Ed and Lorraine Warren

Ed and Lorraine Warren Rare Paranormal Investigations

Published by FrightFind On October 8, 2018

Ed and Lorraine Warren are the most popular and well documented paranormal investigators in the entire world. With a case catalog that spans back to 1952, they have investigated thousands of paranormal claims that have covered many decades. The public today has undoubtedly heard of their most famous cases such as the Amityville Horror House, the Annabelle doll, Enfield Haunting, and the house from The Conjuring. Here are some of their other lesser-known investigations of The Conjuring ghost hunters, Ed and Lorraine Warren.

The Smurl Family Haunting

In 1974, Jack and Janet Smurl moved into an older home in West Pittston, Pennsylvania. Not long into their move, the Smurls began to notice extremely foul smells permeating inside the home. Loud and constant bangs on the walls and ceiling kept them awake at night, and even their family dog was picked up and thrown violently against a wall by an unseen force. The most traumatizing event was when Jack was a victim of many sexual assaults by the unseen force in the home.

The events lasted on and off nearly a decade before Ed and Lorraine were called in to investigate the haunted Smurl House. After listening to the complaints from the family, combined with religious provocation, Ed determined that a powerful demon was inhabiting the home. Again utilizing religious provocation, Ed tape recorded the sessions and took them to the local Catholic diocese to procure an exorcism for the family.

At first, several priests came in waves to bless the home formally, and one priest even went so far as to spend a weekend at the home observing the family. However, this priest never found anything sinister. Upon leaving though, the unseen force manifested into an actual dark mass that floated around the home! Eventually, two exorcisms were performed in addition to a Catholic Mass. After nearly a decade of torment, the Smurl family sold the house in 1988, and have reported that nothing has followed them to date.

Demon Murder Trial

Arne Cheyenne Johnson

The Demon Murder Trial is actually the first court case of its kind to employ the legal defense phrase of “the devil made me do it.” In 1981, Arne Cheyenne Johnson was convicted of first-degree manslaughter for killing his landlord Alan Bono. Arne at the time was dating a single mother named Debbie Glatzel who had an eleven-year-old son named Daniel. He had procured a rental property that needed cleaning up and took Debbie and Daniel with him. While on-site at the property David reported having an encounter with an old man who told them to stay away from the property. David began having visions where the old man transformed into a demonic creature who threatened to capture his soul. Arne and Debbie were disturbed by the boy’s constant visions and dreams that they sought out help from the local Catholic Church.

A priest came to bless the boy, but this proved ineffective as the visions worsened. Ed and Lorraine were called in to investigate. Lorraine, a well-respected clairvoyant, picked up on a powerful black mist that continuously surrounded the child. As the Warrens investigated, the visions got worse, and young David began to exhibit growls, superhuman strength, and even levitation. Worse of all was that in a demonic voice he foretold of Arne committing murder.

Mary Johnson talks with Lorraine Warren while waiting outside the Arne Johnson murder trial.

During an exorcism facilitated by Ed and Lorraine with up to six priests, Arne mocked and challenged the demon who seemed to have left David’s body and transferred to his. Over the next few days, Arne exhibited the same symptoms as David and on that fateful evening got into a fistfight with Alan Bono over a misunderstanding involving Debbie. Arne fatally stabbed Alan Bono nearly a dozen times. At the trial, Arne attempted to plead not guilty by reason of possession, but a judge was unconvinced. He ended up pleading to manslaughter and serving five years in prison. As for the demonic presence the cause so much havoc? It mysteriously disappeared once the actual murder had been committed.

The White Lady of Union Cemetery

Union Cemetery

Sitting beside the Easton Baptist Church in Easton Connecticut is the Union Cemetery. The cemetery is believed to be centuries old and is home to the ghostly apparition of a lady dressed all in white. This ghostly woman has been seen since the late nineteenth century. Curious about such paranormal activity in his own backyard, Ed Warren took it upon himself to try and videotape the apparition himself.

On a cold night in late 1990, Ed had arranged a video recorder on a tripod to capture anything moving in the cemetery. Sometime after midnight, roughly six seconds worth of videotape captured a lady in white clothes, floating through the cemetery. Ed was so fascinated by the apparition that he published an entire book dedicated to the ghostly phenomenon, simply titled, Graveyard.

The most popular theory is that the woman died during childbirth and was driven to the graveyard and buried, which partly explains eerie reports of the apparition making crying sounds and sometimes floating through the cemetery gates and out into the middle of Route 59. The ghostly sight has caused many a late night drives to run right through her spirit with a car only to stop and look back to find nobody there. While this particular case does not contain demonic hallmarks, it is one of Ed Warren’s most cherished cases, particularly due to the film footage that he took and kept.

Mr. Entity: The Moffitt Family Poltergeist

California housewife Deborah Moffitt was stunned the first time she witnessed the various apports going on in her home. The mysterious and unseen force would paranormally transport many household objects, in particular, razor-sharp kitchen knives, to rooms all over her house. Before long, Deborah and her husband were receiving mysterious messages written on their mirrors in soap. Surmising that all of this was the work of a ghost, Debbie cheerfully named it, “Mr. Entity.”

