The Demon of Brownsville Road: a Pittsburgh Family's Battle With Evil in Their Home

The Demon of Brownsville Road

The first edition of the book
Writer	Bob Cranmer/Erica Manfred
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre	Horror/ Non-fiction memoir
Publisher	Berkley Books of Penguin Random House
Publication date	August v, 2014
Media type	Print, electronic, audio

The Demon of Brownsville Road is a book past Bob Cranmer and Erica Manfred, published in Baronial 2014. The story is also the basis of a serial of telly documentaries and dramatizations released between 2011 and 2016. The volume is claimed to be based on the paranormal experiences of the Cranmer family, with Bob Cranmer telling the beginning-person business relationship.^[1]

Historical footing [edit]

In March 1792 a mother and her three immature children were killed by marauding Native Americans in the vicinity of Fort Pitt during the Northwest Indian War. This was done as "an act of terror" to discourage connected pioneer settlement in Western Pennsylvania and Ohio. (The killing of women and children was not a common do by the natives, as they were always taken as prisoners to live with the tribe or ransomed as hostages.) The book maintains that this massacre occurred on the basis where the house is congenital and that the four individuals are cached in the front yard. The premise for the demonic infestation is that the evil spirit that precipitated the vicious killing of these innocents remained on the grounds and eventually inhabited the business firm that would be built there. An immigrant laborer would too put a curse on the business firm while information technology was nether construction out of jealousy for its wealthy owner and his cute wife. The book additionally states that a local doctor would after perform many illegal abortions in the house when its owners were in need of money to maintain their servants and upper-class lifestyle. There are no records or firsthand accounts of this illegal activity just an investigative newspaper article did place that such a dr. did exist and that local lore supported the claim that he performed many abortions. Information technology is presented that the demonic spirit was primarily focused upon hurting and killing children.

In December 1988, Bob and Lesa Cranmer and their 4 children moved into the house. This began the long string of events that eventually led to a "demonic entity" being expelled from their home in 2006 by priests of the Catholic Church building. ^{[2] [iii]}

The book [edit]

The firm at 3406 Brownsville Road was built in 1909-10 and had iii previous owners prior to the Cranmers. In December 1988 Bob and Lesa Cranmer bought the house upon beingness transferred to Pittsburgh by his employer. Bob states that the business firm was his "dream" to own, and that it mysteriously went up for sale the same week that they began looking for a business firm to buy. Every bit a young child he would oft stand and stare at the house hoping that someday he could see the inside. The three-story business firm was built in the Craftsman style and would later be designated as a historical landmark (past Pittsburgh History & Landmarks) because of its unique blueprint. Bob and Lesa married in 1980 while Bob was an officer in the U.S. Army. He left the service in 1986 and went to work for AT&T in Whippany, New Jersey. Their objective was to eventually relocate to Pittsburgh, where Bob had grown up. This was unexpectedly realized quicker than they had expected as they had only built a new house in 1987. They had 4 children: Jessica (4), Bobby (3), David (2), and Charles (two months) when they moved to Pittsburgh.^[4]

Bob Cranmer states that the sellers seemed very broken-hearted to move out and surprisingly accepted his first (depression-brawl) offer without whatever negotiations. During a walk-through of the house young Bobby Jr. wandered off past himself every bit the group went to the basement. He would soon be found on the front staircase crying and hyperventilating as if "he'd seen a ghost". Lesa later expressed to Bob her misgivings about the house, that information technology was much too large, and furthermore "gave her the creeps." Bob discounted this and was adamant to make this house a home for his young family. He did still ask the seller if there "was anything incorrect with the business firm." Understanding exactly what he was referring to the seller assured him that the house was fine and that Catholic Mass was conducted several times in the living room of the house. Bob thought this was an odd response but took it with the reassurance that had been implied. Later the next Bound Bob discovered a small metal box buried in the front yard containing Catholic religious items. He chosen the previous owner who had assured him that "the firm was fine" but and so to hear him say "simply put it dorsum where y'all plant it."

