Author Description

<br> <br> <p>The world's leading psychiatric authority on demonic possession delves into the hidden world of exorcisms and his own transformation from cynic to believer over the course of his twenty-five-year career.<br> <br> <br> <br> Successful New York psychiatrist Richard Gallagher was skeptical yet intrigued when a hard-nosed, no-nonsense Catholic priest asked him to examine a woman for a possible exorcism. Meeting her, Gallagher was astonished. The woman's behavior defied logic. In an instant, she could pinpoint a person's secret weaknesses. She knew how individuals she'd never known had died, including Gallagher's own mother, who passed away after a lengthy battle with ovarian cancer. She spoke fluently in multiple languages, including Latin--but only when she was in a trance.</p> <p>This was not psychosis, Gallagher concluded. It was, in his scientific estimation, what could only be describe as paranormal ability. The woman wasn't mentally disturbed--she was possessed. This remarkable case was the first of many that Gallagher would encounter. Sought after today by leaders of all faiths--ministers, priests, rabbis and imams, Gallagher has spent a quarter-century studying demonic activity and exorcisms throughout history and has witnessed more cases than any other psychiatrist in the world today.</p> <p>In this eerie and enthralling book, Gallagher chronicles his most famous cases for the first time, including:</p> <ul> <li>A professional who claimed her spiritualist mother had "assigned" her a spirit who "turned on her."</li> <li>A petite woman--"90 pounds soaking wet"--who threw a 200-pound Lutheran deacon across the room to the horror of onlookers in a church hall;</li> <li>And "Julia," the so-called Satanic queen and self-described witch, who exhibited "the most harrowing" case, a "once-in-a-century" possession.</li> </ul> <p>Going beyond horror movies and novels, Demonic Foes takes you deep into this hidden world, sharing in full details of these true-lif