demonomaniac

Why this word is great

DEMONOMANIAC — [Noun] One who suffers from demonomania; a person gripped by the delusion of demonic possession or an unnatural terror of infernal forces. From demono- (combining form of 'demon') + -maniac (combining form denoting obsession or madness). Unlike a "demonologist" (who studies demons with clinical detachment) or an "exorcist" (who battles them as an external threat), the demonomaniac is the haunted house itself—walls trembling with unseen footsteps, attic whispering in tongues, foundations groaning under the weight of an invisible siege. It is the sweat-slick grip on a crucifix at midnight, the ragged fingernails clawing at unmarked skin, the ceaseless dialogue with a voice only they can hear: the exquisite torment of being both prisoner and warden to a hell of one’s own making.