Exclusive: Ralph Sarchie Talks The Demon Files and Much More!
Retired N.Y.P.D. Sergeant Ralph Sarchie is an enigma. Here’s one of the most no bullshit guys you could ever meet working actively in the field of the paranormal, where he applies many of the techniques taught to him over the years to help save people’s lives in a very different way.
Recently we sat down with Ralph to talk about his new show “The Demon Files” and his motivations to take what he calls “the work” to a whole new level.
“You don’t DO this show,” remarked Sarchie to Destination America pertaining to them stating that they do a lot of these types of shows. “Of all the types of shows out there, I’ve never seen anyone ever really get help. The closest one would probably be John Zaffis’ show, “The Haunted Collector,” but even then he’s not showing the people how things are done. We have this negative spirit in this house, but how do we get it out? I want people to know that there is a way to do it, but it is NOT easy. This is a lifestyle. You cannot just be running around with cameras and just recording things. You have to live it. You have to live a religious life, or none of your prayers will be answered… and you’ll get crushed like a grape.”
Sarchie doing The Work
“There are people out there who call themselves ‘exorcists.’ They’re phonies. Clowns. They don’t have any conception of who the devil is. You cannot know the devil unless you really know God. They think studying the devil is the way to learn about him. That’s a mistake. You learn about the devil by studying God. The devil is the enemy of your soul. Your best protection is in the Blessed Mother.”
Sarchie, however, didn’t always have such great faith in the Lord.
“When I was a kid, I was an altar boy. I served Mass every Sunday. Of course, when I got older, I discovered… girls,” said Sarchie with a laugh. “God sort of went out the window at that point. Listen… I was a regular teenager, ya know? I’m a regular person now! I’m no different from anyone else.”
After the things that he’s seen over the years, he realized the only way to get through the turmoil and the chaos was through his faith. This led him to do what he does now with his team.
Mark Stabinski and Ralph Sarchie
“There are eight of us on my team. With the exception of Mark Stabinski, who’s been with me for 15 years, everyone else on it are people who have contacted me over the years. Sean [Austin] had a radio show and wanted to speak with me. I said to him, ‘Hey, do you want to investigate some cases with me?’ And he said, ‘Yeah, sure!’ That’s how casual it was. All the others had contacted me individually, wanting to investigate with me. I turned a lot of people away. I don’t make the decisions regarding who enters the work, but I do make the decisions of who works with me. These are the people I chose. I know I made the right decision by choosing them. I didn’t put this team together; God did. That’s what I tell them.”
“The beauty of the show is that I am now able to take my entire team with me on investigations nationwide. Usually I may have only one or two people with me. Sometimes I may not have anyone. So in that respect having the show did change around some of the things that I do on an investigation. I was able to add to the process to gain more information. Before I would bring recorders with me and use them predominantly for interview purposes. The video cameras that I had brought with me were used for the same thing. For exorcisms of people, the cameras were used to create a record of what transpired because it’s not an unknown phenomenon for people to die during an exorcism. If someone passes during or afterwards, the investigators are going to want to see what happened.”
The Demon Files Team – Ralph Sarchie, Mark Stabinski, Mike Dolan, Brian McCauley, Sean Austin, Kayne Anderson Ates, and Debra Aguayo
“What I used to do was this,” Sarchie elaborates on his previous investigating technique. “I would go to a house and sit down with the family briefly and then do my walk-through. After that I would then sit down with them again and do an in-depth interview, which would sometimes last four to five hours. After the interview I would determine whether or not an exorcism was needed or whether I would just leave. Now, with the show, we needed to present something differently. Everyone is a paranormal investigator on my team with the exception of Mark. They brought their equipment with them. I didn’t know what any of it was so we went through a lot of question and answer sessions. I went through each and every device because I wanted to know how it worked. I would do religious provocation, and then I’d let the team go out and do their thing. Afterwards we’d review the evidence and make the decision on whether or not an exorcism was needed pretty much on the fly.”
One thing you won’t be seeing on “The Demon Files,” however, is demonic possession exorcisms.
“Demonic possession is a totally different ballgame,” says Sarchie regarding whether or not we’d see people being exorcised along with locations. “That’s something that I feel should not be regularly televised. I will not do that. Real exorcists, and not the fuckin’ yahoos that are running around out there now who are trying to get enough money to get a billboard of their fuckin’ face telling people that they can do an exorcism for them… I’m not talking about idiots like that; I’m talking about the priests who have been called by God… they don’t talk about this in public. They don’t have to. It’s not their job. They accept whoever God sends them. They don’t go out soliciting cases. I have never solicited a case in my entire fuckin’ life. I don’t do that. You have to call me in order for me to help you. I don’t go door-to-door saying shit like ‘Hey, I sense from the outside that your house is demonically infested. Let me come in, you give me 500 bucks, and I’ll clear your house out.’ I don’t charge money. I never have.”
“My main goal for ‘The Demon Files’ is to save as many souls as I can. I can’t help everybody. There are some people that I’m not gonna be able to help. But I can still help them with their spirituality, which in turn strengthens them to deal with the problems that for some reason God has given them. It could simply be a case of God saying, ‘You know what? I’m gonna save these people’s souls, and I’m gonna make the devil bother them to do it.’ That’s the beauty of what God does. He allows the devil to operate in people’s lives. Not everybody because the demonic cannot do anything unless God gives them permission to do it. He uses the devil to bring people who he’s lost back to him. And when that happens… that is like a big kick in the devil’s ball sac! Oh, man is that a swift kick in the balls! That’s why I better go to heaven and not hell because he’s gonna be looking to make me his special toy for all eternity! I’m sure he doesn’t like me!”
About “The Demon Files”:
Ralph Sarchie’s life is divided between two very different worlds. In one he’s a decorated sergeant for the N.Y.P.D. who proudly protected and served his city for over 18 years. In the other he’s a highly regarded demonologist, helping real American families who fear they may be threatened by the demonic. His book, Beware the Night, details how he uses his cop-hardened savvy to combat supernatural evil at every turn and served as the inspiration for the 2014 movie Deliver Us from Evil. Now, in “The Demon Files,” Sarchie and his team travel across the country meeting with people apparently suffering from demonic activity.
Sarchie stars along with Mark Stabinski, Mike Dolan, Brian McCauley, Sean Austin, Kayne Anderson Ates, and Debra Aguayo.
Look for the show on Destination America Sunday nights at 10:00 PM ET. For more information visit “The Demon Files” on Facebook and visit “The Demon Files” on Destination America.
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