Couple unknowingly buy house that inspired The Exorcist story because it was so cheap

A couple in Maryland have revealed that they unintentionally bought the house that inspired the book and film The Exorcist.

Danielle Witt and Ben Rockey-Harris found the house on the market when they were looking to buy last year, and didn’t realise at the time why it was so cheap.

The three-bedroom house in Cottage City, Maryland was on sale for $377,000, which was $50,000 less than its estimated value.

But, the couple later learned in an online search of their property that the reason it was so cheap was because a Catholic priest had previously performed an exorcism on a teenage boy in the house.

The exorcism that took place there is apparently what inspired the classic 1971 horror book The Exorcist and the subsequent film in 1973.

Speaking about their experience to NPR, Witt said: “Honestly, the first thing I thought was, oh, God, this is going to tank our resale value.”

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He continued: “And then the next thought I had was, maybe I better rewatch that, start learning more about what it is that we just bought.

“And also, I had no idea that that was even based on a real story.”

According to Washington Post reports from 1949, a Catholic priest was called to that house to perform an exorcism on a 14-year-old boy who had been possessed by a demon.

The report stated: “Only after between 20 and 30 performances of the ancient ritual of exorcism here and in St. Louis was the devil finally cast out of the boy, it was said.”

Witt explained his reasoning for why he doesn’t feel nervous about living in the house.

He said: “You know, demons are not attached to locations. They’re attached to people. They’re things that wander.”