Published in 1967 and then extensively revised in 1978, The Ninth Configuration is a fascinating look at madness, philosophy, and the nature of religious belief. Both The Ninth Configuration and Twinkle, Twinkle 'Killer' Kane have been out of print for decades, but this new edition combines both novels with a long essay by Mark Kermode.

The Ninth Configuration is set in a remote castle which the US government is using as a military asylum. A Marine Corps psychiatrist with a crisis of faith encourages his patients to enact their fantasies as part of their therapy. However, he proves himself to be more deeply disturbed than at first appears and finally sacrifices himself to save one of his patients.

Georgetown, Washington D.C. Actress and divorced mother Chris MacNeil starts to experience 'difficulties' with her usually sweet-natured eleven-year-old daughter Regan. The child becomes afflicted by spasms, convulsions and unsettling amnesiac episodes; these abruptly worsen into violent fits of appalling foul-mouthed curses, accompanied by physical mutation. Medical science is baffled by Regan's plight and, in her increasing despair, Chris turns to troubled priest and psychiatrist Damien Karras, who immediately recognises something profoundly malevolent in Regan's distorted fetures and speech. On Karras's recommendation, the Church summons Father Merrin, a specialist in the exorcism of demons . . .

The phenomenal bestseller that inspired the classic motion picture--newly re-released in a version you've never seen before