The Exorcist: Quite possibly the most terrifying novel ever written . . .

William Peter Blatty

Jan 2010 · Random House

About this ebook

Father Damien Karras: 'Where is Regan?'
Regan MacNeil: 'In here. With us.'

The terror begins unobtrusively. Noises in the attic. In the child's room, an odd smell, the displacement of furniture, an icy chill. At first, easy explanations are offered. Then frightening changes begin to appear in eleven-year-old Regan. Medical tests fail to shed any light on her symptoms, but it is as if a different personality has invaded her body.

Father Damien Karras, a Jesuit priest, is called in. Is it possible that a demonic presence has possessed the child? Exorcism seems to be the only answer...

First published in 1971, The Exorcist became a literary phenomenon and inspired one of the most shocking films ever made. This edition, polished and expanded by the author, includes new dialogue, a new character and a chilling new extended scene, provides an unforgettable reading experience that has lost none of its power to shock and continues to thrill and terrify new readers.

Ratings and reviews

An OK read. A few bits were quite horrible and unnecessarily sexual considering they were about a child! I felt I didn't really connect with the characters so well. It did seem to drag at times - not that much actually happened.

It was ok. Not nearly as scary as I thought it would be. The Chris character was thoroughly boring and the Kinderman character was downright insufferable and annoying. I've watched both the movie and the series and this is certainly one of those very rare times that the screen version is far better than the print version.

I think the film benefited for being shorter, as the story was cut down to the essentials. But this is still a great, involving story that's well told and atmospheric. It's a tribute to it's effectiveness that, despite having seen the film god knows how many times and knowing the story backwards, it still drew me in.

About the author

The novelist and Academy Award-winning screenwriter William Peter Blatty was born in 1928. The Exorcist was first published in 1971 and has become one of the defining works of horror fiction. His other novels include The Ninth Configuration, Legion, Elsewhere and Dimiter. He died in 2017.