Purging the Devil

Exorcism and Possession After the Death of God

By: Grafton Tanner

Write A Review

eText | 20 January 2026

At a Glance

Format
ePUB

eText

$14.78

or 4 interest-free payments of $3.69 with

Instant online reading in your Booktopia eTextbook Library *

Why choose an eTextbook?

Instant Access *

Purchase and read your book immediately

Read Aloud

Listen and follow along as Bookshelf reads to you

Study Tools

Built-in study tools like highlights and more

* eTextbooks are not downloadable to your eReader or an app and can be accessed via web browsers only. You must be connected to the internet and have no technical issues with your device or browser that could prevent the eTextbook from operating.

A radical cultural and political history of exorcism and possession from the 1950s to the present day.

Demands for exorcism have increased since the mid-twentieth century. What could be the cause of the recent possession outbreak? Are possessed people actually suffering from mental health problems? Or is the world falling victim to the devil and demons?

In this shocking new book, Grafton Tanner argues that neither science nor religion can fully explain the re-emergence of exorcism. Once considered outdated at best, and an embarrassment at worst, exorcism today is more than just a horror movie trope: it has become a popular product in our therapeutic marketplace and a weapon against groups that resist state, corporate, and ecclesiastical powers. In a world anxious about what people believe and how they behave, and where losing one's self is deemed threatening, accusations of possession can serve to punish the youth, nonconformists, and marginalized populations.

Charting the history of exorcism in an allegedly secular age — from the brainwashing panic of the postwar period to the cult deprogramming of the 1970s, and from the massive influence of William Peter Blatty's The Exorcist to the harmful practice of conversion "therapy" — Purging the Devil is an inquiry into the nature of belief and a meditation on our fascination with evil.