By Nicholas R. Grossmann
Steve “Biff” Saunders is an exorcist.
Growing up in the streets of Waterbury, a tough hood—that was Steve. He lived in a shade of darkness that was really light. Steve was tested until he was broken and experienced his true gifts coming from the Holy Spirit. Call him crazy, but I have seen him in action plenty of times now.
Biff sounds like a funny kind of name, but it carries a jab to demons. He got the name because back on the school bus, he would get bullied. This happened every day until he started lifting weights and trained himself to one day respond. He beat them back down. A one-man army—or should we say, One Angel Vs. Demons. The bullies said, “Steve Biffed us…” They got the word “Biff” from the Batman TV show; when Batman would get snuffed, the screen would display the word “BIFFF!”.
He claims to be not just a human being, but part Angel. I always thought that was kind of over the top, until one night as he was performing an exorcism, I saw the wings and halo with my third eye. I knew he was real, but when he said he had wings, I was like, “Okay…” a bit skeptically. And then, there they were with the most perfect white light. The light and hue were so perfect they could not be of this world. I am not saying Biff is perfect, and he is also a bit of a wild man. The light surrounding the wings, though, was a perfect hue and contrast of white light.
His past has been a bootcamp of excruciating abuse. Most of us gifted folks have lived through many traumas, including myself. I thought my story was bad until I heard his story. I’m like, how is this dude fucking sane still after all those post-traumatic happenings? Why is he still standing? Unlike most trauma, his was under a Holy Drill Sergeant: the Holy Spirit. Of course, he had to go through hell to awaken his gifts, dealing with family issues—and I mean the worst. You can ask him to tell you those stories too. Seeing Pope John Paul II one day in his bedroom mirror was no hallucination. Biff thought he was going crazy, but he was not insane; he was a knight in armor… and he actually does have a kick-ass sword, too.
The Streets
One thing we have in common—and not just the paranormal—is that we are from the streets. His streets were a little worse than mine, but Norwalk was still bad and dangerous. I grew up in a working, middle-class family and neighborhood surrounded by the hood-hood. We all went to school together, and it was tough. As inner-city kids, these kids have no choice but to be tough… and yes, in certain neighborhoods, most have to join a gang. You see, there are unwritten rules.
I’m probably the blackest white guy you will meet. I’m Italian, Irish, and German, but I grew up Italian. Italians can cook. If you’ve ever been to a block party, then you know the people of the Black communities know their cooking as well. Also, there’s always a world of hot sauces on the side to go with your neck bones, chicken, and mac and cheese. That community always welcomed me with gates open. So yeah, I’m in those streets, and as I’m typing this, I’m in a house of the streets… New Haven. I grew up in both Norwalk and New Haven. Biff is from Waterbury, a city nicknamed “Dirty Water,” but the only water Biff uses is Holy.
There’s a haunted location there called Holy Land USA. I went exploring there many, many times, until a guy jumped out of the bushes with a 9mm and a flashlight. He wanted to rob us, but he didn’t know we were from those streets. Instead of sitting in the car with fear, the friend I was with at the time just booked it out of there. Yeah, in Waterbury, be careful where you explore. It’s an old, old, old place.
Enough, Enough Already. Onto The Demon Slaying!
Many people know I was one of the founders of ParaConn in Ansonia, along with Charles Rosenay. At one of the first conventions, a guy named Biff messaged me about a vendor table. He said he was a “faith healer.” We absolutely wanted him as a vendor. When people found out he was going to be there, they were hating on him. I figured, let’s just let him in. Frankly, I was watching his videos and they were hilarious and entertaining, so even if he’s a quack, he will still be fun to have there. I went against his haters as myself, and I have a hell of a lot of haters in the paranormal.
Most people have favorite paranormal devices—the Ovilus, the SLS camera, and EVP recorders—and I love all those devices, but the best piece of paranormal equipment, in my opinion, is the block button. For tracing and clearing unwanted energy, it works better than a smudge stick of sage. I used it to cleanse my Facebook of paranormal haters.
