The Exorcist: 40th Anniversary Edition

by | Oct 25, 2011 | Reviews | 0 comments

It’s The Exorcist in a brand new hardcover edition. Go get it.

Do I need to say more than that? Really? It’s the freaking Exorcist, one of the scariest books ever written that spawned what is arguably the scariest movie ever made. So if you do not already own a copy of this book then either you’re new to this whole horror thing, or you’re just not a real horror fan. Sorry but them are the breaks. If you’re the former, well then howdy, welcome to the party and go get this book today. You can thank me later. If you’re the latter then I suggest you go back to reading the Twilight books becasue The Exorcist is just too much book for you and you’ll probably hurt something should you try to read it.

I know, taking digs at Twilight is not only too easy but so last year, but I just can’t help myself. Anyway I digress, so let’s move on.

I can hear you now, “Hey I am a true horror fan and I do already own this book, so why would I want another copy?”  Did I forget to mention that author William Peter Blatty did the Stephen King The Stand with this? By that I mean he went back and changed a few things and added new bits so that for the first time this book gets his 100% seal of approval. Yeah, you heard me right; Blatty had the gall to rework his masterpiece. Did he make a classic even better, or should he have left it well enough alone?

Well thankfully, and unbelievably, I can say that he’s made a great thing even greater, like adding peanut butter with chocolate, or bacon to anything.  Now I won’t give the new bits away completely, so you really need to read and experience them for yourself, preferably alone, in a dark room and right before bed. I will mention that a brand new character has been added to the story and surprise, surprise, he’s a priest…or is he? Again, I’ll leave that up to you to discover, but I thought his addition here was a worthy, and creepy, one.  In fact, while it has been some years since I read the original novel, and I might have missed or not noticed some new additions and clarifications, those that I did pick up on all worked well. More importantly, I never came across a part where I was left scratching my head muttering, “Now why did he have to go and add that?”

When all is said and done, this new edition of The Exorcist is a great read. The new additions don’t really change the overall story, so it’s still the same moody, atmospheric, character driven tale of a little girl possessed by evil, only now there are few more layers and touches to the characters and the horror and that’s exactly how it should be. I can both easily and highly recommend this book to any and all horror fans.

About Brian Sammons