No book is off-limits since horror is subjective. The family hasn’t announced funeral plans.ĬNN’s Phil Gast contributed to this report.Here is your place to share your love or loathing for horror lit, but remember to be respectful.Ībusive comments and posts will get you banned but having a dissenting opinion is acceptable.

She said that in lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the LC Pastoral Services of the Legionaries of Christ and the organization Solidarity with the Persecuted Church. We laughed a lot together,” his widow said. He co-wrote the screenplay for the 1964 film “A Shot in the Dark,” one of the Pink Panther series with Peter Sellers. “He had a big heart and he was very, very funny.”

He was a wonderful man.”īlatty wasn’t only interested in scaring audiences, his widow told CNN.

I was just profoundly blessed to be married to him. So long, Old Bill.- Stephen King January 13, 2017īlatty’s widow told CNN, “He was the most generous, loving, hysterical husband, father and grandfather. RIP William Peter Blatty, who wrote the great horror novel of our time. William Peter Blatty, dear friend and brother who created The Exorcist passed away yesterday- William Friedkin January 13, 2017įellow author Stephen King tweeted, “RIP William Peter Blatty, who wrote the great horror novel of our time. The film’s director, William Friedkin, tweeted Friday morning, “William Peter Blatty, dear friend and brother who created The Exorcist passed away yesterday.” The story is loosely based on an actual event.īesides gruesome special effects, including vomiting and head-spinning, moviegoers were gripped by the theme song composed by Michael Oldfield. Set in the Georgetown area of Washington, “The Exorcist” tells the story of 12-year-old Regan MacNeil, whose disturbing behavior prompts her mother to seek an exorcism after medical doctors are unable to help her daughter. “This film, when it came out, lived at the very center of popular culture,” film critic and author Richard Crouse told CNN in 2013, on the 40th anniversary of its release. The movie version was nominated for 10 Academy Awards, winning for best sound and best adapted screenplay. The horror story was about a child, played by actress Linda Blair, who was possessed by a demon. Blatty is best known for the 1971 New York Times best-seller “The Exorcist” and the film adaption of the novel, released in 1973, on which he served as producer and writer.

The exorcist blatty