The Exorcist - A review

The Exorcist is by far the scariest horror novel I have read. It was written by William Peter Blatty in 1971 and is based on an actual case that allegedly happened in 1949.

It revolves around the supposed demonic possession of an eleven year old girl named Regan MacNeil who is the daughter of a famous actress in America. 2 priests attempt to rid this girl of the demons that allegedly possessed Regan. On the cover of the book, it says "The most terrifying novel ever written." Rightly so, because first chapter in, it's already getting scary. Hell, the scary starts on the first page of the book. I'll pick up the section on the first page of the book and write it here.

'And as Jesus stepped ashore, there met him a man from the city who was possessed by demons..... Many times they had laid hold of him and he was bound with chains.....but he would break the bonds asunder.....

And Jesus asked him, "what is your name?" And he answered, “Legion, for we are many.” '

In my opinion this is one of the best ways to start a horror novel. It creates an atmosphere that is perfect for the idea of the book, and it keeps the readers right where they're supposed to be, on the verge of a heart attack.

After the great depression in America after the stock market crash of 1929, all of the world was in grief as the economies of several countries went downhill. It was a terrible time and people needed something to cheer up about. Therefore, the era of comedies began. Hollywood was full of comedies after the great depression and it was laugh city all around. At the time, that's what people needed. But people can only stick with a genre for a certain period of time, and that makes sense. The writer William Blatty was determined to write a horror novel and to take this job seriously, he even isolated himself from the outside world to step into the mindset needed to deliver such a book. And he came up with the exorcist. After the comedy era, people needed something new, there had been enough comedies, a new era of a new genre was much needed. And it was afoot.

The exorcist starts with a famous actress, the single mother and her daughter normally living their life, which was quite luxurious. Small family and the woman of the family being an actress in Hollywood. There are occasional horror things that keep us within the horror loop of the theme and that rapidly escalates in the later chapters. Blatty paints such a vivid picture with all the details that it makes us feel as if we're present in that house with the two people.

Regan MacNeil finds an Ouija board in her house and without knowing the seriousness of the board she starts playing with it, and here begins the horror arc of the movie. The chain of events escalate from sounds to bangs to full fletched demonic possession. That's why Regan's mother seeks help from the church. Because she has given up on medical help, it seems to be no help at all. All of her health signs look normal and yet her behavior seems to be getting worse day by day. One of the most terrifying moments of the book is when, out of the blue, Regan, who is now fully possessed by the demons comes down the stairs in a grotesque position. That is completely unexpected for the readers as just before this moment, a normal conversation between the priest and Regan's mother was taking place. Such impromptu moments make the book and the horror scheme even better.

The book ends with Regan MacNeil being rid of the demons but the priest is inevitably sacrificed as he summons the demons inside him and then kills himself, ultimately cleansing the world of those demons.

It's said that the movies which are inspired from books are never as good as the original books. In this case, however, I would say both the book and the movie are equally terrifying. Simply because they didn't miss a single detail of the book while filming the movie. That's what makes it such a great book eventually leading to an equally great movie.

If you're looking for a good read that will scare your wits out of you, this book is definitely for you.