Saturday night, April 27, Ed commented to the Beckfords how much he liked his car and how economical it was to run. The next morning, Ed unlocked the car door and found the directional signal had been snapped off the steering column and tossed on the seat. When the car wouldn’t start, he released the hood-latch from inside, then checked the engine. Under the hood, the car’s sparkplug wires had been tied up in knots, and the carburetor’s vacuum hoses had been pulled loose and left dangling.
Sunday, at last, Father Daniel telephoned the besieged Beckford house with some very good news. Father McKeegan, with whom Father Daniel had been in constant contact, approved the need for exorcism to be performed on the premises. He would assign an exorcist who required three full days of prayer and fasting before the ritual could be performed. The exorcist assigned to the case would begin his Black Fast on Monday morning. The date of the exorcism, therefore, was set for three days later—Thursday, May 2.
With the final confrontation now imminent, the negative activity inside the house intensified in a strange new way. Movements now seemed to happen faster, like a movie being shown at twice its normal speed. That Sunday night, as a show of strength—or to indicate the arrival of new entities—two large metal radiator covers suddenly vanished into thin air. A few seconds later, a loud metallic crash was heard in the basement. Rushing to the cellar door, Eric found the radiator covers lying on the basement stairs.
Later on that night, there was an incredible commotion in Vicky’s bedroom, but no evidence of activity could be seen. When Lorraine turned to leave the room, however, she tripped over a sixteen-foot aluminum extension ladder that had been leaning against the garage outside only hours before.
On Monday, April 29, while Lorraine was in Eric’s bedroom, where the Warrens slept, she heard a metal object drop to the floor. It was a hinge pin. When she looked at the door, she saw the other hinge pin sliding up from its socket. It too fell to the floor, and a second later, the door vanished! Next, the hinge pins on the closet door rose out of their hinges and that door vanished as well. A few minutes later, both doors were found thrown atop one another in the basement. It was a show of force that did not intimidate Lorraine, however.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, with the exorcism soon to be performed, sleep at night was impossible. The ongoing activity was too dangerous for anyone to turn his back on. By May 1, the day before the exorcism, everyone was reduced to sleeping in shifts and taking turns patroling the house to watch out for fires and other potential dangers.
About 10:30 Wednesday night, Lorraine was in the hall when the doorway to the living room began to brighten. A few moments later, the whole doorway was engulfed in a bright light so intense she could not look at it directly. Was this a positive sign? she wondered. The demonic does not arrive in brilliant rays of glory.
Pete Beckford and Ed were in the living room at the same time, and they too saw the light. But in the middle of the light they also saw a figure slowly begin to emerge.
Lorraine entered the living room through a different door and with the men she watched the materialization become ever more distinct. Within a minute, the form of an older woman was visible, though complete only from the waist up. What did this mean? Was this entity claiming to be responsible for all the calamity that had occurred?
“Speak to us,” Ed called out. But the eerie specter simply looked them over individually without replying. It appeared to be a ghost but Lorraine, who had been concentrating on the semi-materialized figure in the doorway, now realized the whole scene was a deception.
Ghosts are often called “angels of the devil,” and at least half the time what comes across as a ghost is really an inhuman spirit projecting itself in human guise. “Ed,” Lorraine told him, “back away. It’s not human!”
At that instant, two velvet fireside chairs fell over on their side. They tumbled toward Ed, rose into the air, legs pointing toward him, and effectively pinned him against the wall. The figure in the doorway watched with a sardonic grin, then disappeared. Ed made a sign of the cross over the chairs, which dropped immediately to the floor. A moment later, a bottle of nail polish levitated and flew across the room, barely missing Ed’s forehead.
With only twelve hours to go before the exorcism, Ed, Lorraine, and the Beckfords were not about to close their eyes. Though fatigued and weary, they kept an all-night vigil. Lights were left on and pot after pot of coffee was brewed.
Two, three, four o’clock in the morning went by with no major incident. By five, night finally began to yield to day. Outside, birds started chirping as the sun rose slowly through the newly budding trees.
