A review by kevin_shepherd
The Case Against Satan by Ray Russell

5.0

Technically, it was Ray Russell, not William Peter Blatty, who first brought the Catholic ritual of exorcism to the broad American consciousness. Russell's book predates Blatty's by nine years and the plot lines are so similar that it's hard not to conject that Blatty "borrowed" heavily from Russell's work. Still, it was The Exorcist, not The Case Against Satan, that went on to become a blockbuster American franchise. Is that fair? Russell's rendition is certainly less profane, less obscene, and therefore less sensational. But both are well written, and both are securely anchored in actual catholic doctrines and rituals. If forced to choose, I'd rank TCAS a little higher on my horror scale solely because Russell evoked that same gut-level sense of terror and peril with less devices and contraptions ...but it's a tough call.