This Real Wisconsin Case of Demonic Possession Inspired The Exorcist
In the first episode of the new podcast Wisconsinology, historian Frank L. Anderson tells the story of Father Theophilus Riesinger, a Capuchin monk from Appleton who was known as America’s foremost exorcist. In 1928 Father Riesinger performed a brutal 23-day exorcism on a Wisconsin woman, a disturbing case which eventually inspired the novel and film adaptation of The Exorcist.
Listen to the podcast below for the story.