacks, screams, growls, putrid odors, invisible shoves, bites, and other physical violations only grow worse. The entities clearly demonstrate their wrath and power: killing family pets, sexually assaulting individuals, even causing two people to be institutionalized." Shortly after moving in he began to watch how his neighbors reacted to the house. He noticed that people would NEVER walk in front of the house...instead they went out of their way to cross the street...even in bad weather where walking in from of the house side would have offered a shorter route. The author and his three children soon found out that they weren't dealing with "Casper the Friendly Ghost".... this, entity was evil incarnated...what his son had labeled the "Basement Monster" ...a thing possibly from the bowels of Hell whose only form seemed to be oily black fog and mist. They had watched in horror as it would drift through the house as if searching for them. They had heard as it screamed either in pain or rage or a hellish combination of both; plenty of time as had other people in the neighborhood including all the dogs in a four-block radius. The author and his children finally saw its face for the first and last time, as they fled the house leaving most of their belongings behind, mere weeks after moving in. Is it true or is it a work of fiction? I don't know and I'm certainly not willing to put it a test. It doesn't really matter rather you read this as fiction or as the truth in which it's told, but please treat the authors feelings with delicacy. This is the story of people who glimpsed Hell and lived to talk about it. I have wondered why they didn't burn the thing and salt the Earth it stood on. I believe there is a sequel to this book.… (plus d'informations)

Summary:
This book follows the experiences of the author with what would become known as the Union Screaming House of Missouri. He recounts the events which led him to the house, the odd events that occurred during his time at the house, and later the similar experiences of the next family that rented the house. In the case of the next tenant the haunting proved to be much worse and almost ended in tragedy.
Throughout the ordeal the author slowly discovers that by rediscovering his spirituality, which he had given up on due to some tragic life events, he is able to resist the entity that plagues the house and better understand why and how the families that live in the house are affected by the entity. The book also covers some of the history that surrounds the house and the town where it is located.
My Thoughts:
If your looking for a quick paced haunted house book this it. The chapters are short and the writing doesn’t really waste time with communicating the authors experiences. A lot of what happens takes place after the author’s marriage imploded in what can only be described as something out of psychological horror film itself. So it’s not too much of a surprise that author had a few years of “glass half full” mentality. That’s really my only problem with the book though, the first half of the story deals with, more or less, how beaten down the author was with bad life experiences. I get that he is setting the tone for why he thinks that he may have been drawn to the house to begin with and later on in the story how rediscovered his faith but, it gets a little repetitive. It’s a problem I have with these types of books sometimes as I always want a little more history about the area or site of the haunting. Other than that though this is a good read and worth picking up if your interested in haunting stories.… (plus d'informations)

Confrontation With Evil by Steven LaChance

Millions of readers of a certain age harbor vivid memories of The Exorcist, a groundbreaking movie that cast permanent shadows in millions of minds (1973) . The film placed the blame for the horrific possession on the actions of an imprudent teenage girl who invited a demon into her life by daring to use an Ouija board.

Confrontation with Evil documents LaChance's quest for the truth, for what really happened and why. Instead of taking an academic approach, the author chooses to write in a personal style. Readers will feel that he is near, addressing them in intimate conversation. Using the diary of one
of the priests involved with the exorcism, LaChance walks readers, step-by-step, through the actual events, explaining the typical phases of possession along the way.

Unlike the movie, the author does not place the blame for the possession on the victim, a young, unnamed boy. Instead, he looks deeper, focusing on the people around the boy, thus uncovering disturbing, heartbreaking
alternate possibilities. The text strips away the Hollywood hype that includes spinning heads and such. Even so, the events of the real story are far more horrendous because they really happened.

The author does not stop with the events of the possession. Decades after the actual events, shadows still haunt the places where the exorcisms took place. LaChance guides readers through visits to each haunted location, some which have been preserved and held in secret for many years.

In order to supply readers with the basic information needed to understand this historic event, LaChance discusses and explains the significance of occult elements that include the power of numerical and geometric components. He also defines the tenets of classic demonology and includes elucidating quotes from adepts such as Eliphas Levi and Aleister Crowley.

LaChance does not profess one absolute answer, but instead offers various views and allows the reader come to come to their own conclusions.

Readers still haunted by The Exorcist should give this book a read.

Rougeski Reads… (plus d'informations)

This wasn't what I was expecting. The author is giving his own interpretation of what happened from evidence found in diaries and through research. For the most part, it was an interesting to read, but I started to lose interest later on in the book.

I didn't find the author's voice engaging and even though I was interested in reading about the real story his voice didn't inspire me or make me want to keep reading. I'm not sure that he managed to convincingly suggest an alternative interpretation because much of what he writes is just pure speculation and it was rather drawn out and repetitive.

I started to lose interest in the last third of the book. I felt that a lot of what was being said was repetitive, preachy, drawn out, and bordering on unbelievable fiction in order to fill pages and make the book longer.

All in all, there was some interesting facts and interpretations in the book but the author's voice came across as a little too judgemental, flat, and repetitive at times and he just didn't hold my interest.… (plus d'informations)