I too, was sufficiently freaked out by the book. I do not scare easy. But I remember leaving the night lamp on to go to sleep on one occasion while I was reading that book.
I attended a Catholic church at the time of reading the book. I attended a mass one Sunday and the priest diverted from his homily(lecture), completely off topic, to discuss the designated exorcist and the exorcisms within the diocese (the collection of Catholic churches in a given area). He said that there was one exorcist within the diocese who performed the rite. The priest also said that out of about 5000 inquiries to demonic activity, there will only be about one exorcism was actually performed. He went on with his homily. I was piqued. IIRC, that was the night I was sufficiently freaked out!
More odd still, I was having this same discussion, about the book and the priest, with my son just three nights ago. FWIW
If demons hate Holy Water...that's good enough for me.
My approach is in some ways more complex than that...but in other ways...that approach is about right.
Satan attacks God's agents. Why would he attack his own followers? He attacks his enemy. If you are his enemy...expect a perpetual attack!
And arm yourself!
You both reminded me of time I did the same thing. I was reading a Dennis Wheatley book in college, stayed up until the middle of the night to finish it, but couldn’t turn off the light until I’d put the book in the hallway. I recently discovered by accident, that he was seriously into black magic, and knew Alister Crowley from the Ghost Society at Cambridge. The author was known at the time as a popular English novelist and mystery writer with nothing ontoward made known. He’s from an old English gentry family - they owned a winery business which went bust during the depression which is why he took up writing. He knew all the European hob-nobs, many of which were into the occult.