Whether you’re a longtime horror veteran or you just like to dip your toes in the genre every once in a while, I’m sure you’ve seen at least one film where a priest saves a helpless victim from a malicious demon. Ever since The Exorcist, exorcism, and specifically Catholic exorcism, has been a staple of horror cinema, so even casual fans are familiar with the Hollywood stereotypes that have grown up around this ancient practice. But are those stereotypes accurate? Do real-life exorcisms look anything like the movies?

If you’ve ever wondered about the truth behind this perennially popular subgenre, you’ve come to the right place. As you might know from some of my other articles, I’m Catholic, but you probably don’t know that I’ve studied exorcism fairly extensively. My bookshelf has an entire section dedicated to this topic, and now, I want to share some of those resources with you. I’d like to recommend two books and a podcast that shed incredibly informative light on this poorly understood subject, so without further ado, let’s dive into the real-life demon-busting business.

The Rite by Matt Baglio

If I could only recommend one resource on Catholic exorcism, it just might be Matt Baglio’s The Rite. This book was made into a horror movie of the same name in 2011, but don’t worry, it’s way better than that lackluster Anthony Hopkins flick. It tells the real-life story of an American priest, Fr. Gary Thomas, who went to Rome to learn about demons, possession, and exorcism in 2005, and it was written by a journalist who, as the back page puts it, “had full access to Father Gary over the course of his training.”

So what makes The Rite such a great read? Well, a few things. For starters, it tells you almost everything you want to know about this tantalizing topic. It has some entertaining anecdotes about the crazy things demons can do during an exorcism, but it also stresses that the ritual isn’t quite what the movies make it out to be.

To take just a couple of examples, possession victims often require multiple sessions with an exorcist to be completely liberated, and not every exorcism involves the extraordinary spiritual activity Hollywood loves to focus on (like levitating or projectile vomiting pea soup). Along similar lines, the book also includes accessible explanations of many Catholic beliefs surrounding possession and exorcism, and while Matt Baglio occasionally gets some of the details wrong, the general gist of what he says is spot-on.

On top of all that, The Rite is incredibly well written too, so it’s almost impossible to put down. Once you start it, you won’t want to stop until you reach the very end, and when you finally get there, you might even want to start the whole thing over again. It’s simply that good, so if you want to learn what Catholic exorcism is really all about, you can’t do much better than this amazing account of Fr. Gary Thomas’s introduction to the world of the demonic.

Demonic Foes by Richard Gallagher

Have you ever wondered how exorcists distinguish between demonic disturbance and mental illness? Or maybe you suspect that all alleged cases of possession are really just misdiagnosed mental illnesses. If you fall into either of those camps, you need to check out Richard Gallagher’s book Demonic Foes. Gallagher is a certified psychiatrist, a professor at New York Medical College, and a faculty member at the Psychoanalytic Institute of Columbia University, and he also happens to be American exorcists’ go-to expert on distinguishing mental illness from demonic attacks.

In fact, he wrote Demonic Foes to dispel the misconception that all supposed possession victims are just mentally ill, and he goes through the evidence pretty convincingly. He recounts some of the inexplicable phenomena he’s witnessed in possessed individuals (including one story that’s so wild I’ve heard it might be turned into a movie soon), and he explains why these cases are very different from the tens of thousands of mentally ill patients he’s treated throughout his career.

What’s more, Gallagher also makes it very clear that he doesn’t see demons around every corner. For example, he’s not shy about condemning the dangerous excesses of the infamous Satanic Panic era, he includes a lengthy chapter about false cases of possession, and he explicitly states that he’s never had a possession victim just walk into his private practice seeking medical help. He very frankly acknowledges that genuine demonic possession is extremely rare, and that makes his experiences in this field all the more trustworthy.

The Exorcist Files Podcast

If you learn better by listening than by reading, The Exorcist Files is going to be right up your alley. I listen to a number of podcasts on a bunch of different topics, ranging from movies to religion to social issues I’m passionate about, and I can honestly say this is one of the best. It recounts stories from the case files of Fr. Carlos Martins, an experienced exorcist here in the United States, but it’s not just a weekly hour-long lecture from a priest.

The Exorcist Files uses voice actors to reenact Fr. Carlos’s stories in 3D binaural audio, so this podcast is just as entertaining and immersive as it is informative. You’ll really believe that you’re a fly on the wall listening in on these poor people’s lives, and when the demons open their mouths to speak, they’re creepy as hell (literally!). The podcast makes terrifying use of all the satanic sounds and voice effects horror fans have come to know and love, so as a horror show, The Exorcist Files is top notch.

And as a tool to learn about Catholic exorcism, this podcast is just as good. Throughout the series, Fr. Martins will pop in every now and again to dispel a few myths and clarify some of the beliefs that lie behind the stories we’re hearing, and his co-host, Ryan Bethea, will also add some tidbits from his own research into the subject.

For instance, Fr. Carlos is often very adamant that casting out demons requires more than just saying certain words or performing a certain ritual. That’s definitely part of it, but the process also involves helping people clean up their spiritual lives. In fact, this is so important that if a possession victim isn’t willing to do their part, an exorcism won’t do them any good.

That’s just one example, but The Exorcist Files is loaded with similarly surprising and eye-opening insights into Catholic exorcism. It’s an almost perfect blend of fun horror and easy-to-follow explanations of this poorly understood work, so if you’re looking for a resource you can listen to while your eyes are otherwise occupied, you need to give this podcast a listen.