The morning of the day had come. In their own gesture of preparation, the Beckford family along with the Warrens drove to a nearby church and attended an eight A.M. Mass. They then returned to the house at nine and waited for the exorcist’s arrival.
At 9:30 he arrived. Though balding and middle-aged, Father Roark was powerfully built and looked more like a stevedore than a man of the Church. An intense, unsmiling priest dressed in a black, short-sleeved shirt and white clerical collar, his attitude was all business. Yet he, along with many other priests, had prayed long and hard for the effectiveness of the exorcism he was about to perform.
Father Roark and Ed Warren had worked together once before, and each man had confidence in the other. Now they walked into the kitchen to confer. Did Ed think the spirits involved in the case were more than demonic?
Ed felt fairly certain that along with lesser inhuman spirits, an Incubus entity was present, having been attracted by the girl. But because of the unusual power of the assault and its proximity to the retreat house next door, he believed that a higher diabolical intelligence—a devil—was actually directing the attack.
Looking down at Ed’s bandaged arm, the priest asked “Did that happen here?”
“Yes,” Ed was obliged to say.
Ed and Father Roark returned to the living room where Lorraine and the Beckfords sat waiting. From his black bag, Father Roark removed a purple stole, kissed it, and then placed the garb over his neck. Before beginning the ritual, the exorcist individually blessed all those present in the house so that no harm would befall them during the reading of the exorcism.
Since his arrival, the priest had spoken very little to anyone other than Ed. When he came to the daughter of the house, however, he sternly asked, “Are you Vicky?”
“Yes, Father,” the girl replied.
“Father Daniel Mills told me what you’ve done here,” he said flatly. Suddenly frightened by the priest’s intimidating tone, Vicky Beckford tried to fight back tears of guilt and shame.
Unyielding, the priest asked, “Vicky, did you will this terrible thing to happen to your family?”
“No, I didn’t!” Vicky shot back in anger. Then she lowered her voice. “No, Father. I did not will this to happen. It was an accident.”
“The Church considers what you have done to be a sin. Do you know that? Have you asked the Lord for forgiveness?”
“Yes, Father,”
“Good,” he said, blessing the girl. “It’s necessary we understand each other.” Having blessed all those who stood present as witnesses, the exorcist then began reading the rite of exorcism.
Spoken partly in English and partly in Latin, the rite consists of prayers, psalms, and pronouncements commanding the invading spirits to leave the premises. It took the exorcist more than an hour to read the entire ritual. During that time there was not a sound in the house other than the priest’s voice. Save for the obvious destruction visible all around, it was as though nothing had ever happened there.
The concluding act of the exorcism is an outright command for the spirit to reveal its identity. With everyone standing in a wide circle in the middle of the living room, Father Roark read in a deep, somber voice:
“I command thee, thou unclean spirit, O Serpent of Old. By the Judge of the living and the dead. By the Creator of the World who hath the power to cast into Hell, tell me
thy name or give some sign, and depart forthwith from this house!”
The priest waited for a full minute, but nothing happened. Obviously displeased that his words had been ignored, Father Roark read the command once again in a loud, booming voice, adding even more threatening phrases:
“I enjoin you under penalty, every unclean spirit, each devil, each part of Satan: begone in the Name of God.
“Yield to God!
“It is not men you are disobeying. God the Father commands you! God the Son commands you! God the Holy Spirit commands you!
“Hear, therefore, and fear, Satan! Enemy of the human race! Source of death! Root of evil! Seducer of men! Cause of discord! Creator of agony! Behold the Cross of the Most High God! I command thee: obey and begone! Tell me thy name or give some sign and depart from this dwelling!”
Suddenly Sharon Beckford cried out: “There! By the fireplace!”
As its manifesting visage slowly became clear, it was evident to all who witnessed the thing that its head was horned. It stood on cloven feet and it had a tail! At the same time the temperature in the room dropped to near freezing while the stomach-turning smell of rotting flesh filled the air.
