The phenomenal #1 bestseller that inspired the classic motion picture--= the most terrifying and unforgettable horror novel ever written--now available as a Harper Perennial Olive Edition.

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

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

Originally published in 1971, The Exorcist was a bestselling literary phenomenon and one of the most frightening--and controversial--novels ever written. Based on true events--a child's demonic possession in the 1940s--it is the story of eleven-year-old Regan MacNeil, whose sudden disturbing, and often violent, behavior drive her desperate mother, Chris, a famous actress, to eventually seek help from two Catholic priests, men who will risk everything--including their own souls-- to free the girl from an 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.

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

Inspired by the shockingly true story of a child's demonic possession in the 1940s, William Peter Blatty's iconic novel focuses on Regan, the eleven-year-old daughter of a movie actress residing in Washington, D.C. When sweet Regan's behavior turns sinister, a small group of overwhelmed yet determined individuals take it upon themselves to rescue the poor girl from her unspeakable fate. Timeless and terrifying, The Exorcist is a story that has gripped the public zeitgeist for more than half a century.

Originally published in 1971, it remains one of the most controversial novels ever written. A literary phenomenon soon after its release, it spent fifty-seven weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, seventeen consecutively at number one. It also became a wildly popular motion picture, garnering ten Academy Award nominations. On the opening day of the film, lines of fans stretched around city blocks. In Chicago, frustrated moviegoers used a battering ram to gain entry through the double side doors of a theater. In Kansas City, police used tear gas to disperse an impatient crowd who tried to force their way into a cinema. The three major television networks carried footage of these events, and CBS's Walter Cronkite devoted almost ten minutes to the story. The Exorcist was, and is, more than just a novel and a film: it is a true landmark of American culture. . . and a reflection of our innermost fears.

Purposefully raw and profane, The Exorcist continues to engross and disturb readers. It remains an unforgettable reading experience that will continue to shock and frighten new generations of readers.

From a master of the genre, William Peter Blatty, comes Legion, the harrowing sequel to The Exorcist and the inspiration to the movie The Exorcist III.

A young boy is found horribly murdered in a mock crucifixion. Is the murderer the elderly woman who witnessed the crime? A neurologist who can no longer bear the pain life inflicts on its victims? A psychiatrist with a macabre sense of humor and a guilty secret? A mysterious patient, locked in silent isolation in the psychiatric ward?

Lieutenant Kinderman follows a bewildering trail that links all these people, confronting a new enigma at every turn even as more murders surface, with each victim suffering the same dreadful mutilations. Kinderman must confront the creeping suspicion that there's a connection between these crimes and another series of murders that took place more than a decade ago―and supposedly ended with the death of the Gemini Killer.

Legion is a classic novel of breathtaking terror, an extraordinary journey into the uncharted depths of the human mind, and has been hailed as being infinitely more suspenseful than The Exorcist. (Los Angeles Times)

From the author of The Exorcist -- Legion, a classic tale of horror, is back in print

A young boy is found horribly murdered in a mock crucifixion. Is the murderer the elderly woman who witnessed the crime? A neurologist who can no longer bear the pain life inflicts on its victims? A psychiatrist with a macabre sense of humor and a guilty secret? A mysterious mental patient, locked in silent isolation?

Lieutenant Kinderman follows a bewildering trail that links all these people, confronting a new enigma at every turn even as more murders surface. Why does each victim suffer the same dreadful mutilations? Why are two of the victims priests? Is there a connection between these crimes and another series of murders that took place twelve years ago--and supposedly ended with the death of the killer?

Legion is a novel of breathtaking energy and suspense. But more than this, it is an extraordinary journey into the uncharted depths of the human mind and the most agonizing questions of the human condition.

The answers are revealed in a climax so stunning that it could only have been written by the author of The Exorcist--William Peter Blatty.

What an excellent day for an exorcism...

Originally published in 1971, The Exorcist remains one of the most controversial novels ever written. A literary phenomenon soon after its release, it spent fifty-seven weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, seventeen consecutively at number one. Inspired by the shockingly true story of a child's demonic possession in the 1940s, William Peter Blatty's iconic novel focuses on Regan, the eleven-year-old daughter of a movie actress residing in Washington, D.C. When sweet Regan's behavior turns sinister, a small group of overwhelmed yet determined individuals take it upon themselves to rescue the poor girl from her unspeakable fate. Timeless and terrifying, The Exorcist is a story that has gripped the public zeitgeist for nearly half a century.

Soon after its publication, The Exorcist became a wildly popular motion picture, garnering ten Academy Award nominations. On the opening day of the film, lines of fans stretched around city blocks. In Chicago, frustrated moviegoers used a battering ram to gain entry through the double side doors of a theater. In Kansas City, police used tear gas to disperse an impatient crowd who tried to force their way into a cinema. The three major television networks carried footage of these events, and CBS's Walter Cronkite devoted almost ten minutes to the story. The Exorcist was, and is, more than just a novel and a film: it is a true landmark of American culture. . .and a reflection of our innermost fears.

Purposefully raw and profane, The Exorcist continues to engross and disturb readers. Now, fifty years since its publication, it remains an unforgettable reading experience that will continue to shock and frighten a new generation of readers.

