My Best Friend's Exorcism

Demons are supernatural beings that exist according to a variety of religious traditions. In some traditions, they can be summoned for assistance; however, in contemporary Christianity, they’re typically viewed as evil. In Christianity, demons reside in Hell, which is ruled by Satan. Demons are assigned different ranks in a hierarchy, serving as “dukes,” “princes,” and the like, and presiding over other demons. Although they reside in Hell, demons are believed to travel to Earth and interfere with humans by either influencing them or possessing them.

The specific demon who possesses Gretchen in My Best Friend’s Exorcism is Andras, who appears in various religious texts about demons, such as The Lesser Key of Solomon, which was anonymously authored in the 17th century but likely compiled from and inspired by earlier texts. In this novel and other texts, Andras is a marquis of Hell, a high-ranking demon who commands several legions of other demons. He’s associated with owls and sometimes depicted as owl-like; he’s interested in violence, turning people against each other.

Different religious traditions have different stances on demonic possession, its stages, and whether or not it’s real. However, most traditions and the novel depict possession as happening progressively. The demon haunts a person, and then it harms and isolates them so as to fully possess their body and offer supernatural abilities. An exorcism is a ritual to expel a demon from a person’s body, but like possession itself, exorcism varies among religious traditions. In the novel, Christian (Brother Lemon) uses a four-step process: Firstly, he forces Gretchen’s demon to reveal its name (Andras); secondly, he engages in conversation with the demon; thirdly, he engages in a battle of wills; and finally, he expels the demon. These steps are not identical in every tradition, but they’re similar, with the first step often being revealing the demon’s name. However, when Christian gives up, Abby creates her own exorcism, which works despite not adhering to any religious tradition: She calls upon her and Gretchen’s friendship, instead of a specific God. This approach is effective because it targets a possessed Gretchen in an intimate way. The novel suggests if demons exist in more than one tradition, different strategies for expelling them also exist.