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A woman with an umbrella walks down the so-called 'Exorcist Steps' during an evening downpour in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington DC, USA, 26 February 2013. In the finale of the 1971 book, and 1973 film of the same name, a Jesuit priest named Father Karras convinces a demon to leave the body of a possessed 12-year-girl and enter his own. Karras then flings himself down these steps, killing himself. The movie quickly became a phenomenon; when adjusted for inflation 'The Exorcist' is the ninth highest grossing film of all time in the United States. Yet few realize that author Peter Blatty based his novel on a real life case: the months-long exorcism by Jesuit priests of a 14-year-old Maryland boy in 1949. All of the pictures for this essay were made with specialty lenses attached to a 35mm camera. EPA/JIM LO SCALZO ( USA FEATURE PACKAGE THE EXORCIST )

Roland Doe's boyhood home in Prince George's County, Maryland, where his reported possession began in 1949, is pictured just outside Washington, DC, USA, 17 March 2013. That winter, according to the boy's parents and several books on the case, Roland's bed began to shake violently, furniture moved across the room, and scratching noises were heard in the walls. After having Roland evaluated at Georgetown University Hospital, his parents met with Father Albert Hughes, the Roman Catholic priest at Saint James Parish, near their Maryland home. Father Hughes said he believed the boy was possessed, and sought permission from the Archbishop of Washington DC to begin the rite of exorcism. All of the pictures for this essay were made with specialty lenses attached to a 35mm camera. EPA/JIM LO SCALZO ( USA FEATURE PACKAGE THE EXORCIST )

A double exposure (made in-camera and without computer manipulation) shows an out-of focus picture of the child that Jesuits alleged was possessed, and to whom they assigned the pseudonym Roland Doe, from his high school yearbook, and a front-page Washington Post article about the boy's 1949 exorcism that caught the eye of a young William Blatty, then a student at Georgetown University, who would go on to write the best selling novel 'The Exorcist' in Washington DC, USA, 09 March 2013. All of the pictures for this essay were made with specialty lenses attached to a 35mm camera. EPA/JIM LO SCALZO ( USA FEATURE PACKAGE THE EXORCIST )

A replica of Regan MacNeil, the possessed girl in William Blatty's 'The Exorcist', is for sale at a seasonal Halloween store in suburban Maryland, USA, 21 September 2013. Forty years after the release of the film it still holds a place in the American psyche; when adjusted for inflation 'The Exorcist' is the ninth highest grossing movie of all time in the United States. All of the pictures for this essay were made with specialty lenses attached to a 35mm camera. EPA/JIM LO SCALZO ( USA FEATURE PACKAGE THE EXORCIST )

In the Rare Books and Archives Division of Saint Louis University's Pius XII Memorial Library are several binders of documents related to the case of Roland Doe, including case studies and historical articles, in Saint Louis, Missouri, USA, 19 March 2013. In the spring of 1949, Roland's parents relocated him to a relative's home in Saint Louis, where over the course of two weeks as many as nine Jesuit priests participated in the boy's exorcism. One of them, Father Raymond Bishop, kept a diary of those encounters. It includes the following passage, dated 11 April 1949: 'at midnight, the Fathers planned to give (Roland) Holy Communion, but Satan would have no part of it. Even while the institution of the Blessed Sacrament was explained to (Roland) his body was badly scratched and branded. The word 'HELLO' was printed on his chest and thigh. Upon the explanation of the Apostles becoming Priests and receiving Our Lord at the Last Supper, scratches appeared from (Roland) hips to his ankles in heavy lines, seemingly as a protest to Holy Communion.' All of the pictures for this essay were made with specialty lenses attached to a 35mm camera. EPA/JIM LO SCALZO ( USA FEATURE PACKAGE THE EXORCIST )

Roman Catholics act out the Crucifixion in Roland Doe's boyhood neighborhood during a Via Crucis parade organized by the boy's old church, Saint James Parish, in Prince George's County, Maryland, USA, 29 March 2013. In 1949, a Saint James priest named Father Albert Hughes first proclaimed Roland's need of an exorcism. Roland, who was then Lutheran, converted to Catholicism and joined Saint James Parish. All of the pictures for this essay were made with specialty lenses attached to a 35mm camera. EPA/JIM LO SCALZO ( USA FEATURE PACKAGE THE EXORCIST )

A spotlight illuminates a crucifix inside Georgetown University's Dahlgren Chapel, site of a desecrated statue of the Virgin Mary in the film 'The Exorcist', in Washington, DC, USA, 25 February 2013. In 1949, doctors evaluated Roland Doe for several days at the neighboring Georgetown University Hospital, releasing him with a clean bill of health. Several accounts allege that Father Hughes performed the boy's first exorcism at the hospital, and that Roland slashed the priest's arm with a bedspring. All of the pictures for this essay were made with specialty lenses attached to a 35mm camera. EPA/JIM LO SCALZO ( USA FEATURE PACKAGE THE EXORCIST )

An abandoned autopsy theater inside Saint Elizabeth's Psychiatric Hospital offers a glimpse into mental health research in the 1940s, when the hospital housed some 8,000 patients, in Southeast Washington, DC, USA, 21 February 2013. Though Saint Elizabeth's was highly regarded at the time for its care, treatment still required institutionalization in what was often referred to as an 'insane asylum.' As psychiatric care has improved over the years, the number of exorcisms performed in the US has waned. Analysts of Roland Doe's case believe he likely suffered from a mental health issue such as schizophrenia or Tourette's Syndrome. All of the pictures for this essay were made with specialty lenses attached to a 35mm camera. EPA/JIM LO SCALZO ( USA FEATURE PACKAGE THE EXORCIST )

Father Bishop, Father Bowdern and at least six other Jesuits took part in Roland Doe's exorcism, much of which took place in an upstairs bedroom at this home, which belonged to the boy's relatives, in the Bel-Nor neighborhood of Saint Louis, Missouri, USA, 20 March 2013. All of the pictures for this essay were made with specialty lenses attached to a 35mm camera. EPA/JIM LO SCALZO ( USA FEATURE PACKAGE THE EXORCIST )

Altar boys and priests walk through Roland Doe's boyhood neighborhood during a Via Crucis parade organized by the boy's old church, Saint James Parish, in Prince George's County, Maryland, USA, 29 March 2013. In 1949, a Saint James priest named Father Albert Hughes first proclaimed Roland's need of an exorcism. Roland, who was then Lutheran, converted to Catholicism and joined Saint James Parish. All of the pictures for this essay were made with specialty lenses attached to a 35mm camera. EPA/JIM LO SCALZO ( USA FEATURE PACKAGE THE EXORCIST )

Vines consume a cross in the suburban Maryland county where Roland Doe, now 78-years-old, maintains an address outside Washington, DC, USA, 17 March 2013. After his exorcism, according to Father Bishop's diary, the boy became 'a fine young man.' Indeed, Roland married, raised children, and maintained a long and productive career with the US government before retiring, reportedly to suburban Maryland. He has never spoken publicly about the case. All of the pictures for this essay were made with specialty lenses attached to a 35mm camera. EPA/JIM LO SCALZO ( USA FEATURE PACKAGE THE EXORCIST )