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Exorcist, William Peter Blatty's The Ninth Configuration is a thought-provoking, blackly comic journey into the heart of madness--and the outer limits of belief--that served as the basis of an acclaimed film (also known as Twinkle, Twinkle, Killer Kane).

Hidden away in a brooding Gothic manor in the deep woods is Center Eighteen, a secret military rest camp currently housing twenty-seven inmates, all officers who have succumbed to a sudden outbreak of mental illness. Have the men truly lost their minds, are they only pretending to be insane to avoid combat, or is some more sinister conspiracy at work?

Desperate for answers, the Pentagon has placed a brilliant Marine psychiatrist in charge of the base and its deranged occupants. A man of deep faith and compassion, Colonel Kane hopes to uncover the root of the men's bizarre obsessions. But as Center Eighteen descends into chaos, Kane finds the greatest challenge may be his own buried demons. . .

Si la medicina y la psiquiatría no ayudan, puede el exorcismo ser la respuesta? Ha llegado el momento para el implacable rito que enfrenta a exorcista y demonio en duelo mortal.

El exorcista es una de las obras de ficción más sobrecogedoras y terroríficas jamás escritas. Basada en un hecho real, ocurrido en la década de los cuarenta del siglo pasado, la protagonista es una niña de apenas once años que sufre terribles transformaciones, sobre todo en su comportamiento. Ni médicos ni científicos ni psicólogos son capaces de hallar la causa de tal estado y paulatinamente todo se va decantando hacia la hipótesis de que la niña está poseída por el demonio. Publicada en 1971, El exorcista es una de las novelas más sobrecogedoras y terroríficas jamás escritas, y ha dado origen a una saga cinematográfica y una serie de televisión de culto.

ENGLISH DESCRIPTION

The book that inspired the sequel to the adapted film, directed by David Gordon Green

Originally published in 1971, The Exorcist is now a major television series on FOX. It remains one of the most controversial novels ever written and went on to become a literary phenomenon: It spent fifty-seven weeks on The New York Times bestseller list, seventeen consecutively at number one.

Inspired by a true story of a child's demonic possession in the 1940s, William Peter Blatty created an iconic novel that focuses on Regan, the eleven-year-old daughter of a movie actress residing in Washington, D.C. A small group of overwhelmed yet determined individuals must rescue Regan from her unspeakable fate, and the drama that ensues is gripping and unfailingly terrifying.

Two years after its publication, The Exorcist was, of course, turned into a wildly popular motion picture, garnering ten Academy Award nominations. On opening day of the film, lines of the novel's fans stretched around city blocks. In Chicago, frustrated moviegoers used a battering ram to gain entry through the double side doors of a theater. In Kansas City, police used tear gas to disperse an impatient crowd who tried to force their way into a cinema. The three major television networks carried footage of these events; CBS's Walter Cronkite devoted almost ten minutes to the story. The Exorcist was, and is, more than just a novel and a film: it is a true landmark.

William Peter Blatty has thrilled generations of readers with his iconic mega-bestseller The Exorcist. Now Blatty gives us Dimiter, a riveting story of murder, revenge, and suspense. Laced with themes of faith and love, sin and forgiveness, vengeance and compassion, it is a novel in the grand tradition of Morris West's The Devil's Advocate and the Catholic novels of Graham Greene.

Dimiter opens in the world's most oppressive and isolated totalitarian state: Albania in the 1970s. A prisoner suspected of being an enemy agent is held by state security. An unsettling presence, though subjected to unimaginable torture he maintains an eerie silence. He escapes---and on the way to freedom, completes a mysterious mission. The prisoner is Dimiter, the American agent from Hell.

The scene shifts to Jerusalem, focusing on Hadassah Hospital and a cast of engaging, colorful characters: the brooding Christian Arab police detective, Peter Meral; Dr. Moses Mayo, a troubled but humorous neurologist; Samia, an attractive, sharp-tongued nurse; and assorted American and Israeli functionaries and hospital staff. All become enmeshed in a series of baffling, inexplicable deaths, until events explode in a surprising climax.

Told with unrelenting pace, Dimiter's compelling, page-turning narrative is haunted by the search for faith and the truths of the human condition. Dimiter is William Peter Blatty's first full novel since the 1983 publication of Legion.

For those who have lost a loved one to that liar and fraud named Death.

So reads the dedication of William Peter Blatty's Finding Peter, a deeply moving memoir that tests the bounds of grief, love, and the soul. Blatty, the bestselling author and Oscar Award-winning screenwriter of The Exorcist, lived a charmed life among the elite stars of Hollywood.

His son Peter, born over a decade after The Exorcist, grew from an apple-cheeked boy into an imposing young man with a quick, warm smile. But when Peter died very suddenly from a rare disorder, Blatty's world turned upside down.

As he and his wife struggled through their unrelenting grief, a series of strange and supernatural events began occurring--and Blatty became convinced that Peter was sending messages from the afterlife.

A true and unabashedly personal story, Finding Peter will shake the most cynical of readers--and it will remind those in grief that our loved ones do truly live on.