Within weeks of moving in Bob and Lesa began to experience paranormal activity in the house. The first phenomenon they experienced was a pull-concatenation on a light in a coat closet that continuously wrapped itself effectually the light and would never remain in the hanging position. Soon other nuisance activities would begin and connected for years, the family choosing to ignore them, accepting that they shared their abode with a "spirit". Bob would go on to agree political office in the 1990s, first as a councilman then canton commissioner, gaining meaning notoriety and glory in the western Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh) surface area.

Over the years the Cranmer family became increasingly dysfunctional and eventually Lesa and two of the children would experience serious mental issues which would require hospitalization. Bob had no idea that the spirit in the house had anything to practice with the relational and psychological issues inside his family and he attempted to manage his manner through it. Withal, one night in 2003 his oldest son attacked him and Bob would be arrested. The side by side morning his elderly aunt who was living with the family was besides found dead in her bed from natural causes.

All charges associated with the incident would eventually be dropped simply the paranormal activity in the house increased similar a dam had been broken. Inside a month Bob was at his wit'south end and decided to contact the Catholic Church for help (the Cranmers were not Catholics at the fourth dimension). The mayor of Pittsburgh, Tom Murphy, who was a personal friend of Cranmer, went to see the then Bishop of Pittsburgh, Donald Wuerl, to request the assistance of the Diocese. Wuerl would assign management of the instance to Father Ron Lengwin who would eventually be assisted by several other priests and 1 lay person, Connie Valenti. Thus would begin a battle to cleanse the business firm from a demonic spirit that would have ii years. Paranormal researchers from Penn State Academy would somewhen become associated with the situation and would later motion on to celebrity with a hitting television show called Paranormal State. The grouping'southward leader (Ryan Buell) would afterward discuss the Cranmer house in an article for People Magazine.^[5] The Mel Gibson motion picture The Passion of the Christ is also presented in the book as playing a pregnant office in cleansing the house from the evil entity.

The infestation of the house would come up to an end in February 2006 and Cranmer would begin to write the story from notes that he had kept the next year. The book was released in 2014 with great media acclaim and Cranmer would be interviewed across the country. His reputation as a public official, combined with the interest of other notable individuals; i.e. Mayor Thomas J. Spud, Jr., Bishop Donald Wuerl, and Fr. Ronald Lengwin, added a foundation of credibility to the story while also attracting the attention of the Pittsburgh media. Cranmer had piffling to gain and his reputation to lose, yet he states that the story had to be told to verify that "Evil" does exist in the world.

The manuscript was written by Cranmer and eventually reduced in size and rearranged by the professional person writer and editor Erica Manfred. She was the third of three writers employed by Cranmer every bit issues and conflicts kept arising which seemed intent on preventing the book from being published. The difficulties were then intense that Cranmer became convinced that Evil itself was fighting to continue the story from being told.

Criticism [edit]

With the notoriety of the volume in the metropolitan Pittsburgh area, 1 of the ii major newspapers (The Postal service-Gazette) decided to do an investigative commodity nearly the story. Many of the individuals in the book were interviewed and some of the historical accounts were checked. The doctor cited was verified to accept been a local resident, as was his nefarious abortionist reputation, plain with no official records existing for the decades-old illegal activities. Monsignor Ron Lengwin, spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, affirmed every aspect of the book forth with the official involvement of the Catholic Church.^[6]

However, the primary source of criticism came from several children or grandchildren of the two families who preceded the Cranmers' living in the house (a period of 47 years, all previous owners being deceased). They all claimed to take no recollection of any paranormal activity in the firm and said that the story was fabricated by Cranmer for his own waning notoriety. Cranmer retorted that the Joyce children (of the prior owners) were upset that the reputation of their deceased parents was maybe existence besmirched by the volume. (Even though a fictitious name was used to place them.) Coincidentally, the couple died of natural causes in the months just prior to the volume's publication.

Cranmer stated that Mrs. Joyce made it clear to both him and his wife that she "detested" the Wagners, who had sold the business firm to them. He stated: "People are always concerned that they can be held legally liable if they do not reveal to buyers bug of a spiritual nature with a house, - which I discovered is not the case in Pennsylvania. Their reactions are obviously intended to cover up the charade used in selling the house, both in 1979 and 1988. The house was not officially sold in 1941 by the original owners, simply was purchased via a Sheriff'southward sale. The firm sat empty then for an extended period and became known as the haunted business firm by the local children who ventured into it."

