Former residents of Brentwood 'demon' house dispute book's claims - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

This is the "original" news story that I passed off at the time:

Inside the inviting turn-of-the-century house on Brownsville Road in Brentwood, former Allegheny County commissioner Bob Cranmer says a two-year battle is being waged between good and evil — God and the devil.
,,,
“I think I have a credibility that when I say something happened, folks can believe it. This isn’t some flat Earth, alien abduction story. This happened,” says Cranmer.

It began happening shortly after he, his wife and their four kids bought the house in 1988.

What seemed to be bumps in the night, turned into something more. They began seeing a dark pillar that moved through the house with a repulsive, acrid smell.
,,,
Now he’s written this book – “The Demon of Brownsville Road.”

“I feel a responsibility to tell this story in a rational, sound manner to tell people it’s all real,” Cranmer said. “It’s true. Good and evil exists.”

Cranmer and his family say it is no longer a matter of faith. That they have direct knowledge of good and evil, the devil and the power of God.

But alas, it seems that not everyone is on-board with this narrative of events:

In his recently released book “The Demon of Brownsville Road,” former Allegheny County Commissioner Bob Cranmer said he and his family lived for 18 years in a haunted house in Brentwood before an exorcism chased out the demonic infestation in 2006.
,,,
The book has become popular with people of faith — who see it as a testament to Mr. Cranmer’s devotion to Christianity — and those who are intrigued by the paranormal, boosted by a 2011 Discovery Channel documentary detailing the exorcism.

The publisher Berkley Books, part of the multinational Penguin Group, says the book is a “true and accurate report of the events.” Mr. Cranmer said it has sold out of its first printing of 10,000 copies, and he has done dozens of television and radio interviews across the country, and his book signings at local libraries and bookstores have drawn droves of people.

But is it true? Members of two families who owned the house prior to the Cranmers, and a third family whose ancestor Mr. Cranmer says fueled the evil in the home, say the events involving their families are not true or accurate.

Former residents of Brentwood 'demon' house dispute book's claims - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette