The Exorcist (novel) The Exorcist (novel) The Exorcist is a 1971 horror novel by American writer William Peter Blatty. The book details the demonic possession of twelve-year-old Regan MacNeil, the daughter of a famous actress, and the two priests who attempt to exorcise the demon. Published by Harper & Row, the novel was the basis of a highly successful film adaption released two years later, whose screenplay was also written and produced by Blatty, and part of "The Exorcist" franchise. The novel was inspired by a 1949 case of demonic possession and exorcism that Blatty heard about while he was a student in
Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist is a 2005 American supernatural horror film directed by Paul Schrader. It is an alternative and original prequel to "The Exorcist" (1973) and the fifth installment in "The Exorcist" series. It was written by William Wisher Jr. and Caleb Carr. In 1944, a Nazi SS lieutenant named Kessel forces the parish priest of a small village in occupied Holland, Father Lankester Merrin (Stellan Skarsgård), to participate in arbitrary executions in retaliation for the murder of a German trooper in exchange for sparing the village. In 1947, Merrin, whose faith was