Cranmer also states in the book that one girl (Barbara Wagner) who grew upwardly in the firm did (reluctantly) detail meaning paranormal action to him while he was writing the book (she died before publication). He besides stated that the son of a homo who had grown up in the neighborhood during the 1930s affirmed that the firm was widely known to be haunted. In addition he claims that i of the sons of the previous owners (the Joyces) verified strange activity to him earlier that son understood that a book would cast an unfavorable calorie-free upon his deceased father.^[vii] Cranmer has offered to pay for and take a lie-detector test concerning any of the claims presented in his book as long as the iii adult children of the previous owners join him. Subsequent to publication (July 2016) a granddaughter of the physician (presented in the book) contacted Cranmer to tell him that even though she was besides immature at the time to know of her grandad'southward illegal practice, she could confirm that his personality and "evil demeanor" fit what her early on memories could recall. The story didn't surprise her every bit she described him "throwing shoes at her" when she was a toddler.

Cranmer's response to the article, which was printed past the Post-Gazette three days afterward, is as follows:

October 29, 2014 12:00 AM

Any author should bask an commodity about their volume by a major newspaper, positive or negative. Still, the recent PG coverage of my book was over the tiptop ("Erstwhile Residents of Brentwood 'Demon' House Dispute Book," Oct. 26). The front end-folio Lord's day article clearly sought to discredit the story, its basis in Christian faith and its controversial topics.

I've dealt with the press plenty to know that when an article is to have a slant nothing 1 says can change it. I spent well-nigh two hours on the phone with the reporter, successfully addressing every objection, yet just a few cursory comments from me were published. One time I determined that the reporter's intent was negative, I simply braced myself. Just if it prompts more reading of the volume so much the better.

In a special report in Skeptical Inquirer, - "The Satanic Skeptic Investigates the Demon of Brownsville Road"; correspondent JD Sword (a self-avowed member of the Church of Satan) questions other claims made past Cranmer in his book. Sword begins by explaining how since a demonic exorcism performed by the Cosmic Diocese of Pittsburgh in 2006, the Brownsville firm was converted into a bed and breakfast in 2019, so any attempt to truly investigate the house would be difficult, if not simply written off as Cranmer claims it has been "gratuitous and clear" of issues since the exorcism. The B&B page states that Cranmer is open to discussing his volume but "ghost hunters and paranormal investigators" are not permitted every bit such activity could possibly reignite the paranormal problems. Nonetheless, Sword did manage to do some earthworks into the history and methods used by Cranmer in the book. For example, in the volume, Cranmer claims to have spoken to the daughter of the couple who owned the house from 1941 to 1979, Barbara Paisley, stating Paisley and her family had encountered spiritual events in the firm "many times", even going and so far as saying that her husband added that in one case a visiting dog in the firm seemed to sense these spirits and went room to room in search of them. Nonetheless, according to Paisley's daughter, Karen Dwyer, her mother, grandmother and grandfather had never mentioned anything about the house beingness haunted nor was there fifty-fifty a dog as a parents did not like to have pets.^[8]

