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 drives 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.