William Peter Blatty's The Exorcist is proving to be a brilliant Halloween read...

Submitted by MenitoBussolini t3_ygqkt3 in books

I'm only halfway through but man - the way he builds up Regan's degrading condition to the very detail, and the way he makes you watch as her mother scrambles to find medical answers until all other options have been exhausted is horrifying. The prose itself is unbelievable too, it took me a bit to get the hang of it but his similes (one that stuck with me was Father Karras opening the door to his mother's apartment "as if it were a tender wound") and just the unbelievably eerie descriptions he gives of even the tiniest things. It all adds up to a book that's got me surprisingly scared, bringing back not-so-fond memories of the film adaptation clips I found when I was like 10 and got traumatised for life 💀

Have you read it or watched the movie? What'd you think? And did you ever catch anything else by the author? I hear Legion is nice.

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Bright_Broccoli1844 t1_iu9ws4b wrote

I watched the movie on my VCR on a sunny Saturday afternoon. I needed to see the beautiful summer day through the patio door to keep myself grounded. I would watch a little, stop the tape for a while, then go back to watching it.

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Kuzzoom t1_iu9xgod wrote

I had the pleasure of reading it during a week I spent in a seedy motel. I remember having to pause and step outside now and again when my imagination started to get away from me.

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reddplay t1_iu9xpup wrote

The Exorcist, The Ninth Configuration, and Legion, are all very good, though in different ways. That's all I've read by Blatty so far. He's recently become a well loved author for me. All 3 of these books are great movies also.

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MenitoBussolini OP t1_iu9z6wi wrote

Replying to Bright_Broccoli1844 (#319,906)

It's been less than half an hour and already two people in these replies mentioned how the book and movie made them take breaks to go outside, lol

Proving to be a new way to get people to experience the great outdoors

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Negative-Net-9455 t1_iua6lw3 wrote

It's one of those rare instances, in my opnion, where the movie is better than the book.

I found the book a turgid slog to be honest and Legion was self-indulgent twaddle.

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SSSS_car_go t1_iuabgb3 wrote

Beatty was a family friend when my family lived in Beirut in the early 50s, when he and my dad worked for USIA. The first of his books that I read is Which Way to Mecca, Jack? , a comic novel that couldn’t be farther from his Exorcist. Part of it took place on an airplane, see, and the Muslims needed to pray toward Mecca . . . I think he wrote other comic novels, if you need a break from his horror!

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WordBadger t1_iuair8m wrote

I really enjoyed the book for similar reasons and haven't even thought about it for years. Thanks for the reminder. I like how it kept the dichotomy of medical vs supernatural going right to the very end.

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DunkinRadio t1_iuaokez wrote

When you're finished you'll realize that at its core it's not a book about the demonic possession of a little girl. (I don't want to spoil it for you).

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Chicachikka t1_iuapag3 wrote

Hi I’ve read the book and watched the film.

What I took from it is that the devil/ evil wants us to see ourselves as loathsome and unlovable. They were beautiful beings but have made themselves cursed and they want to bring is as low and bestial as possible hence the ugliness and vulgar displays. Also put me iff using any kind if seance/ ouija for life. I haven’t read Legion hit Ive read “ House of Darkness, House of Light” about the Perron haunting.

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jonmuller t1_iuavf17 wrote

I liked it but didn't love it. I thought the detective subplot was tedious. Just finished it about 2 weeks ago and I haven't seen the movie either so I plan on watching it soon to compare

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tanukis_parachute t1_iuavo2y wrote

I read it when I was a teen in the 80’s. I also lived near Georgetown and on weekends my HS friends and I would go to Dixie liquors. It was located right next to the stairs from the movie. It might have been the scariest book I have ever read. It kept me up a few nights after I read it.

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urmangina t1_iuby2k2 wrote

I remember reading Legion and it scaring the crap outta me. The worst was I was reading it late one night and my friends started banging on my window. I damn near jumped out of my skin. Lol

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letmevent02 t1_iubzlk6 wrote

Personally i felt the book was so so much better than the movie, i read it about 2 years ago and boy was that a riveting read! I often reread it during Halloween. The build up in the book was incredible. And truly the way it showed how helpless the mom was,how much she wanted answers but she didn't know what to do besides medical intervention,it really was such a good read.

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Remy_C t1_iuc7gfm wrote

With should listen to the audiobook read by him — the more recent one. He does a very good job, and it lends even more atmosphere to what's already a very disturbing book.

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Saturnas333 t1_iuc9w1k wrote

It’s a good one for sure. If you ever feel like revisiting it down the road you can find it read by the author on YouTube. He does a wonderful job!

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BrodyTuck t1_iuce4gg wrote

My knees were injured and I could not go on mission. I read this in one day alone in the hooch. Probably the scariest and best horror book I ever read.

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VincentVegaFFF t1_iuekzfy wrote

Big fan of both the movie and the book. Legion is on my TBR list but I enjoyed The Exorcist III film, flawed though it is.

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geminisauce876 t1_iui931a wrote

My father has fond but scared memories of reading this novel on a solo road trip back in the 70s, so he consumed it entirely in dark, unfamiliar cheap motels... very strong memory to this day.

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