The Exorcist Author William P. Blatty Discusses His Experiences with After-Death Communication with His Dead Son

William P. Blatty
(Credit: aleteia.org)

For fans of and believers in supernatural events, William P. Blatty — famous for the classic novel The Exorcist — has come back into the spotlight with a promotional tour for his new book, Finding Peter: A True Story of the Hand of Providence and Evidence of Life after Death. This book centers around how his own experiences of witnessing signs his 19-year-old son, Peter, who died in 2006 of heart failure compounded by years of substance abuse, was communicating with him led him to believe that an afterlife really does exist.

During a stop for his book tour at an event at Washington D.C.’s Catholic Information Center, Blatty informed the crowd how his son was trying to make amends with God. Not too long after one particular visit to a church where “at his mother’s urging, the 19-year-old walked into the confessional and the priest heard his confession,” Peter died after a night where heavy drinking was involved.

These incidents, which he views as after death communications from Peter, solidified his belief in the existence of an afterlife should any doubts had existed before.

Some of the peculiar incidents that Blatty noticed a couple of months later included when Peter’s favorite tree in the family’s backyard bloomed one day during winter and then lost all the blooms the following day. Another oddity was when a previously broken light bulb stayed briefly lit for about 30 seconds.

These incidents, which he views as after death communications from Peter, solidified his belief in the existence of an afterlife should any doubts had existed before.

As the Catholic news website aleteia.org reports, although Blatty is most definitely now a believer himself, he “does not discount the possibility that each incident was an unexplained natural event; the subtitle of his book uses the word “evidence” rather than “proof” to show that life extends beyond the grave.”

His revelation comes full circle from the beginning of his supernatural writing career focused on demons to now believing in an afterlife with God. As he aptly puts it, “If there are demons, there must be God.”