Casting holy water on the brazen seven-foot-tall image, Father Roark commanded, “Begone in the Name of God.”
The spirit instantly vanished. Yet no sooner did the figure disappear, than the blood-red face of a devil, with a head as big as a basketball, developed on the soiled, beige carpet. Again the menacing head had horns protruding from the side.
Father Roark swung the aspergillum filled with holy water at the two-dimensional figure looking up from the floor, projecting a look of enraged hate. Then it slowly faded away. A minute later, all that was left was a pink outline on the rug.
The sign had been given. Accordingly, the exorcist then read a concluding prayer of thanksgiving, finally ending with the statement: “The sign of departure having been shown to us, I commend the safety of these people, the Beckfords, and their dwelling into your hands, Lord. Hear us, and hear their prayers; deign them to live in peace and contentment from this day forward. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit Amen.”
What occurred in the home of Pete and Sharon Beckford between March 3 and May 2,1974, is classified as a true diabolical attack. The terrible assault that lasted for sixty consecutive days came to an abrupt halt with the exorcism conducted in the house on May 2, 1974.
The case, and all its particulars, is now a matter of record In his own files, Ed Warren retains a statement written by Pete Beckford’s brother who himself was an involuntary witness to the phenomena in the home.
I, nor anyone else in my family, have ever before witnessed or actually experienced anything so weird and terrifying. I am sure the impact of that obscure experience shall remain with my frightened children and wife indefinitely. The incomprehensible predicament that we have witnessed leaves our frightened family group in complete bewilderment. At least for the present time, it defies all rational and logical explanations. All the tangible evidence and facts related to the preternatural mysteriousness of those events witnessed by our family group should be laid bare and then rationally reviewed by competent people who are experienced in these weird and perplexing matters, When and if a review is completed, I firmly believe that the ultimate conclusions will eventually suggest that unearthly powers or influences were at work.
Terence Beckford
After the exorcism of their home, the Beckfords’ life slowly returned to normal. However, the damage sustained to the furniture, walls, rugs, mattresses, bedding, plumbing, roof, and cars amounted to well over $5,000. (Their insurance, ironically, did not cover “Acts of God.”) Today, the Beckfords live contentedly in the same small suburban house. Eric is away, a college student now. And of course Vicky, now married, is always busy—as one might expect—what with three small children to raise.
XI
A Servant of Lucifer
What happened to the Beckford family is not an ordinary event by any stretch of the imagination. Yet attracting negative spirits to one’s side is not all that uncommon either. Every year, Ed and Lorraine Warren deal with at least a dozen serious cases of demoniacal oppression and possession; there is no telling how many other cases the specialist clergy are called upon to resolve at the same time.
What sets the Beckford case apart is that it was a diabolical attack. “Infestation and oppression phenomena are one thing,” says Ed, “but when you have a diabolical attack, you’re dealing with something far more powerful than the demonic spirit. The demonic spirit has only so much knowledge and its intellect can go only so far. This case, on the other hand, got out of hand through the intervention of the satanic hierarchy. To use an analogy, it's one thing to be a bombardier and drop an atom bomb; it’s something else to invent the thing. This is the same distinction with devils and demons. Although both are of the so-called Kingdom, the demonic spirit is a debased, bestial entity when compared to the deeper intelligence of the diabolical hierarchy. Make no mistake, though, they’re both after the same thing: the demonic spirit just does the dirty work. Yet, when you have a case involving fire; the teleportation of anvils, doors, and radiator covers; the levitation of extremely heavy objects; the sacrilegious movement of rosary beads and blessed statues; plus, irrational, almost berserk instances of blasphemy-—then it’s certain there’s a true maniac in the wings orchestrating the pandemonium.”
Why did this diabolic power show itself during the exorcism as a classical devil, with horns and a tail? That detail is hard to believe.
