Of course, today’s desensitized crowd won’t find a lot to be scared of in a traditional sense, but it doesn’t mean the story isn’t worthy of your attention. The way I see it, The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty is essentially a modernized version of the classic horror story of old, one telling of a battle between some form of demonic entity and agents of The higher power. They are stories pitting common folk against otherworldly evil, and ultimately, they show the ways for Man to triumph over the devil’s temptations. I don’t think I’d be too far off the mark in saying the oldest horror stories known to us are of a religious nature, depicting the ways in which regular people might fall prey to the demonic ambitions of Satan and his cohorts.
― William Peter Blatty, The Exorcist The Classic Battle Modernized in The Exorcist However, one can be certain of nothing when dealing with a demonic entity, and between Merrin’s heart disease and Damien’s lack of faith, success is anything but guaranteed. From there on out, the two priests lead a long and drawn-out battle for little Regan’s soul, prepared to give their own lives to complete the process. However, the bishop judges Damien too inexperienced for the task, and instead appoints Father Merrin to take charge of the operation. Upon seeing that Regan has become completely inhabited by some demonic entity, he requests he local bishop for the permission to perform an exorcism. Father Damien Karras is himself undergoing a personal crisis of faith at the moment, but decides to help Chris and has a few personal meetings with the child. Young Regan’s condition rapidly deteriorates as she refuses to eat or sleep, becoming increasingly wild and aggressive.Īfter a plethora of unsuccessful treatments, her mother turns to a local Jesuit priest in a desperate plea for help. What’s worse, strange occurrences have begun plaguing their house since, events with absolutely no rational explanation. Meanwhile, back in Georgetown the young Regan MacNeil, daughter to a famous actress (Chris MacNeil), has fallen inexplicably ill. We see how an elderly Jesuit priest, Father Lankester Merrin, comes across a small statue of the demon Pazuzu while leading an archaeological dig, an omen of the dark fight ahead. The story begins by taking us to Iraq, which in 1971 (when the book was released), was still viewed as an exotic land of faraway mysteries. Whereas today most horror writers will go for cheap shock value, we can thankfully always take refuge in the novels of the past, and few show the depths to which the genre can aspire to better than The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty.
In the last few decades horror stories and movies have become so commonplace they have lost much of the charm and meaning which their scarce few ancestors used to bear.
William Peter Blatty Establishes Religious Horror
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