The World of Myth Magazine

It's October, my favorite time of year! What better way to bring in the month that's associated with ghosts, demons, and all things scary than by facing one of my biggest fears and revisit The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty once again.

The Exorcist is touted to be one of the most horrifying novels for a good reason, both the book and the movie have been terrifying people consistently for fifty years now, myself included. I first saw the movie when I was eight years old and I won't lie, it scared me so badly that even to this day I can't even be in the same room that the movie is playing. I decided at the wise age of 13 that reading the book was a good idea…let me just say that it was not, and although I managed to read it all, I didn't sleep for weeks. At that point in my life, I was also dabbling with Ouija boards and the spirit world, so I thought I could handle it. I tried to read the book again in my twenties and didn't make it past the first hundred pages.

Now that I'm a "few" years older, I decided to give The Exorcist another go for two reasons, firstly, to finally get rid of the almost phobia of it and all things associated with it, and to see if reading it after all these years with the knowledge I have now when it comes to all things paranormal and spooky, if I would come out of it with something new other than being terrified. I wasn't disappointed.

The novel begins on the other side of the world at an archaeological dig where we first get introduced to the demon Pazuzu and briefly meet Father Merrin and the stage is set for the battle of good vs. evil that ensues later in the novel.

We are then whisked off to Washington and the life of actress Chris MacNeil and her eleven year old daughter Regan. To pass the time while her mom is at work Regan spends most of her time in the playroom located in the basement of their rented home. Down there she finds a Ouija board and begins playing with it and communicating with what Chris assumes is an imaginary friend named Captain Howdy. Not long afterwards, a strange rapping noise begins to be heard and is brushed off as rats in the attic. The strange sounds worsen as Regan begins to act oddly and complains of horrible smells in her room and her bed shaking.

As Regans condition worsens, Chris takes her to doctor after doctor looking for help. After a stay in an out of state hospital, with no further answers, Chris brings her daughter home and begins the search for an alternate answer, one which she feels might be possession. This leads her to a Jesuit priest, Father Damien Karras who is also a psychologist. It's important to know that Father Karras is struggling with his faith, having just lost his mother when he is introduced to the story.

Father Damien agrees to meet with Regan, fully believing that her problem would be purely a mental health issue and not possession and goes through all of her medical records searching for the answer. At a loss for a medical reason to explain things, and the conversations he had with Regan, where the 12 year old spewed blasphemous obscenities at the priest, and at one point spoke to him with the voice of his recently deceased mother, and then in the next breath the voice of Chris' director who had fallen to his death from Regan's bedroom window was speaking through Regan. The entity within Regan taunts everyone who enters the room, telling their worst fears, or deepest secrets.

This is where the book veers from the horrifying descriptions of the changes going on with Regan, like the spine chilling part where she slithers down the stairs, or the nightmare inducing scene with the crucifix and things done with said item and delves into Father Damien's' internal battle with his faith and beliefs. After exhausting all of the medical testing and finding no answer to what plagues Regan, he has to come to terms that she is in fact possessed and goes through the channels needed to gain permission for an exorcism to happen.

Permission is granted and Father Karras is told that he would be assisting in the exorcism. The priest that would be leading the ritual was going to be the priest we met in the beginning of the book, Father Merrin, who had been waiting for the call since his discovery at the archeological dig.

Father Merrin arrives and the battle for Regans soul begins. The demon Pazuzu and Merrin greet each other like old rivals who have fought before, and in fact they had years before. As the fight between good and evil reaches a pinnacle and you begin to breathe a bit easier because it looks like the priest is going to win, and Regan will finally be free of the demon when all of a sudden Father Merrin collapses to the floor and dies. Now the only hope Regan has to be saved is Father Damien, a man who is not as devout as Merrin was. I again found myself holding my breath tearing through the pages to see if his faith was strong enough to defeat Pazuzu.

In a whirlwind ending, Father Damien taunts Pazuzu and offers a trade, his soul for Regan's. The deal is made and just as you think the demon won in the end, Father Damien throws himself out of the window and is found dead at the bottom of the stairs to the house with a smile on his face, and Regan is back to herself, with no signs of Pazuzu left anywhere. I like to believe that Father Damien rediscovered his faith in the end and was rewarded for it, which is why he died smiling.

The Exorcist is a great read, and I'll be revisiting it again one day.

Until next time
Cheers and happy reading!