The True Story Behind The Exorcist

Like most settings where horror films and novels take place, the exterior gives off the impression of a calm, quiet, and safe environment. Once on the inside, though, the truth and the horror make their way out turning a seemingly normal place into the source of nightmares for decades to come.

The same occurs at the childhood home of Ronald Hunkeler (later referred to by the pseudonym Roland Doe in literature) in St. Louis, Missouri. This story starts with Ronald at 13 years old, seemingly normal and grieving the loss of his Aunt Harriet. In early January not long after Harriet’s death, Ronald started to experience strange phenomenon like scratching on the floor and walls of his room and his mattress would move suddenly on its own.

Ronald’s family were concerned and consulted with any person they believed could offer help, doctors, psychiatrists, and their minister. Their minister was the one to recommend that the family seek assistance from the Jesuits. Father E. Albert Hughes, the local Catholic priest, was the person to perform the first exorcism on Ronald. The exorcism was stopped abruptly when Ronald broke off a spring from the mattress he was strapped to and slashed the priest across his shoulders. More strange occurrences happened in the following days to young Ronald, including red scratches spelling out the word LOUIS on his body. It was this that encouraged Ronald and his family to travel to St. Louis where they had relative because they believed they would find someone there to cure their son.

The next exorcism was performed in St. Louis by Father Walter H. Halloran and Rev. William Bowdern. During this exorcism, they witnessed violent behavior from Ronald, scratches forming on his body, and the mattress moving violently on its own. After this exorcism, Ronald acted calm and normal during the day, but his family would notice him exhibiting strange behavior like screaming and wild outbursts during the night.

This behavior as well as Ronald seemingly entering a trance-like state and making sounds in a guttural voice, objects flying mysteriously in the boy’s presence, and his violent reaction when he saw any sacred object influenced what the creators and producers would later add to the film The Exorcist. This behavior occurred for months with no hope for a cure for young Ronald. His family was concerned, and his body was constantly covered in red burning scratches, but the priests never gave up hope. Finally, on the evening of April 18th during another exorcism, Ronald came out of his trance and simply said “he’s gone” and he was back to normal. After that evening, there were no strange occurrences, and it was as if all of this had never happened to Ronald.

Nobody would have known about the experiences that happened during those months to young Ronald if not for an article in The Washington Post, which reported in late 1949 that priests had indeed performed an exorcism. Two decades later, this case surfaced again in 1971 when author William Peter Blatty wrote the novel The Exorcist based on the unofficial diaries kept by the two priests in St. Louis. This novel was what sparked the creation of the film in 1973.

While producers took creative liberties with some of the source material, like turning 13-year-old Ronald into 12-year-old Regan, changing where the story takes place, and adding some more dramatic and horrifying behavior while the child was possessed, the majority of the film was based on these three terrifying months that Ronald and his family endured in 1949.

So next time you turn on the television to watch The Exorcist, remember Ronald and the life that he lived. While we do not know 100% that all of this actually happened to him, it is better to stay precautious and appreciate the wonderfully terrifying film that came from all of it, despite the horror of it all.

Information for this story comes from https://allthatsinteresting.com/roland-doe-the-exorcist-true-story. Credit for factual information goes to the writers of this article.

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