This is the book that started it all – the controversial book that led to the making of “The Exorcist” (1973), one of the best horror movies of all time. It is basically based on the true story of the demonic possession of a child in 1949.
Regan MacNeil, twelve born daughter of the famous actress, Chris MacNeil, starts playing when Ouija board talking to the mysterious “Captain Howdy”, who everyone believes is just his imaginary friend. But it turns out to be a demon named Pazuzu who eventually possesses her.
The MacNeils live in a large house in Washington, DC and have three workers – the Angtrums are an expat couple who cook & world and Sharon is Regan’s tutor and works for Chris.
After a possession that decreases and decreases, Chris MacNeil, an atheist, deals in his beliefs and stress and incredible pain can’t do anything about it. He seeks religious advice from Father Damien Karas, a priest about his doubts about God. Father Merrin is brought in to perform an exorcism on Regan.
Meanwhile, Lt. William Kinderman investigates the death of his friend Chris MacNeil on the long flight of stairs under Regan’s bedroom window. It also pollutes churches and Kinderman believes that the ceremony is “black“.
Almost everyone in this novel struggles with life’s ups and downs and all are affected by their inner demons as they attack them in tangible ways.
But the air is medical at times. The image of the doctor was clearly colored. Little description of the setting and surroundings so I was faced with a blank image. There is no sense of rushing or impending doom which I felt was necessary to clearly show the seriousness of the matter. There is also a very small number of writers employed in different places; especially in the MacNeil family.
Now is the time when the air is a bit creepy – when we see and hear Regan in his room being possessed. Rudeness, I think, and vulgarity, while the blasphemy, which they felt was right, they did wrong. They did the actions, but the stories were necessary.
It’s not that many characters will follow and even fewer of the crucial characters. Actually the characters with the most depth are Chris MacNeil and Father Karas. Kinderman and Carl are quite descriptive. But the rest is rather cardboard.
Regan MacNeil is an innocent girl who is possessed by a demon. We don’t really see a lot of her not living so we don’t feel it as much as possible. I wish we’d seen more of her which added to the horror.
Chris MacNeil played the rising actress and mother Regan and we see the character the most. We see him more deeply and feel all his pains, anxieties, and distresses.
Father Damien Karas is a priest/psychologist who is recruited by Chris MacNeil to help his daughter Regan and takes part in an exorcism. We find a struggle for his faith.
Lt. William Kinderman is a detective investigating the possible murder of the director and Chris’s friend. His character seemed absent minded and uncultivated like Columbus.
Sharon is Regan’s guardian and Chris’ assistant around the house.
Carl & Willy Angstrom are the guardians of Chris’ European population.
Father Dyer is a friend and acquaintance of Damien Karas. Later he becomes friends with L. William Kinderman.
The pace of things is rather unhurried. There are frequent pauses in the diatribe of philosophical discussions about life and evil. They are interesting, but some horror fans feel that this distracts from the horror aspect of the story. But they add a lot of depth to the characters and show how evil affects us. The level of writing is great though. It is easy to read and write.
The basic story is written neatly but then a few characters have their own battles to fight
I liked this book a lot but I didn’t love him. It should be separated into three subjects: the horror of demon possessionregan, characters struggling with their beliefs about God. religion, life, the universe, and the clinical analysis of mental disorders.
The clinical analysis is interesting but it got a bit repetitive. Not everyone said that.
Demonic possession saying and doing sacrilegious things very vulgar and obscene but necessary to portray a demon. But, if not for these scenes, the book is not very scary. More disturbing than Scary.Instead of being affected by Regan’s pains, we feel more pains around him.
Competing with their known beliefs about God, religion, life, and the world, this new focus is on truth. We see the power of an actress trying to ignite her religious beliefs, a man’s love for his son, a detective who knows more than he’s letting on, and more. That is very well done and forces you to look at your beliefs, which I know.
This new thing is great if you like philosophical debates and exploring the validity of mental illness pos-vs. But if you’re hoping for a quick, physically terrifying and gory story, this isn’t for you. Don’t get me wrong, this has some good horror scenes but, overall, it’s more psychological. The movie works better horror-wise because of the visual horror, which I found a million times scarier than reading the descriptions of it.
A must read for horror fans! 3.5/5
