ST. LOUIS — With Halloween just around the corner, it's scary movie season. And one of the most influential films in the genre has its roots right here in St. Louis.
In 1973, "The Exorcist" hit theaters and was an instant success, becoming the most successful film in the history of Warner Bros. at the time.
The film was an adaptation of a novel by the same name, and both were written by William Peter Blatty. In a follow-up book, Blatty said part of the story was inspired by an article he read as a college school student. The article, headlined "Priest Frees Mt. Rainier Boy Reported Held in Devil's Grip" tells the story of a Maryland-area boy's exorcism by priests in St. Louis and Washington, D.C. (You can still read the 1949 article on the Washington Post website.)
The article starts:
"In what is perhaps one of the most remarkable experiences of its kind in recent religious history, a 14-year-old Mount Rainier boy has been freed by a Catholic priest of possession by the devil, Catholic sources reported yesterday.
"Only after between 20 and 30 performances of the ancient ritual of exorcism, here and in St. Louis, was the devil finally cast out of the boy, it was said.
"In all except the last of these, the boy broke into a violent tantrum of screaming, cursing and voicing of Latin phrases – a language he had never studied – whenever the priest reached the climactic point of the ritual, 'In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, I cast thee (the devil) out.'"
That article provides a little slice of what transpired, but on the 40th anniversary of the legendary horror classic, the world's leading expert on the events that inspired the film came to Saint Louis University with some new questions about the famous story.
Pat McGonigle covered the 2013 event for KSDK, and his story was one of the most popular of that Halloween season.
Thomas B. Allen — the author of "Possessed," the most comprehensive historical account of the 1949 exorcism in St. Louis — spoke to a large crowd at the SLU library in 2013.
Allen befriended Fr. Walter Halloran, one of the Jesuit priests from Saint Louis University who performed the rites of exorcism on the troubled boy. Before he passed away, Fr. Halloran gave Allen the chilling 29-page diary of the exorcism that lasted from January to April 1949. It is the only modern record describing the ancient ritual of exorcism.
The 13-year-old boy's parents moved from Maryland to a relative's house in Bel-Nor, in north St. Louis County. The story goes that the word "LOUIS" appeared in red welts on the boy's torso. The family took this as a sign to move to St. Louis and enlist the help of Jesuit priests.
The ritual was led by Fr. William Bowdern with help from Fr. Halloran, who was still studying to become a Jesuit at the time.
Eyewitness accounts of supernatural events during this ancient ritual formed the basis for many of the famous special effects in the movie "The Exorcist" which is based on the bestselling book by William Peter Blatty.
"Fr. Halloran said he saw scratches running down the boy's arm, before his very eyes. And he said it was like a cat dragging claws down the arm."
The ordeal ended at the old Alexian Brothers Hospital in south St. Louis. The room where it ended was sealed off for years and kept intact, with the 29-page diary still in a desk drawer in the room.
Allen said the infamous diary of the spellbinding episode was found accidentally by a construction worker when that part of Alexian Brothers was being demolished. Eventually, the hospital gave the diary to Fr. Halloran, who then made a copy for Allen.
In 2013, Allen said he still couldn't quite grasp why the Alexian Brothers sealed the room, preserving the memory of the exorcism and the diary.
"They kept the room as it was and they kept the diary in there. Years after it ended," Allen said. "Supposedly, there is some information available from the Alexian Brothers that has material on this. I've never seen it, I hope to see it someday."
While the fascination with the story never seems to go away, a healthy skepticism about the supernatural events also remains.
"Fr. Halloran always kept the perspective that they were helping a 13-year-old boy who was in trouble. That was the perspective," Allen said.
And yet...
"Fr. Bowdern went to his grave with the belief that he had tussled with the devil. He wrote a letter to William Peter Blatty that said, 'I was there, this was the real thing'. He said it was the real thing."
