Hey there everyone! I hope your April is going well! Ours is a bit of a mixed bag, but we’ll get into that in a bit. First, I have something I’d like to share about the deep relationship between one of my top five favorite movies of all time and a holiday that means so much to my faith.
On December 26, 1973, a movie came out in theaters that not only changed the horror genre forever, but it made modern, western people view life differently in regards to what can be lurking in a realm we cannot see. The Exorcist made people pass out in the theater isle, broke box office records, was nominated for multiple Academy Awards (being the first horror movie nominated for Best Picture), and created a sub-genre that, to this day is a thriving force in Hollywood. And yet, most people completely miss what the movie is actually about.
If you go to the theater or turn on your favorite streaming network and watch a movie in the “demonic horror” subgenre of Horror, you’ll find that it’s mostly filled with spectacle and sensational scenes of terrifying feats. And that is mostly thanks to The Exorcist which did the exact same things—projectile vomiting, spinning heads, levitation, etc. But the thing that most modern demonic horror movies lack is the element of profound story behind the spectacle; the deeper themes that go beyond the disturbing moments and jump scares. It lacks the thing The Exorcist was all about: a battle with faith.
William Peter Blatty (the author of the novel), and William Friedkin (the film’s director) both have said multiple times in interviews that the story is all about struggling with faith and ultimate sacrifice made out of love. On the one hand you have Chris MacNeil, the mother of Regan MacNeil who gets possessed by the horrific demon Pazuzu. Chris is an atheist who has never had much time or space for religion. She’s a strong feminist actor who is interested in telling stories that move people to care about injustice and human rights. In fact, it takes her a very long time to admit that what’s wrong with her daughter is something much more than a physical or mental sickness. She even scoffs at the doctors when they’re the ones who suggest an exorcism.
On the other hand, you have Fr Damien Karras who has been a priest and psychiatrist for quite some time, but is losing his faith entirely. He believes that demons are a metaphor for the evils of man and mental illness. Karras even goes as far as to ask his superior to be relieved of his duties and relocated (even though he is denied due to the great need for his psychiatric skillset).
The two pivotal characters meet when all hope seems to have been lost for Chris and Regan. Karras even declines Chris’ request for him to meet with Regan and assess her for exorcism, only eventually agreeing to see her as a psychiatrist and nothing more. However, upon meeting the now fully possessed Regan, things begin to stir in Fr Karras that he was in no way ready to face: ancient and malevolent evil. After meeting with Regan a couple times and witnessing things that cannot be logically explained, he’s convinced she is indeed possessed and submits the case to The Church for exorcism.
In the climax of the film, Fr Karass and an experienced exorcist, Fr Merrin, face the demon Pazuzu in some of the most frightening and disturbing scenes of movie history. It is here that Karass is faced with a monumental decision. Due to Pazuzu targeting Karass and making him see visions of his mother (who has previously died in the movie, leaving Karass riddled with guilt), Merrin dismissed Karass from Regan’s room because he’d been too compromised to be of any help. As Karass is sitting in the living room of the MacNeil home, feeling completely defeated, Chris asks him one weighty question, “is she going to die, Father?”. In this moment, you can see Karass’ demeanor completely change. He goes from being conquered by the enemy, to having nerves of steel, looking to Regan’s mother and saying, “No.”. Karass, a new man, walks up the stairs to Regan’s room and after opening the door, finds Fr Merrin lying dead on the floor with the possessed Regan giggling on the bed.
Fr Karass bursts into a righteous rage and (after questionably punching a little girl in the face multiple times) he shouts for the demon to enter into him instead and leave Regan alone. Pazuzu does just that and you can see (per the image above) Fr Karass’ physical attributes begin to change as he has now become possessed instead of the twelve year old Regan. But then something happens that Pazuzu did not expect, Karass regains control of his body, presumably with the demon still inside, and throws himself through Regan’s 2nd story window, and tumbles down the long concrete stairway to the street below, ultimately dying at the bottom of the steps.
Many people, director William Friedkin included, have said that Karass committed an ultimate mortal sin of suicide and therefore cannot be forgiven for what he has done, even though he was given last rights by his friend Fr Dyer just before Karras dies. Still, the author, William Blatty sees it very differently, as do I (also full disclosure, I don’t believe suicide is an ultimate mortal sin). He says this was a sacrifice out of love. Karass saw that there was no other way he could defeat Pazuzu and that Regan’s fate would soon be that of Fr Merrin’s and probably himself. So he took it upon himself to end that horrifying domino effect and save this little girl by sacrificing himself.
Some of you are already ahead of me. But what we see here is the spirit of Easter.
