So: let’s start this review with a confession: the movie The Exorcist (1973) is one of my favourite horror films. I first saw it at a one-off showing at my university in 1983, and afterwards being so unnerved that I walked back home in the dark very quickly, thinking, “It’s only a film!”
I have watched it many times since, and although the initial shock has lessened, the film still has a certain energy, a frisson that chills.
The reason for me saying this here is that I have never read the novel.
I remember when it was first published, and the impact of the film at about the same time, but I was 9 and more interested in Robert A Heinlein’s novels and The Lord of the Rings at that point – you know, that book they could never make a film of.
The Exorcist novel has remained a bestseller since its first publication, with over 13 million copies in the US alone, and yet I’ve never been bothered to try and read it. “The film is so good”, I’ve reasoned, “why would I want to read the book?” (I know, I know.)
But with the release of a 55th anniversary edition, and with us approaching Halloween, I finally thought it would be worth a try for the Countdown to Halloween. After all, what harm could it do?
I was surprised how closely the plot of the novel follows the film. These days that is unusual – and perhaps another reason for not reading the book up to this point – would the book really give any more detail? – but then after finishing the novel, I then discovered that the novel was adapted for the screen by the author, so perhaps it shouldn’t be so much of a surprise.
There are three major viewpoints in the novel. The most important is that focussing on Chris MacNeil, a film actress currently filming in Washington DC**, and her daughter Regan. Regan is a sweet, fairly typical twelve-year-old who suddenly begins to act moodily and out of character. Much of this is put down to the emotional trauma of being a teenager at first, as well as perhaps being separated from her absentee father.
However, when strange poltergeist activities start happening in the house, Chris, despite her own ambivalence to religion, calls in a local young priest, Father Damien Karras, who in turn brings in Father Merrin, an experienced priest recently returned from archaeological gigs in Iraq. Unknown to Chris, both priests have their own personal issues – following the recent death of his mother, Karras appears to have lost his faith (and yes, the use of the name Damien in a character is not lost to me) and Merrin is old and has health issues which he keeps hidden.
The rest of the book deals with the attempts to perform an exorcism on Regan and the consequences of that.
Well, whatever I was expecting from the book was not what I got.
In fact, the book is a scarier and more nuanced version of what we get in the film.
The book has the space to give details that the film glossed over, and as a result it seems that the additional details, the small extra things create a greater depth and make it all seem more real, more plausible, albeit in scenes from the 1970’s. This is a book that adds detail and nuance to the characters I have seen many times in the film. Their actions are pretty much the same, but now their actions seem more appropriate and have more meaning.
I found that this detail, combined with the book’s matter-of-factness, got to me. It also may be because that this novel is not set in a Gothic mansion, but in a quietly respectable rented house in Washington DC. that made it all seem possible.
One of the elements of the novel I felt added to this reality further was the minutiae given from the Catholic Church and the philosophical discussions around what the Church could and couldn’t do. There is considerable tension created over whether the Church could and should get involved with the situation, not to mention the role of good and evil and the actions the Catholic Church can take in limiting the effects of evil. And yes, it is an important part of the film, but I felt that the book gives it more detail and therefore more weight.
I wouldn’t say that I am particularly religious; I am probably like Chris in the book, deeply sceptical, although I am quite accepting for others to hold that belief. The actions of the religion in the book are honourable, well-meaning and generally for the good. The result of this is that whilst I don’t think I believe, it is clear that many do – and that in this novel they act for the greater good, as they see it. Their actions seem both appropriate and real, and their matter-of-factness with both the clinical and the spiritual dilemmas, gives the book a truthful tone.
Do you need to know the movie? No, in fact I would say that you might be better going in to this knowing no more than “It’s also a scary movie.”
But undeniably the shock is still there. I was surprised how much some of the graphic language and the actions taken still shock, but they are not gratuitous – they are there for a purpose. Still, not bad for a 55 year-old novel. When a book these days is seen by many as old no more than 5 years after its first publication, there’s a lot to be said for a 55-year-old book that still grabs the attention.
And talking of age, there are elements of the book that are of that time, admittedly. References to Paul Newman and Clark Gable and Sonny & Cher, brands such as Calso Water, (a calcified water drink for stomach upsets) a dinner party that reminds me of those old pictures of fondue and Tupperware from the 1970’s all seem faintly quaint now, but do emphasise that what is happening in the book is real.
Generally the characters have aged pretty well, although one of the characters, Lieutenant Kinderman, read like he was Peter Falk’s Columbo in human form (but I guess that that might be deliberate.) But most of it holds up pretty well, and I found that reading the book as if it was set in the 1970’s helped.
And this one definitely does. This is a book I read in three days without meaning to. In fact, I would say that The Exorcist is one of the scariest books I have ever read. I found myself thinking about the novel for a while after I had finished it, for me the sign of a good book. The novel adds to and enhances the film, which I will, again, probably watch over Halloween this year. But the book is something else.
I’m surprised, although I really shouldn’t be, that (again) a book is better than the film, adding to the whole experience. Perhaps the biggest complement you can give a Horror novel is that whilst reading, it felt real. The Exorcist, whilst reading, felt real.
This just shows that despite its age, the novel still has something about it, that holds the reader’s attention, makes you care about the characters, and gives enough of a chill to make an agnostic reader wonder “What if?” It had me looking in corners again, which as a man in his sixties I rarely do these days.
Recommended.
And with that we bring our Countdown to Halloween 2026 to a close. We hope, as ever, that our reviews have been useful and you’ve found them entertaining and useful.
Happy Halloween, everyone.
© 2026 Mark Yon
Hardback | 3AM Books
THE EXORCIST by William Peter Blatty
October 2026 | First published in 1971.
340 pages
ISBN: 978-006 0103 651
* And yes, I know the book came first, but I saw the film first and know it better.
**Was allegedly based on Shirley MacLaine, which I can see.