One of Mr. Entity’s messages

As the months went by, Mr. Entity became more and more aggressive, even going so far as to stab butcher knives straight up into the seats of chairs. Frightened by the upfront attempted violence, Debbie reached to various mediums who were chased off by the threat of death by Mr. Entity. She employed the help of the infamous witch, Dr. Evenlyn Paglini whom Mr. Entity mocked in many mirror writings and discounted her reputed occult skills. Even a Native American medicine man was brought in to assist.

Finally in the early 90s, after five years, Deborah got a visit from Ed and Lorraine Warren. She instructed them that the attic was the area of the house that Mr. Entity dwelled. Lorraine took it upon herself to use her clairvoyant skills to put together a picture of what it was she was dealing with. Moments after attempting a rather informal seance, Lorraine reappeared disheveled and exclaimed aloud, “Oh Ed! This is ancient! It’s very old and very ancient!”.

Mr. Entity’s calling card on the mirror was an iblis, which is a crude triangle drawn with a tail hanging out of it. It was found to be related to the djinn, a very old Middle Eastern demonic entity. Given the time, circumstances, and foreign nature, the Warrens were not able to clear the home but were able to help facilitate Debbie and her family in finally ridding themselves of what haunted them to no end.

The Southend Werewolf

Not all of the Warren’s classic case files dealt strictly with demonic entities and possessions. Beginning in 1952, a young man from Essex, England named Bill Ramsey experienced a most unexplained phenomenon. While playing outside one autumn day, he mysteriously was “attacked” by a very cold rush of air. The event was sudden in its appearance and brutal in temperature. Moments after being attacked, he ran and vomited after feeling inundated with a foul stench. As days passed for young Bill, he found himself having incredibly short bursts of anger and rage, as well as periodic bouts of superhuman strength. Nightmares began taking hold of his sleep and he experienced dreams of deep, heavy growls from an unseen creature. The nightmares and fits of rage subsided over the years and he went over fifteen years without an episode. Then one evening he went out with friends to a pub and had to excuse himself to the washroom where he rinsed his face and stared in the mirror, and the reflection of a werewolf looked back at him.

Into the late 1980s, Bill periodically attacked personal friends as well as strangers. Upon fearing an imminent heart attack, Bill was rushed to the hospital only to discover that his werewolf side was emerging. Unknown numbers of responding police officers couldn’t restrain him as he growled, made claw scratches and was animalistic in behavior. Tranquilizer injections could only settle him. Ten days of relentless physical, mental, and emotional tests could not find anything at all wrong with Ramsey’s unexplained werewolf manifestations. As luck would have it, the Warrens were in London on an unrelated case and heard of his lycanthropic possession and immediately began to investigate.

The Warrens were convinced Bill was possessed by a demon that manifested werewolf tendencies in him. Bishop Robert McKenna was a close personal friend of the Warrens and had helped performed many exorcisms upon their recommendations. At once, Ramsey agreed to fly to Connecticut with them to meet McKenna and be freed from his werewolf demon. The night before his exorcism was to be carried out, he attempted to claw and strangle his wife in their hotel room. The next day at his exorcism, he had to be restrained just moments after the ceremony began. He immediately began to growl, foam at the mouth, and become aggressive.

The ceremony was said to have lasted hours with the final portion having to be conducted all in Latin. According to Ed Warren, near the end of the ceremony, Ramsey heaved his body up against the restraints with all his might before slumping over. The werewolf demon fled, and his nightmare was over. Warren is said to have filmed the entire exorcism and had it kept under tight lock and key. As of 1992, Ramsey reported he no longer had any werewolf tendencies or rages, but as of 2018, his whereabouts and status are completely unknown.

Ed and Lorraine practiced their paranormal research for 60 years together. They had many tales which will make you question your own beliefs. To hear a little more about some of their most famous endeavors, take a look at some of the articles below.

Why is 3 AM Called the Witching Hour?

Published by FrightFind On August 28, 2018

The night has always been a fearful time. It’s too dark to see anything clearly so the mind starts playing tricks, showing us threats in every dark corner. This fear of the dark is only amplified by stories of teenagers going off into the woods to later be found brutally murdered. Stories of witches chanting and sacrificing small animals around a roaring fire, cursing towns and people without mercy. The night is believed to bring out the evil and sin of the world and, as the saying goes, it’s always darkest before the dawn.

When is the Witching Hour?

Whether you believe the ancient folktales or the new modern alternative on when the Devil’s hour takes place, both have one thing in common: the belief that the night holds unspeakable horrors. Folktales would suggest that the Devil’s hour takes place when 3 AM turns to 4 AM while more modern pieces of horror have stretched the time from midnight to 3 AM.

What is the Devil’s Hour?