Biff was on an F’ing roll at ParaConn. It was nuts. He was a very energetic dude and, like an Army tank, he rocked the show. He tells me he wishes he had recorded one demon coming out of a woman and saying, “You’ll never get rid of us, Biff,” in a demonic voice. He spit Holy Water into her face and instantly she was clear of any possession. I became a fan that day, and I always thought Biff should have a TV show doing this.
Come to find myself now filming a show about the man himself called Angel Vs. Demons. I have seen some bizarre, crazy things go on during these sessions. Frankly, though, I realized that 7 out of 10 of these exorcisms run smoothly, but it’s that 3 out of 10 when you run into something dangerous and the possessed persons become aggressive. I will get into that soon.
Also at ParaConn, or CT ParaConn, they had a vendor selling all sorts of cool crucifix stuff, and there was a big one. Of course, Biff bought that. He bought the biggest, most badass one, and I call it the “Biff Stick.” He literally will beat the living hell out of you—literally without any bruises or broken noses, that is. Broken horns, though?
I grew up in a Roman Catholic background. My family was very religious, actually. My grandfather had a Billy club he kept in the closet by the door, and he always said he was going to clobber someone at the door. He was joking. But the crucifix brought back that memory of my grandmother’s house and the smell of old wood and garlic. I’m not sure what my Poppy (as we say grandpa in Italian) would think of this whole paranormal thing, but we come from an eccentric family, and he was an artist himself. My family comes from a lineage of reactive artists and musicians, as do I. He may get a kick out of it. I look back at the ’80s and ’90s and realize I took so much for granted. 2025 was weird, if you ask me.
A Street Life Type of Exorcist
He applies his street-smart and street-cred attitude to demonology. How do I know? I asked him where he learned his knowledge of that. He said, “Some of us are book-smart and some of us are street-smart.” I understood what he was saying. He also holds credentials documenting his right to be some sort of minister… I forget the exact title.
I am now filming our documentary called Angel Versus Demons. I’m fascinated by what he does. He also is funny as hell—or should I say, heck! We always rolled with the idea of filming this stuff. That’s what Steve, Hector Roque, and myself are currently doing. The first one we filmed was the craziest one so far.
A man named Bryan, who was very slender, came to Biff’s house where we did this. He had low energy and looked fatigued. Obviously, it was an attachment at least, or so I thought. Biff starts with a simple cleansing he calls “Cleaning the Vessel.” Suddenly, this man started to react. He was possessed. The demon took control of him. This guy’s arms became jacked like Popeye, and Biff and him were head-to-head. Biff throws him on the couch and says, “Demon, be gone!” He then sips Holy Water and spits it in Bryan’s face. Bryan was instantly free of the possession. This is something you never forget.
And again, to all paranormal investigators: the spirit slamming a door or throwing objects across the room from time to time is most likely a human spirit, and not what you think. It’s not a demon. Demons don’t really care about your presence. Unless you are an exorcist or spiritual in some form or manner, they won’t want anything to do with you and you will be ignored. What I’m saying is, the ones you’re provoking are most likely human.
When you come across a real demon, you will know what I mean. They have a super high IQ and are always one step ahead of us. But if you’re patient like we were and stay with these cases—like the three cases we tracked for 6 years, which are in our other upcoming film entitled Expedition Hell—you can occasionally outsmart them. It was dangerous! What we did was dangerous. We were aware of the risks, but we did what it took to document extreme paranormal evidence.
Demons have a whole different style of torture that you don’t even want to know about. I will give you an example of how uncool these things are: they made a client of ours go to the bathroom on herself in the supermarket. They took control of her body and made her… use your imagination… all over. These things will psychologically torture you, embarrass you, and ultimately break you. It feels like things are hopeless, but that’s when you hear a name like Biff that the demons are afraid of. They don’t like that name.
And by the way, these are not spirits you want to take home to mom. I’m talking to you paranormal investigators who try to provoke or, should I say, poke a succubus.
