Where there be good, there be evil...Stories of demonic possession and macabre exorcisms have been around since the 15th century. Even today many cases of possession have been classified as mental issues.
Reading The Exorcist, I basically hid my head in the blanket while sleeping for almost a week. The scenes that unfolded in the book were too disturbing to comprehend at some point. Adapted into a movie which did justice to the book, horror aficionados should definitely give this a spin.
Regan is like any other average 12-year-old but her parents are divorced. Her mother, Chris, is a busy actor aspiring to be a director. Regan suddenly becomes attached to a certain Captain Howdy who she communicates with via an Ouija board.
Things take a turn for the vicious side when Regan's imaginary friend turns out to be a demon hell-bent on mayhem and destruction. Father Karras is roped in to exorcise the demon, which leads to his imminent death.
The author was very knowledgeable on the topic of demons and exorcisms. It was clearly seen through the use of Latin, the involvement of the church in exorcism, the notion of possession as a mental illness as well as the signs of possession (putrid smells, speaking in tongues, etc.)
Truly a scary book. Stephen King's books (which are my all time favs) slowly amp up the fear factor but in this novel by William Peter Blatty, the fear is served raw to you on a platter, feeding the paranoid in us.
