The Book That Opened My Eyes – The Demonologist

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The Demonologist, published by Simon & Schuster in 2013.

Before I discovered Goodreads and the Book Horror Community on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, I was an impulse buyer. A new Stephen King book – yup. A book with a cool sounding synopsis and a striking cover – yuppers. I used to spend a fair amount of time in the Coles at the Seven Oaks Mall in Abbotsford, BC looking over their painfully small horror and science fiction section, hoping to find a new to me book to snag. We’d also check out the Walmart book section, they had a fairly well stocked 2/$15 paperback section, where I grabbed books like The Martian.

I’d grown up being a devoted King fan, having borrowed every single copy that my neighbor, Patti Moody owned and voraciously read them. To me, back then, there was only one name in the horror world that I knew would bring me joy.

I’ve told this story a bajillion and one times, but one day, me and my wife were checking out the 2/$15 section and I spotted a book with the cover I’ve shared here at the top. A very simple, yet striking cover of a darkened forest and a young child. The title grabbed me immediately – how could it not, and the synopsis read like something any horror lover would gobble up. I didn’t buy it, though. I took a picture of it and the book beside it and then nagged and whined to Amanda the rest of our shopping trip about how awesome the two books looked. The other book, for reference, was The Troop by Nick Cutter.

I ended up buying both, and while my memory has faded and I no longer remember if it was during that shopping trip or a return over the next two days, but I dove into both. And while both were absolutely stunning, I was drawn to Pyper’s release more.

‘The Demonologist’ is, to me at least, at its heart, a journey of a scarred man. A man who doesn’t believe what he studies completely, but once his family becomes directly involved, he’s forced to face the truth that maybe there are other things out there, things we can’t see when our internal blinds are closed.

I remember, to this day, vivid scenes. Scenes that scared me to my core and had me question whether I’d be able to continue.

While I read this book far before my time reading and reviewing, posting to sites like Goodreads and Bookbub, I still consider this to be a 5 star read and one that I’ll need to revisit again soon.

At the time of its release, ‘The Demonologist’ was in production to become a movie, and while that seems to have been put on pause, I know I’d love to see an adaptation.

Something, specifically, that I’ll always treasure and cherish from reading and discovering this book, was that it was from A CANADIAN. I know it’s a weird thing, but yes, in Canada, we really do have a sense of commonality about fellow Canucks. When we see a new NHL player and find out he’s from our hometown, he immediately becomes a player we root for. Same goes for actors/actresses, authors, comedians, you name it. So, to have discovered a Canadian who was writing THIS type of book, blew my mind and opened a lot of doors.

Maybe a part of me was closed off and scared to allow another author to invade the space I’d created and curated for my horror reads, but Pyper was the one. His book and his writing spoke to me and opened up a new voice that I haven’t been able to put down since.

Oddly enough, with a large portion of the back story of Professor David Ullman being a man who studies ‘Paradise Lost’ it is interesting to read Andrew’s thoughts on that epic poem. I don’t know if it is still available, but I was lucky enough to snag a Kindle copy of ‘Paradise Lost’ with an essay from Andrew about the poem as well as some questions directed towards ‘The Demonologist.’ I’d highly recommend you snag it if its still out there.

So, in closing, that is why ‘The Demonologist’ means so much to me. It was almost a repeat of when you first discover a horror movie on TV late at night and you can’t believe what you’ve stumbled on. When I started reading it, I had no idea that the book would expand the possibilities for me of all that I could read, that was out there, but also that other Canadians were doing this as well.

While ‘The Demonologist’ isn’t my all-time favorite book from Andrew, it will always hold a very special place in my heart.

In fact, I was lucky enough to find an ARC of the book at a used book store last year and snagged it immediately. I still can’t believe it and I can’t believe that Andrew has been kind enough to sign both versions for me.

As I write this, I have a photo beside my laptop. You may have seen it already, but if not, here it is;

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For those who don’t know, this is a photo of Andrew’s ‘demon research books’ that he used when writing ‘The Demonologist.’ My friend, Jen (who is contributing a review of ‘The Only Child’ as well) gave it to me as a gift and it makes me smile at least a dozen times a day.

So, there. ‘The Demonologist.’

Outstanding book, but a book that will forever be my first Pyper love.

Haven’t read it?

What are you waiting for?