*One of the most famous horror movies ever made has a much bigger St. Louis connection than most people realize.*
For this year’s NFNP Halloween special, Bright and Duds revisit one of last year’s local haunted stories, the Lemp Mansion, before digging into the chilling real-life case that inspired *The Exorcist*.
The story began in 1949 with a teenage boy near Washington, D.C., but the most famous part of the case unfolded in St. Louis. The family came to Missouri, Jesuit priests at Saint Louis University became involved, and the alleged exorcism stretched across multiple St. Louis-area locations including Bel-Nor, College Church, the White House retreat, and Alexian Brothers Hospital.
Bright and Duds break down:
* what was actually documented
* what may have grown into urban legend
* the priests at the center of the story
* the strange events surrounding the boy
* how the case eventually ended
* how William Peter Blatty turned the story into _The Exorcist_
* what Hollywood changed
* why St. Louis deserves more credit for its role in horror history
And because it’s NFNP, the episode also detours into haunted houses, Ouija boards, St. Louis ghost lore, Buffy the Vampire Slayer costumes, Halloween traditions, and the fact that NFNP has now officially survived more than a year.
*Join the Posse: *NFNPPOD.com
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