'The Exorcist' is based on this very real case

"The Exorcist" is a horror classic, but did you know it's inspired by a very real case? "The Exorcist" first began as a novel by author William Blatty. The book is based on a real-life case from 1949, where a Catholic priest, William Bowdern, performed a series of exorcisms on a 14-year-old boy named Ronald Edwin Hunkeler. Ronald lived from June 1, 1935 – May 10, 2020. It is alleged that Ronald underwent exorcisms in Cottage City, Maryland, and St Louis, Missouri in the late 1940s.

Protagonist from The Exorcist

Read the full story straight from the sources: UCLA College and The Guardian