‘The Conjuring’ series: Uncover these true stories inspiring the horror films
The Conjuring franchise is currently the second highest-grossing franchise ever. There are currently two films already out and a third is in production, set to be released in June of 2021. The combined budget of the two films already released totaled #139.5 million, whereas the combined total they grossed was $1.9 billion.
Why are these films so popular? Well, it might have something to do with the fact that they are based on real life events. Both the first and the second films are representations of real-life cases that paranormal investigators Ed & Lorraine Warren actually worked on. They specialized in people possessed by demonic spirits.
The Warrens founded the New England Society for Psychic Research in 1952, which is now considered one of the oldest ghost hunting groups around. Made famous by their involvement in the Amityville haunting case, they investigated over 10, 000 paranormal cases during their careers.
The Conjuring franchise is based on some of their most prolific work. Come with us as we journey through the real life horror stories.
The Conjuring – The Perron Family
In 1971, Roger & Carolyn Perron moved their family into a Rhode Island farmhouse. They had five children. It is alleged that when the Perron’s bought the property, the seller wasn’t entirely honest about the property’s history, and the family was simply instructed to “leave the lights on at night”.
Even though the family continued living in the house for a decade, the Warrens were called to investigate paranormal activity in the house many times. According to reports, these activities started out as small things that seemed to be centered mainly on the kitchen of their fourteen-room house.
According to reports, Carolyn claimed the broom would move to new locations in the house on its own. She also said she would hear scrapings on the side of the kettle when no one was in the kitchen. Carolyn also allegedly found small piles of dirt on the kitchen floor right after it had been cleaned.
As the five daughters began telling their parents that they were seeing spirits in the home, Carolyn took it upon herself to research the house’s history. She learned that it had been in the same family for eight generations. Many of those family members died in the house – all horribly. Children drowned in the creek, some were murdered, and others hanged themselves in the attic.
The children reported spirits that smelled like rotting flesh that caused their beds to rise off the floor. Roger Perron said when he would go to the basement he would feel a “cold, stinking presence” behind him.
One of the times the Warrens came to the house to investigate an incident, Lorraine Warren – who considered herself a medium – performed a seance to attempt to communicate with the spirits in question. During this activity, Carolyn became possessed and began speaking in tongues. Her chair was lifted off the ground as well.
After some investigation, the Perrons & the Warrens learned that there was a woman who lived in the house in the 1800s called Bathsheba Sherman. The community believed her to be a Satanist and it was alleged that she as involved in the murder of a neighbor’s child. The Perrons & the Warrens believe that Bathsheba was definitely the spirit disrupting their household.
The Conjuring 2: The Enfield Haunting
This took place between 1977 & 1979 and involved two sisters aged eleven & nine. In August 1977, the girls’ mother called the police claiming that she had witnessed furniture moving across the room all on its own, while her two daughters had heard mysterious knocking on the house’s walls. The police officer who arrived reported witnessing a chair rise up and down, then move across the floor all on its own, just like Peggy Hodgson had claimed.
As the police, unable to explain the activity, reporters were called into the house to shed some light on the situation. During this investigation, they allegedly witnessed lego and marbles flying around the room unassisted. A dog could be heard barking in the house where there was none. Furniture would move and topple over without being interfered with.
The Warrens only got involved in this case when the iron fireplace in an upstairs bedroom was one day suddenly ripped out of the wall. There was no one in the house capable of such an act. The Warrens believed demonic activity was definitely at play in the house, unlike many others who called the children imposters.
In the film, the investigators perform an exorcism. In real life though, this never took place. The Warrens always claimed they were incapable of such actions themselves, as exorcisms needed to be carried out by a catholic priest. However, they were known to bring in priests from time to time throughout their careers. Nevertheless, two years after the Warrens entered the house and began investigations, all paranormal activity stopped.
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It: Arne Cheyenne Johnson’s Trial
This time, instead of focussing on a home where paranormal activity was taking place, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It is set in a courtroom. The film is based on the real-life court case of Arne Cheyenne Johnson. He was accused of murdering his landlord, after the landlord acted improperly towards a friend’s son.
Johnson’s primary defense in court was that he was possessed by the Devil. His case was the first in U.S history where a defendant used the reason of demonic possession as a reason for denying personal responsibility for their own actions. Ed Warren testified in the case, as the Warrens were called in to deal with the initial possession.
According to Ed Warren’s testimony, they were initially called in to deal with an eleven-year-old boy, David Glatzel. Warren claims Glatzel was possessed by up to forty-three demons. The Glatzel family asked the Warrens to assist in the exorcism of their son. The Warrens enlisted the assistance of Catholic priests, and the job was taken care of.
The Glatzel family considered the exorcism successful initially, as the demons did leave their son’s body. However, it was later alleged that in the process, the demons were transferred to Arne Cheyenne Johnson, who was engaged to David Glatzel’s older sister, Debbie.
Lorraine Warren testified that witnesses at the exorcism believe they saw the demons leaving David’s body and entering Johnson’s. According to Warren, to the best of her knowledge, Johnson was definitely possessed when he committed the crime. Johnson was convicted of first degree manslaughter in 1981.