“Well, of course it is,” Ed replies. “That’s precisely why it manifested in such a way. It took the form of an archetypal devil, first, to preserve its anonymity—always a priority with the demonic. And second, to make the exorcist possibly look the fool. When he had to report what appearance the spirit took when commanded to leave, it might cast doubts on the credibility of the exorcist, or on the case in general. This kind of behavior is standard procedure where the demonic is concerned. But regardless of what form it took, the important thing for the Beckfords is that the forces were expelled from the home.”
What about the people? What is the effect on human beings who have been through an episode with the demonic?
“Given the severely traumatic nature of most cases involving demoniacal phenomena,” Lorraine replies, “we recommend that the principals participate in a six-month follow-up program so they can come to grips with what has happened in their lives. Regaining a stable psychology is a very private thing: it literally takes a lot of soul-searching. Ordinarily, the follow-up is conducted by a clergyman of the family’s faith, sometimes even their own minister. When that’s not possible, Ed and I will help these people over the difficult months. Sometimes, of course, the shock is just too much, and certain individuals will require psychotherapy. Still, no one is ever left unmoved after an experience with the phenomenon. Some choose to see it for what it is; others go further and take it as ‘revelation’; still others require long-term therapy, even hospitalization for extended periods. And others, for psychological reasons, will just plain deny that the negative events ever happened at all.
“As a rule, those who can come to grips with the problem will take the necessary precautions against it ever happening to them again; those who fail to understand, or don’t care, leave themselves open for even more serious problems later on. The majority, though, do take seriously what has happened, and there fore undergo major, often radical changes in lifestyle.
“They’ll begin by physically distancing themselves from the scene,” Lorraine continues. “The person or family will move from one coast to the other, leave the country, or return to the state or town where they grew up. Their attitude is often ‘Anything to get away from here!’ Although people can’t physically distance themselves from spirits, the sincerity of their action is what’s significant—and that’s the true distancing mechanism. Beyond that, such a heavy dose of reality will prompt oth
er individuals to reevaluate the course of their lives. Many times, adults will quit an unsatisfying job and take up creative or socially-minded employment. Invariably, if the principals weren’t religiously oriented beforehand, they’ll quickly ‘get religion.’ Their overall emphasis is on security, reduction of fear, and preventing any recurrence of the negative episode.
“These are the outward changes,” says Lorraine. “But emotionally and psychologically, people who’ve been the target of a negative spirit assault have a lot of mental repair work to do. Children, sadly enough, are often the worst affected. The terror they’ve witnessed is permanent Being exposed to such violence, vulgarity, indecency, and gnawing fear leaves a child with a perception of the world few of us ever know.
“For grownups, counseling is often required. Even though the pandemonium or possession has been personally witnessed, people often can't accept the fact that invisible forces of a supernatural nature were the true authors of the havoc. Society is partly responsible for the problem, of course. People have been methodically taught not to believe in ghosts, spirits, and nonmaterial forces because such things are supposedly ‘irrational.’ In my estimation, shutting your mind to knowledge is irrational. Through counseling, people often have to unlearn the narrow perception of life they’ve had drummed into their head, and then be exposed to the fact that the world is a far more complex and serious place than they’ve ever been taught to believe.”
Why does Ed think some people have called The Amityville Horror a “hoax”?
“This is part of a pattern of denial that goes hand in hand with this business of spirits,” says Ed. “When something is threatening, the mind tries to deny it. In psychology, this is called repression. Personally, I am not surprised about this outcry of hoax; it’s an expectable part of the overall reaction to demoniacal phenomena. Years later, when you talk to people who have personally undergone possession or were on the receiving end of a diabolical siege, these same individuals often deny the event ever happened. Are they liars? No, they’re reacting to trauma. What has happened to them is so incompatible to their reason that as a psychological defense mechanism, they deny the event ever occurred at all. To a lesser degree, the same thing happens when a book like The Amityville Horror appears. The subject matter is threatening, even traumatic to some readers. Plus, the word ‘hoax’ is a guaranteed profit-maker when used in a banner headline.”
The Demonologist: The Extraordinary Career of Ed and Lorraine Warren Page 20