Not All Exorcisms Are Crazy
Or should I say, it starts with a simple cleansing like no other. Most of them—7 or 8 out of 10—are super calm, and then the others are crazy. You can never predict what’s going to happen during these. I have tried to predict them, and I proved to myself that you really don’t know how it’s going to go down. The people with the craziest demonic possessions have often run smoothly; however, it’s usually the normal type of people, if any, who act out, become dramatic, and are at times dangerous. But a demon can’t kill a human; it doesn’t actually have the power to do that according to demonology. Therefore, a possessed person can’t kill a human. The other thing is, when this has happened, it seems like they almost can’t harm Biff.
One example is my friend from Guatemala. His name is Merlin. We are very good friends now. This dude came into the house terrified. He said a bruja, or witch, put a curse on him. He was very quiet. I speak enough Spanish to communicate, especially with a guy from Guatemala. Actually, I learned from the Puerto Rican community; however, they speak very fast, so I often enjoy speaking Spanish to Central American people. They speak much slower. What I’m saying is, Central Americans are easier for me to speak with.
This guy, however, almost didn’t seem to understand me at first. He couldn’t talk back or communicate. Anyway, he was terrified. He didn’t seem to speak English either. Biff did a light exorcism on him, and the guy left confused. The next day, I got a message thanking me and Biff for changing his life. Fast forward to a few months later, he messaged me again saying his life completely turned around after that and he’s living the dream life on a clam boat.
Recently, he called me for a cleansing, so I met him in Bridgeport to do a cleansing on his sister as well. When he came out to my car, he spoke perfect English—well, with a strong accent, that is, but he knew enough for sure. We talked in English. I was shocked. I said to him, “I didn’t know you spoke English this well,” and he said, “I always did, but the witch made it so I couldn’t talk.” After the experience, he was back to normal and building a farm in Guatemala. This guy is a good friend of mine. Long story short, his sister had Crohn’s disease, and I put my hand on her stomach and said prayers, and she immediately threw up. She said the pain was gone. Merlin is also a kick-ass name.
Demonic Effects On The Human Condition
Another thing I have learned is how a demon can play with the DNA of a human being, morphing their body parts. In Expedition Hell, we actually have an interview with a possessed woman. The entity in her was more than social enough to answer questions and everything. So, we have footage with an actual demon or a trickster spirit. One thing this spirit did was alter her DNA, and it told us how. It astral projects and goes into the brain stem area, and once it has access, it is able to play with the DNA—making this athlete look like an 80-year-old woman. I have seen the photos of it, and trust me, there is no way she could ever fake what I saw. Makeup wouldn’t even be this detailed. The photos were genuinely of her aging in one weekend to an 80-year-old woman’s appearance, wrinkles and all. Then she went back to normal. I believe she’s in her 40s.
I first learned about this when I went to one of Lorraine’s classes. My son wasn’t even one year old, and I remember it like no other. My friend Peter Cerow, who started Ghost Storm with me, bought tickets to a ghost hunting basics class with Lorraine Warren.
I remember I had these fishing buddies. We were very passionate about our fishing trips. One night we decided to stay up until the crack of dawn, and when dawn broke, we cast out the line and lure. I remember we were out there for 15 hours. I was exhausted from it but still had the energy to go to the Warrens’ Occult Museum in Monroe. That we did. I had an experience with the Annabelle doll there. It followed me home. People who know me know the story.
Lorraine showed the infamous video of the farmer and his ears morphing, and his eyes and lips changing. The first time I saw this in the flesh would be about 9 years ago. I have had two cases where this happened, and one involved the spirit going into the brain stem. So, it did describe somewhat of the process of that phenomenon.
Another Biff Plate Special was in Stratford, involving a client and another friend. Biff did an exorcism, and her face was changing, which we have on film. It was very similar to the Warrens’ video—pointy ears and the whole deal.
Definitely not your grandma’s fine china.
Stay tuned for part two, which explores the team itself.
Journalist Nicholas R. Grossmann
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