‘Exorcism Live’ will follow medium Chip Coffey.
By Raif Karerat
WASHINGTON, DC: The first live televised exorcism is slated to air on US cable on Destination America during a special titled “Exorcism Live!”
According to an Entertainment Weekly exclusive, the special will follow psychic medium Chip Coffey and the cast of “Ghost Asylum” — perhaps better known as the Tennessee Wraith Chasers — as the investigate the St. Louid, Miss. abode that inspired the “Exorcist” novel and film, both of which are seminal staples of modern pop culture.
“Exorcism Live!” will not be the first time an exorcism has been televised, according to EW — in 1971, NBC aired the first-ever televised exorcism. However, this is the first time that an exorcism will be performed on the house itself, and the first time it will be broadcast live, in real time.
Sixty-six year prior, the unassuming home was the most famous exorcism of all time. The case, known as the “Roland Doe Exorcism,” eventually became the basis of the book and film “The Exorcist.”
In his book, “Possessed: The True Story of an Exorcism,” Thomas B. Allen wrote that the family of the boy known as Roland Doe experienced strange noises, furniture moving on its own accord and ordinary objects flying or levitating when the boy was nearby, which led them to seek out a Roman Catholic priest to conduct an exorcism.
While the Roland Doe allegedly went on to live an ordinary life after a second exorcism, but during the initial rite he allegedly slipped one of his hands out of the restraints; broke a bedspring from under the mattress, and used it as an impromptu weapon, slashing the priest’s arm and resulting in the exorcism ritual being halted.
Words such as “evil” and “hell,” along with other various marks, appeared on the teenager’s body during the second exorcism, according to the Washington Post’s obituary of Jesuit Priest Walter Halloran, who took part in the religious ceremony.
“Ghost Asylum” is a fairly new paranormal television series that premiered on Destination America in September of last year. The series follows a group of professional ghost hunters that travel to the country’s most haunted spots.
“Exorcism Live!” is slated to hit digital airwaves in October.