The Exorcist: A Novel

""A horror story for all midnights."" -The Boston Globe

“Read the book. It's an experience you will never forget.”-St. Louis Post-Dispatch

The phenomenal #1 bestseller that inspired the classic motion picture, which remains the most terrifying and unforgettable horror novel ever written.

Originally published in 1971, The Exorcist is a bestselling literary phenomenon and remains one of the most frightening and controversial novels ever written.

Based on true events of a child's demonic possession in the 1940s, The Exorcist tells the story of eleven-year-old Regan MacNeil and her mother Chris, a famous actress and doting mother. When Regan's personality unexpectedly shifts and she starts exhibiting disturbing, often violent behavior, her desperate mother is driven to seek help from two Catholic priests, men who will risk everything-including their own souls- to free the girl from the ancient malevolent force possessing her.

Purposefully raw and profane, this novel still has the extraordinary ability to shock readers and cause them to forget that it is “just a story.” More than fifty years after its initial publication, The Exorcist remains a truly unforgettable reading experience.

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The Exorcist: A Novel

""A horror story for all midnights."" -The Boston Globe

“Read the book. It's an experience you will never forget.”-St. Louis Post-Dispatch

The phenomenal #1 bestseller that inspired the classic motion picture, which remains the most terrifying and unforgettable horror novel ever written.

Originally published in 1971, The Exorcist is a bestselling literary phenomenon and remains one of the most frightening and controversial novels ever written.

Based on true events of a child's demonic possession in the 1940s, The Exorcist tells the story of eleven-year-old Regan MacNeil and her mother Chris, a famous actress and doting mother. When Regan's personality unexpectedly shifts and she starts exhibiting disturbing, often violent behavior, her desperate mother is driven to seek help from two Catholic priests, men who will risk everything-including their own souls- to free the girl from the ancient malevolent force possessing her.

Purposefully raw and profane, this novel still has the extraordinary ability to shock readers and cause them to forget that it is “just a story.” More than fifty years after its initial publication, The Exorcist remains a truly unforgettable reading experience.

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The Exorcist: A Novel

The Exorcist: A Novel

by William Peter Blatty

Narrated by William Peter Blatty, Eliana Shaskan

Unabridged — 12 hours, 52 minutes

The Exorcist: A Novel

The Exorcist: A Novel

by William Peter Blatty

Narrated by William Peter Blatty, Eliana Shaskan

Unabridged — 12 hours, 52 minutes

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Overview

""A horror story for all midnights."" -The Boston Globe

“Read the book. It's an experience you will never forget.”-St. Louis Post-Dispatch

The phenomenal #1 bestseller that inspired the classic motion picture, which remains the most terrifying and unforgettable horror novel ever written.

Originally published in 1971, The Exorcist is a bestselling literary phenomenon and remains one of the most frightening and controversial novels ever written.

Based on true events of a child's demonic possession in the 1940s, The Exorcist tells the story of eleven-year-old Regan MacNeil and her mother Chris, a famous actress and doting mother. When Regan's personality unexpectedly shifts and she starts exhibiting disturbing, often violent behavior, her desperate mother is driven to seek help from two Catholic priests, men who will risk everything-including their own souls- to free the girl from the ancient malevolent force possessing her.

Purposefully raw and profane, this novel still has the extraordinary ability to shock readers and cause them to forget that it is “just a story.” More than fifty years after its initial publication, The Exorcist remains a truly unforgettable reading experience.


Editorial Reviews

MARCH 2012 - AudioFile

Forty years ago THE EXORCIST enraged and grossed out Americans with its profanity, Christian sacrilege, and vile excretions. The novel, now familiar to millions, is still an engaging horror story still shocking in its explicit descriptions. In reading his own work, Blatty has an intimate understanding of how it should sound, and his delivery feels natural to the overall tone of the book. When he bellows the demon voices from the possessed child, Regan, his enthusiasm for the role is fully engaged. But overall, he lacks a dramatic spark, and the story frequently drags. Eliana Shaskan is credited as a narrator, but her voice is only used briefly, as an audio effect. F.T. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine

Texas Abilene Reporter-News

"A fantastic and deeply religious novel that will touch the reader to his very soul as it touches on things in this world that cannot be explained away rationally."

London Sunday Express

"A tremendous novel . . . fast, powerful, and completely gripping, a hypnotic combination of morality tale and supernatural detective story. A parable for our times, a stunning achievement."

Cosmopolitan

"Up till dawn, I was, with The Exorcist. A shocker . . . driving to a violent conclusion."

Newsweek

"Wonderfully exciting."

|Los Angeles Times

"Immensely satisfying, it hold its readers in a vise-like grip worthy of Poe."

Life

"A page-turner par excellence. Poe and Mary Shelley would recognize [Blatty] as working in their ambiguous limbo between the natural and the supernatural . . . hair-rising."

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

"The Exorcist should be read twice; the first time for the passion and horrifying intensity of the story, with a second reading to savor the subtleties of language and phrasing. . . . It's an experience you will never forget."

New York Times Book Review

"There are not many readers who will be unmoved. Written in a literate style, The Exorcist is to most other novels of its kind as an Einstein equation is to an accountant's column of figures."

The Boston Globe

"A horror story for all midnights."

Cleveland Plain Dealer

"Absolutely superb. Blatty makes you think this scary tale really might have happened."

Newsweek

Wonderfully exciting.

From the Publisher

"A horror story for all midnights." — The Boston Globe

"There are not many readers who will be unmoved. Written in a literate style, The Exorcist is to most other novels of its kind as an Einstein equation is to an accountant's column of figures." — New York Times Book Review

"Immensely satisfying, it hold its readers in a vise-like grip worthy of Poe." — Los Angeles Times

"Wonderfully exciting." — Newsweek

"Absolutely superb. Blatty makes you think this scary tale really might have happened." — Cleveland Plain Dealer

"Up till dawn, I was, with The Exorcist. A shocker . . . driving to a violent conclusion." — Cosmopolitan

"A page-turner par excellence. Poe and Mary Shelley would recognize [Blatty] as working in their ambiguous limbo between the natural and the supernatural . . . hair-rising." — Life

"A tremendous novel . . . fast, powerful, and completely gripping, a hypnotic combination of morality tale and supernatural detective story. A parable for our times, a stunning achievement." — London Sunday Express

"The Exorcist should be read twice; the first time for the passion and horrifying intensity of the story, with a second reading to savor the subtleties of language and phrasing. . . . It's an experience you will never forget." — St. Louis Post-Dispatch

"Suspense that never lets up!" — Publishers Weekly

"A fantastic and deeply religious novel that will touch the reader to his very soul as it touches on things in this world that cannot be explained away rationally." — Texas Abilene Reporter-News

MARCH 2012 - AudioFile

Forty years ago THE EXORCIST enraged and grossed out Americans with its profanity, Christian sacrilege, and vile excretions. The novel, now familiar to millions, is still an engaging horror story still shocking in its explicit descriptions. In reading his own work, Blatty has an intimate understanding of how it should sound, and his delivery feels natural to the overall tone of the book. When he bellows the demon voices from the possessed child, Regan, his enthusiasm for the role is fully engaged. But overall, he lacks a dramatic spark, and the story frequently drags. Eliana Shaskan is credited as a narrator, but her voice is only used briefly, as an audio effect. F.T. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID: 2940173632227
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication date: 10/04/2011
Edition description: Unabridged
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