# William Peter Blatty, dead at 89 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** celebrity-death\ **Created:** [January 13, 2017, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-peter-blatty-dead-at-89/777059 "2017-01-13T17:55:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2017, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-peter-blatty-dead-at-89/777059/1 "2017-01-13T17:55:20Z")
[Link](http://abc7.com/entertainment/exorcist-author-william-peter-blatty-dies-at-89/1700974/) I think it’s appropriate that this is reported on Friday the 13th. ---
**Author:** ![G0sp3l](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@G0sp3l](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G0sp3l)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2017, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-peter-blatty-dead-at-89/777059/2 "2017-01-13T18:47:27Z")
The power christ compels you to RIP Mr. Blatty. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2017, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-peter-blatty-dead-at-89/777059/3 "2017-01-13T19:45:18Z")
I remember reading “The Exorcist” way back in the 70s and thinking it was the scariest book I’d ever read up to that time. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2017, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-peter-blatty-dead-at-89/777059/4 "2017-01-13T21:29:37Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I remember reading “The Exorcist” way back in the 70s and thinking it was the scariest book I’d ever read up to that time. I remember thinking that about “Legion”, which was the sequel to the Exorcist. But Blatty also wrote some hilarious books – “Twinkle, Twinkle, Killer Kane” was both extremely funny and quite tragic. (He later rewrote this as the Ninth Configuration, which I wasn’t as fond of.) I also remember liking John Goldfarb, Please Come Home, although most of the details escape me. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2017, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-peter-blatty-dead-at-89/777059/5 "2017-01-13T21:59:47Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > I remember thinking that about “Legion”, which was the sequel to the Exorcist. But Blatty also wrote some hilarious books – “Twinkle, Twinkle, Killer Kane” was both extremely funny and quite tragic. (He later rewrote this as the Ninth Configuration, which I wasn’t as fond of.) I also remember liking John Goldfarb, Please Come Home, although most of the details escape me. Blatty also directed the wonderful movie version of Legion as Exorcist 3, seen as the genuine sequel to The Exorcist film, although the studio marred it by insisting on a tacky exorcism at the end. Another great and creepy novella by Blatty was [Elsewhere](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elsewhere_(Blatty_novel)) (WARNING spoilers on page) which I would love to see filmed. RIP, buddy, ya did good. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2017, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-peter-blatty-dead-at-89/777059/6 "2017-01-13T22:09:47Z")
Just noticed that he published a memoir in 2015 on the death of his son, [Finding Peter.](http://aleteia.org/2015/05/07/william-p-blatty-author-of-the-exorcist-says-dead-son-communicates-with-him/) It looks very moving although as a skeptic I can’t go along with the conclusions that Blatty seems to draw in the book. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2017, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-peter-blatty-dead-at-89/777059/7 "2017-01-13T22:35:36Z")
I wonder if he used “Tubular Bells” as a ringtone? ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2017, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-peter-blatty-dead-at-89/777059/8 "2017-01-14T14:53:57Z")
It took me about an hour to read The Exorcist, and I thought it was crap. Still do. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2017, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-peter-blatty-dead-at-89/777059/9 "2017-01-14T15:08:27Z")
I’ve never read any of his books. I have not seen “The Exorcist”. But I did see the film version of “Ninth Configuration.” A true surrealist classic. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-peter-blatty-dead-at-89/777059/10 "2017-01-24T17:05:24Z")
Occasionally Fox Movies Channel airs the movie “John Goldfarb, Please Come Home,” based on his novel by the same name. Very, very different from “Exorcist,” more or less a comedy with Peter Ustinov playing some kind of sultan/sheik.