Soul Fuck

Abstract

The genesis for this chapter came about while I was watching Paranormal Activity (2009), a film that focuses on Katie, a woman tormented since childhood by an evil spirit.¹ When Katie moves in with her boyfriend, Micah, he enthusiastically sets up a video camera to record the supernatural activity. Later, while doing some research on the Internet, Micah comes across the case of Diane, a woman whose circumstances from childhood eerily mirror Katie’s. While showing her the graphic footage, Micah explains to Katie that after the evil spirit took full possession of Diane’s body, an attempted exorcism failed, and Diane ultimately died from blood loss after gnawing off her own arm. As the film progresses, Katie too is gradually possessed by the demon, which takes more and more control until in the end, she stabs Micah to death off-camera.