On Friday, October 30, 2015, Destination America will broadcast the first live televised exorcism in U.S. history. The event will take place at the original Exorcist house in the suburbs of St. Louis where the infamous ritual was performed on Roland Doe in 1949. Host Dave Schrader (email) was joined by two paranormal experts, Chip Coffey (first half) and Christopher Saint Booth (second half), who are both taking part in the exorcism and discussed what we can expect from their attempt to communicate with any spirits and demons in the house.
Coffey spoke about his previous work on a demon episode of Paranormal State and why he is taking precautions ahead of Destination America's live televised exorcism. "[Demonic forces] already threatened me when I was in the house," he revealed. Coffey admitted to feeling some trepidation and anxiety about the upcoming exorcism but is confident he has done everything he can to prepare for it. He has ordered a liter of holy water, gone to confession, and will be taking blessed religious objects with him, as well as attending mass/communion at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis. We decided not to attempt conjuring the demon and insisted clergy be on hand for the entire process, he added. According to Coffey, an expelled demon would go back to hell rather than infiltrate another home in the neighborhood.
Filmmaker Christopher Saint Booth talked about his investigation of the house where the live exorcism will take place. "When we went there it was a very dark place," he recalled. According to Booth, his team encountered strange shadows and cold spots, as well as captured vulgar EVPs. One investigator complained of feeling hot, thermal imaging showed a dramatically increased temperature around his neck, and a cross shape was found burned into his skin, he disclosed. Booth also shared accounts from a diary of events written during Roland Doe's 1949 exorcism and delved into some of the other haunted places he has investigated, including Waverly Hills Sanatorium in Louisville, Kentucky.