35. The Exorcism of Anna Ecklund

Badger Bizarre

The Exorcism of Anna Ecklund is known today as the most documented case of supposed demon possession and exorcism in American history. Although occurring over several months in the small town of Earling, IA, the main players in the story - Anna Ecklund and the exorcist priest - were both Wisconsinites.

The exorcism is famous today for its grueling and brutal sessions, which resulted in Anna becoming emaciated from refusing to take in food, and seemingly supernatural occurrances of her body withstanding contortions and disfigurement, vomiting impossible amounts of fluids, and scaling room walls. Actual conversations had between the exorcist, Appleton priest Theophulis Riesinger, and numerous demons speaking through Anna, including Satan himself, were also documented.

Much of the surviving documentation became the source material for the 1973 American horror classic, "The Exorcist."

Scott and Mickey discuss this case, filling in the backrounds of Theophilus Riesinger of St. Joseph's Parish in Appleton, and Anna Ecklund, which is a psudenym for a woman believed to be from Marathon, WI named Emma Schmidt.

Listen to this one with the lights on!

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Opening Trailer:

Ed Gein Sound Byte : "Hard Copy" - Paramount Domestic/CBS Televsion

Frank Lloyd Wright and Jeffery Dahmer Sound Byte - WISN 12 News - Milwaukee, WI

Jeffery Dahmer Quotes: "Inside Edition" - King World/CBS Television/CBS Media

Attribution for logo design:

Red Claw Scratch Photo

Attribution for Music:

Trailer: Composer: Adam Phillip Zwirchmayr https://www.pond5.com/

Intro: https://pixabay.com/

Outro: Composer: Viacheslav Sarancha https://www.pond5.com/

Sources:

Appleton Post-Crescent - Archives

"Begone Satan!"

Capuchin.org - Theophilus Riesinger

Des Moines Register - Archives

"The Exorcist"

Fox 6 Milwaukee - Morgan Geyser

Laycock, Joseph - "The Secret History of the Earling Exorcism."

St. Clair, David; "The Devil Rocked Her Cradle"

Time Magazine - February 17, 1936

WISN - Lawrence McFarland