![William Peter Blatty, writer and filmmaker whose work included The Exorcist.](/web/20170118071253im_/http://www.watoday.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/s/j/x/0/image.related.wideLandscape.460x259.gtsjuk.png/1484707610653.jpg)
Author knew he had something special with The Exorcist
William Peter Blatty was a senior at Georgetown University in 1949 when he heard the extraordinary story that, more than two decades later, would change his life — and scare the devil out of everyone else.