What happens when faith, fear, sickness, fraud, and ritual all collide?
The World's Strangest Exorcisms is a chilling, deeply researched journey through the disturbing history of possession and the rituals used to cast out spirits.
From ancient Mesopotamian demon lore and biblical exorcisms to the Roman Ritual, the possession panics of early modern France, the terrifying case of Loudun, dybbuks, jinn, Protestant deliverance ministries, modern media hysteria, failed rituals, courtroom scandals, and deaths carried out in the name of salvation, this book follows exorcism across centuries and cultures.
These are not simple ghost stories. They are accounts of belief, power, suffering, spectacle, and human vulnerability. Some cases were treated as miracles. Some became public theatre. Some exposed fraud. Some ended in tragedy.
With a careful eye on history, religion, medicine, psychology, folklore, and law, Bryn Thomas explores the uneasy question at the heart of every possession case:
Was something supernatural happening, or were people watching fear take human form?
Dark, intelligent, unsettling, and responsible, The World's Strangest Exorcisms is perfect for readers fascinated by paranormal history, religious mysteries, occult studies, true-life horror, demonology, and the dangerous borderland between faith and madness.
