Dark & Twisty

So this is it, the big bad wolf of the horror world before Stephen King.  The Exorcist one of the scariest stories of all time.  What a dud.  This book was much to slow on the uptake.  We don't even get the exorcism until the very end, and it's very brief.  The attempts to figure out Regan's problems takes more time and the murder mystery is more interesting.  The investigator is Colombo in a new form.  I had a hard time with this book and here is why.  It was like reading an archaic psychology text book.

 I've not seen so many out of date psychological terms since I took the history of psychology.  The entire book is laced with Freudian psychobabble that has long since been abandoned.  The heavy reliance on the idea of split personality, which one of the doctors is quoted as saying there has only been 100 confirmed real cases of this.  I promise it is much less.  I've never met  psychiatrist or pschological professional, including myself, that has ever seen this diagnosis.  This is saying alot because I know lots of mental health professionals.  I liked the old school medicines.  Thorazine to a child. Who in there right mind give thorazine, a very nasty medication with rough TD side effects to a kid.  Also the use of Librium.  We give that to drug addicts to get them off their junk. 

The main problem with this book is it is very out of date.  All the psychology in it is nearly 40 years old, and that's bad because we are a constantly changing science.  I must say, I wish they had let Carl Rogers work with Regan.  I think his positive self regard would have done wonders with her.  The problem is that nowadays, no one would have gone down the trails they went down with Regan. 

Another reason I have such trouble with text, is that I had trouble suspending belief.  I don't believe in modern day demonic possession, and if I did, I think that soemthing different would work better than what they did, like baptism.  It seems to me that a quick dunk under the water with a in the name of the father, the son and the holy spirit would do a lot more than the 23 psalm the lord's prayer, and some sprinkles of "holy water" in the shape of a cross.  Come on, take her down to the Baptist Church and put her under the water.  There you go, no more demonic regan.