Sword also did research into "Dr. M" from the book. Connie Valenti, a psychic, claimed to have visions revealing the house was once used past a "Dr. M," rumored to take performed illegal abortions in the 1920s and 1930s. Through searching records from the time, it was accepted that "Dr. M's" existent proper name was Dr. James Merton "Clay" Mahan, a wealthy pediatrician who owned the Mahan Hospital in the Arlington neighborhood of Pittsburgh - which overlooks the S-Side, a quondam industrial district of Pittsburgh. Monsignor Ron Lengwin, a senior Catholic priest of the diocese and the psychic Valenti claimed while beingness built on a site of a fierce 1792 Native American attack on a family, the four victims existence cached in the front yard, as well alleged Mahan fueled the demonic possession at 3406 Brownsville Road. Yet when asked in an interview about evidence supporting Mahan was in fact responsible for the demon at Brownsville Route, Lengwin, Valenti and Cranmer either claimed they did not need the supporting testify considering Mahan was non actually named in the book and could tell the story withal they saw it, or in the example of Cranmer blatantly saying he is not going to discuss him. Yet the grandson of Dr. James Mahan, Dean Mahan, claimed his grandad could non have performed abortions at 3406 Brownsville Road in the 1920s and 1930s as the book claims because his grandfather had non lived on Brownsville Route at that fourth dimension, which is supported past demography records 1920 and 1940 both showing Dr. Mahan was living at 2400 Berg Street; the book does maintain that he rented rooms from the owners and did not reside at that place. According to Dead Mahan, his grandfather moved into a house on Brownsville Route in the 40s, his decease certificate putting him 3233 Brownsville Route, not at 3406 Brownsville Route. Furthermore, there is no record of malpractice or illegal abortions even tied to Dr. Mahan considering there is no official record of his being accused, arrested, tried, or convicted. [3] Cranmer claims in the volume that Dr. M's nefarious practice was common cognition in the community of Brentwood, (where his house is located), and that it was too the home of those who ran the notorious "S-Side numbers noise", along with numerous nightclubs, bars, and brothels.

Aftermath [edit]

Since telling the story Cranmer's life has seen its share of tragedy. In March of 2015 his son David died unexpectedly and his married woman went into depression. They subsequently ended their union of 37 years in 2018. He is quoted as maxim during an interview "writing the book was like outing the mob, in that location's evidently going to be consequences." He continues to exercise interviews near the volume and his feel.

After over a decade of the house being cleared of evil, Bob opened information technology equally a Bed & Breakfast in November 2019; "The Brownsville Road House".

Adaptations [edit]

Television [edit]

The Demon of Brownsville Route has been the subject area of a series of programs which are dramatizations:

• The Exorcist Files, The Discovery Channel (2011)
• Paranormal Witness, Truthful Terror - The Molech, SyFy (2014)
• A Haunting, Demon's Lair, TLC (2016)

Information technology was announced in 2015 that the Fox Network bought the rights to the story for one year and that a new series based on the book was to be aired in 2016. However, later on the airplane pilot episode was written Play a joke on decided to abolish the project and move frontwards with another program.^[nine]

Film [edit]

It was reported in the media (nine/2019) that an option to produce a movie based on the volume was sold to New Line Cinema, a division of Warner Brothers Entertainment.^{[x] [xi]}

References [edit]

1. ^ http://www.demonofbrownsville.com.asp
2. ^ "Evidence gives support to tales of local history in South Hills area". Pittsburgh Tribune Review. Retrieved March 6, 2013.
3. ^ "Former residents of Brentwood 'demon' business firm dispute book'south claims". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved October 26, 2014.
4. ^ This section is based on the version of events in Bob Cranmer's (and Erica Manfred) 2014 book The Demon of Brownsville Route.
5. ^ "Paranormal State's Ryan Buell: My Top 3 Spookiest Encounters=People Magazine". Retrieved October 21, 2010.
6. ^ SD, Oct (Oct thirty, 2019). "Archdiocese Used Mystic In Haunted Example". Spirit Daily . Retrieved January 12, 2021.
7. ^ "Former residents of Brentwood 'demon' house dispute book'southward claims". Pittsburgh Postal service-Gazette. Retrieved October 26, 2014.
8. ^ Sword, JD (17 May 2021). "The Satanic Skeptic Investigates the Demon of Brownsville Road". Skeptical Inquirer . Retrieved one June 2021.
9. ^ "Fox Plots Demon Drama 'Haunted' 'Fast & Furious' Duo". The Hollywood Reporter. xix November 2015. Retrieved November 19, 2015.
10. ^ "Ghostbusters demand non apply as Brentwood 'haunted house' gets new life equally B&B". Pittsburgh Mail service-Gazette. Retrieved September 19, 2019.
11. ^ "'The Demon of Brownsville Road' to be turned into a bed and breakfast, film". Pittsburgh Tribune Review. 13 September 2019. Retrieved September 13, 2019.

External links [edit]

• Official website

dickensoninforent.blogspot.com

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Demon_of_Brownsville_Road

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