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A review by meghaha
The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty
3.0
I think the problem with The Exorcist for me was that in general, it was more gross than terrifying. I was listening to this audiobook for a week and I kept wondering why I was subjecting myself to such unpleasantness. But it's a horror novel, you say! The thing is, horror doesn't have to be gross.
Stephen King has a great breakdown of the different levels of terror that explains why I feel the way I do:
He calls terror the "finest emotion," and I have to agree that what I'm looking for in horror is anything but gross-out.
Aesthetic objections aside, The Exorcist is a tightly wound tale that, in many ways, seems to embody so much of America in the 70's. If it's not already being taught in college courses as an Important American Novel I wouldn't be surprised if it comes to be seen as such, providing a look into the social and moral consciousness of society at the time. From the vantage point of the 2000's, it seems a clear precursor to the Satanic Panic of the 80's and 90's.
Still, the fact remains I didn't really enjoy it. Any desire to watch the film, a classic that I was hoping to get around to one day, has fizzled out.
Stephen King has a great breakdown of the different levels of terror that explains why I feel the way I do:
“The 3 types of terror: The Gross-out: the sight of a severed head tumbling down a flight of stairs, it's when the lights go out and something green and slimy splatters against your arm. The Horror: the unnatural, spiders the size of bears, the dead waking up and walking around, it's when the lights go out and something with claws grabs you by the arm. And the last and worse one: Terror, when you come home and notice everything you own had been taken away and replaced by an exact substitute. It's when the lights go out and you feel something behind you, you hear it, you feel its breath against your ear, but when you turn around, there's nothing there...”
He calls terror the "finest emotion," and I have to agree that what I'm looking for in horror is anything but gross-out.
Aesthetic objections aside, The Exorcist is a tightly wound tale that, in many ways, seems to embody so much of America in the 70's. If it's not already being taught in college courses as an Important American Novel I wouldn't be surprised if it comes to be seen as such, providing a look into the social and moral consciousness of society at the time. From the vantage point of the 2000's, it seems a clear precursor to the Satanic Panic of the 80's and 90's.
Still, the fact remains I didn't really enjoy it. Any desire to watch the film, a classic that I was hoping to get around to one day, has fizzled out.