Alice Oscura, Paranormal Investigations Head Writer
Forty years ago, Arne Johnson fatally stabbed his landlord Alan Bono and had no memory of the incident. He claimed that he was possessed by a demonic entity at the time of the murder, a demon that he antagonised during the exorcism of David Glatzel, the younger brother of his then fiancé Debbie. The demon, dubbed the Beast, has now gotten his revenge and Johnson paid the price as punishment.
Shock Docs’ latest addition to their franchise “The Devil Made Me Do It” documentary is the greatest companion piece that a movie can ever have. It was released on Discovery+ exactly one week after The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It movie premiered. The strength of the documentary is mainly the first ever public interviews since the disturbing events of Arne Johnson and Debbie Glatzel (now deceased). They are extremely well-supported by eyewitnesses, paranormal investigator Lorraine Warren’s interviews and other paranormal experts. Hearing them recall the horrific events, starting from David Glatzel’s possession leading all the way up to Bono’s murder, made the story all the more believable and scarier than we’ve been shown in the fictionalised representation of The Conjuring 3 film.
In the summer of 1980 a dream house became a living nightmare for the Glatzel family after a demonic entity attached itself to 11-year-old David Glatzel. The entity first revealed itself in the form of an old man issuing the verbal warning of “Beware” to David as he swept the master bedroom for his elder sister Debbie. After leaving the property, David continued to see visions of the demonic entity who revealed his true self to him and issued more warnings to the Glatzels, namely that if they continued to move into the house David would pay the ultimate price for their disobedience. The Glatzels did change their minds on the property and never completed the move. Instead, Arne and Debbie decided to stay with Debbie’s mother for the time being. However, it was too late.
The Beast had already begun his violent attack upon David and soon the young boy began to suffer terribly from numerous physical attacks that left him badly bruised as he began the fight for his soul. The struggle was so intense that the Beast decided to bring with him 42 more demons to assist him in his assault and soon the entire Glatzel family was under attack as well. After failed house blessings, the desperate family turned to famed paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren who came highly recommended by the church. After a series of harrowing events a final exorcism was held. During that event Debbie’s fiancé Arne Johnson mocked the entity, and it would seem that after leaving David’s body the Beast attached himself to Johnson and laid in wait for the right opportunity to present itself. This came in the form of the Alan Bono murder.
File photo of Arne Johnson
The documentary goes on to reveal just how supportive the Warrens were of Arne Johnson’s case and “The Devil Made Me Do It” defense in the court of law. However, the judge would never accept that line of defense, so Johnson’s lawyer, Martin Minnella, had to switch gears to the plea of self-defense. Minella stated in his interview that he was a sceptic at first but when the Warrens presented him with the audio recording evidence of David’s exorcism he became a believer after he heard the demonic voice being spoken out of the mouth of a child. Debbie Glatzel maintained that Arne was innocent because what she witnessed during the murder of Buno wasn’t Arne. It wasn’t human and it even altered Arne’s physical features during that horrific moment of the stabbing. Debbie was still noticeably shaken and disturbed by everything she had witnessed, and she struggled to keep her composure during different moments of her interview.
Even if you are a believer or not, one thing is for certain—there were many people that could corroborate the story of the Glatzel’s experiences all the way up to the Alan Bono murder. They all seemed extremely convinced and determined (including the Warrens) that this demonic entity took possession of a young boy and jumped into Arne Johnson in order to settle a score. The overall pacing and lay out of the documentary are excellent. It never once dragged or got monotonous and boring. If you are a Paranormal or True Crime Junkie like me this one is going to call your name because it is the best Shock Docs episode of the entire franchise.
Dark Alice’s Score: 9 out of 10
You can check out more Shock Docs reviews below:
Shock Docs: Amityville Horror House Delivers the Best Breakdown of the Infamous Location
Paranormal Doc ‘Ed Gein: The Real Psycho’ Loses Points For Overused Hype and Cheesy Reenactments
Dark Alice has an old soul and a curious mind. I believe that anyone can be a hero and that the good guys should always win! I dislike cruelty to animals and think that they have far superior qualities to humans. My motto is there is no future without the past. I also have a weird penchant for Paranormal TV shows even though the slightest sound makes me jump. I enjoy writing reviews and throwing in fun facts to pique the readers’ curiosity. My ultimate goal in life would be to become a published writer one day. Read More