Ralph Sarchie (14 June 1962, New York City)[1] is a retired NYPD sergeant and traditionalist Catholic demonologist.[2] He has written a book, Beware the Night, which details many of his paranormal investigations; his accounts were later the basis of the film Deliver Us from Evil.[3] Sarchie, in 2016, was featured in the film Hostage to the Devil, which detailed the life of Malachi Martin.[4]
Ralph Sarchie | |
|---|---|
| Born | 14 June 1962 New York City |
| Occupation | Demonologist, writer, police officer |
Personal life and ministry
editSarchie served eighteen years as a NYPD sergeant in the South Bronx precinct, and was a member of the Street Crime Unit working undercover stopping in-progress crimes. Sarchie describes himself as a "committed Christian"; he is described as claiming to have a relic of the True Cross.[5] Sarchie and his partner Mark Stabinski carry with them wooden Christian crosses and holy water when called to tackle "demonic infestation around the city."[citation needed] He assists in Christian exorcisms.[6] His career as a Catholic Christian demonologist has included regularly meeting with and accompanying Ed and Lorraine Warren on their cases.[7]
Books
editBeware the Night
editIn 2001, St. Martin's Press published Sarchie's book, Beware the Night (also titled Deliver Us from Evil), co-written by Lisa Collier Cool, about his experience as a NYPD police officer and demonologist.
Beware the Night synopsis:
"A seventeen-year NYPD veteran, Ralph Sarchie works out of the 46th Precinct in New York's south Bronx. But it is his other job that he calls "the Work": investigating cases of demonic possession and assisting in the exorcisms of humanity's most ancient--and most dangerous--foes. Now he discloses for the first time his investigation into incredible true crimes an inhuman evil that were never explained, solved, or understood except by Sarchie and his partner. Schooled in the rituals of exorcism, and an eyewitness to the reality of demonic possession, Ralph Sarchie has documented a riveting chronicle of the inexplicable that gives a new shape to the shadows in the dark.
In 'Beware the Night,' he takes readers into the very hierarchy of a hell on earth to expose the grisly rituals of a Palo Mayombe priest; a young girl whose innocence is violated by an incubus; a home invaded by the malevolent spirit of a supposedly murdered nineteenth-century bride; the dark side of a couple who were, literally, the neighbors from hell; and more. Ralph Sarchie's NYPD revelations are a powerful and disturbing documented link between the true-crime realities of life and the blood-chilling ice-grip of a supernatural terror."[8]
In other media
editDeliver Us from Evil
editOn July 2, 2014, Screen Gems/Sony Pictures released a full-length motion picture, Deliver Us from Evil, inspired by Sarchie's accounts. The film followed Sarchie (Eric Bana) into the paranormal investigations he immersed himself in, all the while taking care of his family and working the midnight-to-8:00 A.M. shift as a cop. However, not many of the events recounted in the book actually remain in the film, as most have been changed and re-imagined by the scriptwriters/producers of the script/film. The film drew mixed reviews and was a success at the box office. The film grossed $30.5 million domestically in the United States and $87.9 million worldwide.[9]
The Demon Files
editSarchie hosted the Destination America series The Demon Files which started airing from November 1, 2015.
See also
edit
References
edit- ^ "Ralph Sarchie - Sumarios Biográficos de Personas Notables". myheritage.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 9 January 2023.
- ^ "Ralph Sarchie's Scariest Stories". Vice. 27 June 2014. Retrieved 27 January 2017.
This summer's crime-horror movie, Deliver Us From Evil, was inspired by the true paranormal stories shared by real-life NYPD Sergeant Ralph Sarchie in Beware The Night. The frightening book, which was written in tandem with Lisa Collier Cool, was released in 2001. At the time, Sarchie had worked on the force for 16 years, but it wasn't the crimes committed by people he writes about, it's the accounts of the paranormal. Sarchie is a demonologist, with a spiritual gift of his own, and he has performed exorcisms and led investigations into the demonic during his off-hours, a position he referred to as "the Work."
- ^ "Who you gonna call? Not 911 | Amarillo.com | Amarillo Globe-News". amarillo.com. Retrieved 2014-10-05.
- ^ "Hostage to the Devil (2016)". Rotten Tomatoes. 2016. Retrieved 27 January 2017.
- ^ Meslow, Scott (7 July 2014). "The real story behind Deliver Us From Evil". The Week. Retrieved 27 January 2017.
The truth is that I like to help people," he explains in the book. "As a committed Christian, I have a different mission: to bust the Devil and his demons." He claims to carry "a splinter of the True Cross.
- ^ Alexander, Bryan (29 June 2014). "'Deliver Us From Evil' inspired by cop demonologist". USA Today. Retrieved 27 January 2017.
- ^ Wilson, Michael (20 June 2014). "On Duty, Patrolling the Projects; Off Duty, Exorcising Demons". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 January 2017.
He joined the Police Department in 1984 and was assigned to Operation Pressure Point, an effort to clean up Alphabet City in Manhattan. At home, he enjoyed reading ghost stories as much as the next guy, until he discovered the nonfiction accounts of hauntings and the work of Ed and Lorraine Warren, paranormal investigators who caseload inspired "The Amityville Horror." Mr. Sarchie began meeting the Warrens at their Connecticut home every Monday, and soon he was accompanying them to meet people who were believed by their loved ones to be possessed by demons.
- ^ Sarchie, R.; Cool, L.C. (2001). Beware the Night. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 9780312977375. Retrieved 2014-10-05.
- ^ "Deliver Us From Evil (2014)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb.