The Exorcist Legacy, Nat Segaloff
The Exorcist Legacy, Nat Segaloff
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The Exorcist Legacy
50 Years of Fear

Author: Nat Segaloff

Narrator: Joe Hempel

Unabridged: 8 hr 57 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 07/25/2023

Synopsis

On December 26, 1973, The Exorcist was released. Within days it had become legend. Moviegoers braved hours-long lines in winter weather to see it. Some audience members famously fainted or vomited. Half a century later, the movie that both inspired and transcends the modern horror genre has lost none of its power to terrify and unsettle.

The Exorcist Legacy reveals the complete story of this cultural phenomenon, from the real-life exorcism in 1949 Maryland that inspired William Peter Blatty's bestselling novel on which the movie is based, to its many sequels, prequels, TV series, and homages. Nat Segaloff, biographer of the film's director, William Friedkin, draws on original interviews with cast, crew, and participants as well as revelations from personal papers to present an intriguing and surprising new view of the making of movie, and its aftermath.

Segaloff also examines as never before the keys to the movie's enduring appeal. Friedkin and Blatty's goal was far more ambitious than making a scary movie; they aimed to make people "think about the concept of good and evil." The Exorcist succeeds, and then some, not just by creating on-screen scares, but by challenging viewers' deepest personal beliefs—and fears.

About Nat Segaloff

Nat Segaloff is a writer, producer, journalist, and Hugo and Locus Award-nominated author of more than two dozen books about filmmakers and film history, including Hurricane Billy: The Stormy Life and Films of William Friedkin. He covered the film industry for the Boston Herald and worked on A&E's flagship Biography series as well as programming for The Learning Channel, New World, Disney, Turner Classic Movies, and USA Network. As one of the original publicists on The Exorcist, he closes a haunting chapter in his life with The Exorcist Legacy. Segaloff lives in Los Angeles and can be found online at natsegaloff.com.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Constantine on July 18, 2024

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Genre: Nonfiction If you are a fan of both the book and the movie adaptation of The Exorcist, then choosing to read this book is something you should absolutely do. "The Exorcist Legacy" is an engrossing and well-researched book that explores the far-reaching effects of one of the most f......more

Goodreads review by Dan on March 15, 2023

I've been a huge fan of THE EXORCIST, book, film, sequels, TV show, and all of the various permutations since I was a little boy, and my mother foolishly decided that it was OK to let me watch it when it premiered on CBS. To say I was traumatized would be an understatement. I'm finally, decades lat......more

Goodreads review by Pooja on August 31, 2023

The Exorcist is at first glance the story of a mother desperate to save her daughter from evils beyond her reckoning, but in the fifty years since it was first released it had gone on to become a beloved, long-running franchise rife with controversy. I have never actually seen The Exorcist. Of course......more

Goodreads review by Alan on March 20, 2023

This review is for an ARC copy received from the publisher through NetGalley. It's hard to believe that the film The Exorcist is almost 50 years old. And that is has as much of a legacy as it does. But this book, for the most part, does a wonderful job of regaling the reader with everything Exorcist......more

Goodreads review by Leslie on May 25, 2023

A must read for any fan of The Exorcist, horror, or film history in general. Nat Segaloff provides a comprehensive history of the franchise, and the climate in which it existed, including the TV series which I had no idea existed prior to reading this. It’s wild to say that The Exorcist has been aro......more

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