The Exorcist Was Based On A Lie — And The Church Got Played

In 1949, a thirteen-year-old boy was exorcised by the Catholic Church. 

The case became the most famous possession story in American history 

and inspired The Exorcist — one of the highest-grossing horror films 

ever made.

For 75 years, the story has been told the same way: a boy possessed, 

priests battling for his soul, a miracle ending.

But a 29-page diary, a forgotten interview, and decades of silence 

tell a very different story.

This is the real story of Ronald Hunkeler — the boy behind "Roland 

Doe" — and how a grieving, isolated teenager's struggle became a 

myth the Church, a novelist, and Hollywood all had reasons to believe.

What is Henry?

History remembers certain things a certain way. Henry de Berk investigates what gets left out. Long-form documentaries on crime, power, and the stories we tell ourselves about both. Not to shock. Not to sell a theory. But to follow the evidence where it actually leads — and sit honestly with what it doesn't resolve. New episodes on the cases history got wrong, the myths that stuck, and the truth underneath that's usually more unsettling. For people who know the popular version. And want something more honest.