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The movie on Friday didn't scare me...but the next night sure did.

A high school buddy of mine and I bowled in an early league on Saturday mornings, so I always came home and took a little nap.

He ended up spending that Saturday night with me (parents and siblings out of town) and as we were in the front room just sitting around reading in complete silence (no TV on)...I started to hear faint music.

The hairs on my neck stood straight up when I recognized it and then I asked Cliff if he could also hear it.

At first he said no...then his face went completely white.

Somewhere in the back of the house, we could both clearly hear the theme song for the Exorcist...that we had just seen with our dates the previous evening. :22yikes:

So imagine 2, very big and invulnerable 18 year olds, almost holding hands while slowly creeping toward the back of the house with two large knives/cleavers...turning lights on as we crept slowly.

The closer we got to my room...the louder the theme song became.

It was only after quickly turning my bedroom light on, with knives up and at the ready...that it dawned on me what it was.

I had set my clock radio for 1:00 o'clock after my post-bowling nap, but this was an old style that didn't differentiate between AM/PM.

So at 1:00AM, in a totally quiet house, it decided to go off...JUST AS THE EXORCIST THEME SONG WAS PLAYING.

What were the frigging odds of that?!

Yeah, it eventually became funny...about 6 months later. :ohdear:

That's very interesting. And that movie gave me nightmares for months. Still does. Especially when I was the only person watching The Exorcism of Emily Rose at the Old Mill Playhouse in Auditorium 1 in an afternoon showing. My head was rolling around a little bit. LOL.

My view
 

Not scared, but as someone else has said: Disturbed.

The Bible teaches demon possession, so I do not dismiss it. But the accounts of "casting out demons" in the Bible are swift and decisive; not like the "exorcism" in the movie. I know of no Biblical account of expelling demons other than that done by Jesus or his disciples.

By the way, the disciples also did blessings: "So the man gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk!” -- Act 3:5-6

Since I do not believe in the special "vocation" of a Catholic Priesthood (Peter pronounced the "priesthood of all believers position, and Martin Luther affirmed it) I don't accept that the Vatican can designate special Priests to perform exorcisms.

Interestingly, in 2008 in Florence, Italy, a Catholic Priest was charged with defrauding millions in an exorcism hoax. Incidentally, the Vatican said he had not been authorized to do exorcisms.

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I was the one who mentioned a couple of Bible verses forbidding consulting Mediums. One was "Do not turn to mediums or spiritists; do not seek them out to be defiled by them. I am the LORD your God." Lev. 19:31 New American Standard Bible

"There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead." -- Deut. 18:10-12

"When someone tells you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living?" -- Isaiah 8:19 NIV

That's enough for me. Genuine or not (I don't think they are,) it appears to me that God forbids consulting Mediums.

You say that in the Catholic Church you were taught that Satan was real. There are accounts of Martin Luther being disturbed while studying, and believing that he was being disturbed by the Devil, he threw an inkwell at the Devil. So, you are in good company.

I also believe in Satan (raised Catholic). Ironically the first time I saw "The Exorcist" was at a student movie night while I was a student at Loyola University of Chicago (a school run by the Jesuits). I remember a lot of students laughing during the movie. Horror movies are not really my favorite movie genre any longer, although when I was a teenager and in my 20's I saw my share.

I remember going to see the original "Halloween" movie when I was a senior in high school...that movie really scared me. My friend and I took her 13 year old brother to see it...not really a good movie choice for a 7th grader.

Can Satan possess people? I don't know.

I love the theme song, "Tubular Bells" from "The Exorcist." There are several version of it on You Tube.

Sister Basil - PBVM
 

I also have a Sister Basil in my past life. She my kindergarten teacher and a Sister of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. When I was 5 going on 6, Sister Basil terrified me (she really should not have been teaching 5 and 6 year olds). I am left handed, and she tried to convert me to use my right hand to write. :( When I was in Kindergarten, I thought she was about 100 years old LOL. She was actually probably about 50 when she taught me in 1966.

Then I reached high school in 1975, and Sister Basil was teaching art at my high school. But by the time I was in high school, I was taller than Sister Basil, so she didn't terrify me any longer. :)

Frightening
 

I was 15 when it came out and my older friends got me in the theater. I am 59 and still have to have a light at night. The other movie that scared me was The Ring. No television in my bedroom for me! It is interesting, there was a study in Japan on what scared people the most. The results were facial expressions and body movements that are not normal frightened the test audiences the most.

Interesting reading...I didn't know that Catholic priests were still doing exorcisms that recently. Probably not highly publicized.

It got funnier each time I watched it.

What I've learned.
 

I visited the Timberline Lodge several years ago. The air was so thin that it was exhausting to trudge from the parking lot to the Lodge. Then, there were stairs inside the Lodge.

I think at the time I was there there were searching for some hikers on the snow trails who were overdue to return.

My world travels have convinced me that I am a "flat land, warm weather, sea level" kind of guy. Florida suits me well.

Psycho
 

I won't say it actually scared me, but the shower scene in Psycho made me resolve to never again take a shower unless the door to the bathroom was locked.

Yes, when it came out it was all everyone talked about.

3 putting :cus::cus::cus:

The Exorcist (1973) - Rotten Tomatoes

I would have been about 14 when The Exorcist came out. Would have gone with my parents I guess.

The book scared me more than the movie. I also went to see Rosemary's Baby.....I was nine months pregnant at the time and got a lot of very weird looks :)