Self-sacrificial love is what Easter is all about—specifically the love of God for a people who crucified him, saving everyone from the oppressive Darkness inside of them and around them. In the final moments of the film, Karass regains his faith and fully embraces the self-sacrificial love of Christ, saving Regan MacNeil from ultimate death by the hands of the demonic.
This is what Christ did for us—but on a cosmically eternal level. He faced ultimate evil and laid down his life so that we could have a chance to turn away from it and walk with God now and forever. He took on sin and eternal death so we could be free of it.
So what does that look like in our own lives? Well, Christ called us who follow him to pick up our own cross (meaning die to our selfish desires) every day and love our neighbor—even the ones we would call enemies—and love God who will help us to do that more and more each day, changing us from the inside out. He died that self-sacrificial death (and defeating death two days later by rising again) so that we wouldn’t be prisoners to selfishness and greed. So that we, like Regan, would have another chance at living life the way we were meant to live it and not be prisoners of the Dark.
So the next time you watch The Exorcist, think about your own faith struggles. Think about what self-sacrificial love looks like in your own life. And ultimately, think about how Christ really did make a way for you and me to be free of the Darkness that surrounds us.
What Am I Up To?
Well, friends. After 2 years of writing and illustrating, and after more than 22 years of trying to get this specific story materialized in some way…it’s done
The Memoirs of an Angel: The Grey Pilgrim illustrated novel inventory will be arriving at my house on Monday, April 21st! It was so surreal to hold the proof copy in my hands, you guys. I spent a week combing through it and fixing the last bit of mistakes I could find and hit the “live” button on Amazon so we could print the inventory and start shipping rewards out next weekend.
This has been such a journey. Many of you have been on this road with me since we started releasing the black and white comics back in 2016. Some of you have been there much longer. And next month, I’ll be talking about that journey in depth from the beginning stages to holding the book in my hands.
Thank you all for being so supportive and for bringing this thing to life. It means more to me than you could ever know.
Now, for the not so great news.
This past Wednesday, our youngest cat, Niko, had a seizure. It was terrifying. He recovered fairly quickly, but we immediately took him to the vet to get him checked out. They found some abnormalities in his blood work and so he got an echocardiogram and they found out he has a heart condition that will limit his life significantly. He’s now on meds that will slow the process down, but it will only get worse as time goes on. His vet said that this condition is known to make cats die instantly without warning.
So…needless to say, this news is very heavy. We love our sweet Niko boy so much and he truly is such a joy and life giving presence. Plus he’s Stanley’s (our second youngest cat) closest bond. So we’re just moving forward as best we can, loving on him as much as possible, spoiling him as much as possible, and praying we get more time than expected. We ask for your prayers for both us, and Niko.
On a lighter note…
This past Tuesday, Brian K. Morris and I resurrected (see what I did there on Easter weekend?) Between Two Brians—our show about nerdy topics, life, and general shenaniganery. Since last July, Brian and I had to put a pause on our bi-monthly show due to his heart surgery, my general health issues and finishing Memoirs. But now, we’re back. Kind of. Instead of doing the show every two weeks, we’ll be shooting for once a month. Brian and I both have significant health struggles and are also utilizing the time we have to create books worth reading. But we LOVE doing this show together, so we’re really going to try and keep it pretty consistent. Check out the April show and have some fun!
Patreon!!
Right now my Patreon page is dedicated to the next Cosmic Wheel novel, The Mysterious Adventures of Eula McDowell!! It’s an episodic story that builds to a pretty epic climax. Each “episode” acts as a “monster of the week” kind of story that builds on itself as the book continues. Right now, the prologue, “Old World: May 1, 1991” is up for everyone to read, and the first episode, “The Dybbuk Box” written by Brian K. Morris and myself, is being released in rough draft entries every week. This week, Part Five dropped for our $10 patrons and I believe the other four are now available for all our patrons. The tiers start at as little as $2 a month! You’ll get the rough draft entries as well as exclusive hi-res downloadable illustrations by me, and journal entries and fun announcements that you’ll get in advance before anyone else. Plus, you’ll always be a part of the special thank you section in all of my books and at the beginning of Between Two Brians. So click the link above and join the party today!
What Am I Into?
Well, about a month ago I started collecting the main Classic Universal Monster movies on VHS and, thanks to eBay, the collection is complete and all for pretty cheap. My monster movie shelf is looking pretty spooky now and of course I’m having a ball watching all of them again. I watch Dracula about 403 times a year, but some of the others I haven’t watched since I was a kid (namely Creature From The Black Lagoon and Phantom of The Opera). My studio is becoming a retro Halloween haven and in no way is that a bad thing, folks!
Well, that’s it for now. Happy Easter/Passover for all who celebrate. And I’ll see you next month!
Be good people!
-Brian
Continued prayers sent bro.