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William Peter Blatty, probably best known for writing The Exorcist, has died, aged 89.

On January 13, William Friedkin, the director of the 1973 movie based on the book, tweeted: “William Peter Blatty, dear friend and brother who created The Exorcist passed away yesterday”.  Although instantly associated with the horror genre, the New Yorker’s earlier books were humorous, and in the 1960s he worked with Pink Panther director Blake Edwards, penning the screenplay for A Shot in the Dark among many others.

The Exorcist was published in 1971 and Blatty won an Oscar for his screenplay two years later. He wrote and directed The Ninth Configuration and wrote Legion, a sequel to The Exorcist in 1983, helming the film version, The Exorcist III, in 1990. He continued to write, and did what he described as a polish of the text of The Exorcist for a 40th anniversary edition in 2011.