The Devil’s Hour, which has also been referred to as the witching hour, was given this eerie title because of the belief that at this point of the night demons, ghosts, witches, and the Devil himself are at their most powerful. It is quite common for supernatural events to take place at 3 AM. A famous example is The Conjuring story where all the clocks in The Conjuring House stopped at exactly 3 AM every night.

The Real Conjuring House

Various folktales suggest that at this time of night dreams are no longer a part of our subconscious but rather a way of communicating with the other side. These were considered cautionary tales since you never knew what would come back to the waking world with you.

Why is 3 AM known as the Witching or Devil’s Hour?

But why 3 AM specifically? It is believed that Jesus was crucified at 3 PM in the afternoon so, in an attempt to mock the Holy Trinity and the sacrifice of Jesus, 3 AM was designated as the polar opposite. The ultimate evil taunting the ultimate good by taking its opposite. This can also be seen in the flipping of a cross or hearing three unexplainable knocks in the dead of night. Western Christianity believes that the night is the most sinful part of the natural day as well. In the Gospel of John, there is a line that suggests that the light will reveal sin so those who do evil stay in the shadows and out of the light of day.

Christians also believed night to be full of supernatural dangers due to the absence of prayers. Constant praying would ensure constant safety but since we all have to sleep sometimes, the night was deemed most dangerous. This menacing idea of the night married to the superstition that black magic was the most effective at 3 AM springboarded the paranoia that any woman caught wandering around late at night without a sufficient reason must be guilty of witchcraft. These events also birthed the term “Witching Hour”.

Explanation of the Devil’s Hour

Biologically, around 3 AM is when the body goes into the deepest cycle of sleep, REM sleep. Within this stage of rest the blood moves slowly, the heart beats lethargically, and dreams become vivid. If a person wakes up before the REM cycle is complete, the terrifying experience of sleep paralysis can occur. To ensure that a person doesn’t act out their dreams or wander about and get themselves hurt, the body puts itself into a state of paralysis.

When the mind realizes it can’t move, it begins to panic which makes the situation that much worse. Many people see dark, menacing figures since the adrenaline-soaked brain can’t help but see threats in the shadows. Before such a thing as sleep paralysis became a known and studied phenomenon, these experiences were thought to be the work of the Devil or witches or even attempted possession.

The Nun Returns To Theaters

Published by FrightFind On July 5, 2018

On September 7, the fifth installment in the Conjuring saga will be unleashed, and, unfortunately, it seems like gripping your rosary will not be enough to save your soul.

While The Nun is the latest release in the series, the film will serve as a prequel: as it is set in 1952 Romania, the chronological order of the prior movies place The Nun at the historical forefront of the horror franchise.

The Nun 2018 Plot Details

The story so far is that novitiate Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga, American Horror Story) was plagued by visions of a ghastly black-eyed nun as a young girl. However, when another young nun in a Romanian abbey dies by suicide, Sister Irene joins forces with Father Burke (Demián Bichir) under the direction of the Vatican to solve the mystery. However, Father Burke doesn’t have the holiest of pasts, and Sister Irene is on the verge of taking her final vows—will what lies in store for them further strengthen their faith, or will they lose their souls to a greater evil?

A familiar face—if we can call it that—will be returning as the source of mayhem and terror in The Nun: Valak (Bonnie Aarons). The demonic nun was last seen in The Conjuring 2, and also probably your nightmares after seeing the movie…We at FrightFind might still be trying to get over the painting scene.

Aside from Aaron’s reprisal of her role as Valak, Taissa Farmiga was originally not going to be in the film due to being the sister of Vera Farmiga, who plays Lorraine Warren in the Conjuring franchise. However, director Corin Hardy found himself convinced to share in the family ties after seeing Taissa’s auditions: “Honestly, I probably wasn’t going to cast her because she was Vera’s sister, in order for it to not look convenient, but she was so good in her auditions,” he recalled at last year’s Horror Channel FrightFest, where fans were indulged with a sneak peek of The Nun. “I watched 100 auditions for this role and she had some kind of presence outside of her own body that is evident, and she’s phenomenal.”

The Nun Trailer

With a trailer promising The Nun as being “the darkest chapter” of the franchise, you can try to pray for forgiveness, but it just might be Valak who will be answering your pleas.

The Nun is slated for release by Warner Bros. Pictures on September 7th.

The Real Story of the Annabelle Doll

Published by FrightFind On June 6, 2018

Dolls can be very creepy. Some suggest that dolls were the first children’s toy dating back to the Egyptians. Were those Egyptian dolls creepy? Of course, they were! Since then, children have spent endless hours playing with everything from Barbie and Cabbage Patch to G.I. Joe and Star Wars dolls. Yes, those are dolls. And of course, there are famously haunted dolls. There’s Harold, the first haunted doll sold on eBay, whom psychics won’t go anywhere near. There’s Robert the haunted doll, who now lives at The Fort East Martello Museum in Key West, Florida. And then there is Annabelle, the Raggedy Ann doll that has taken doll stardom to new heights and is known as one of the most haunted dolls in the world. Here is the true backstory of the Annabelle doll from The Conjuring films.

The Real Annabelle Doll

The Real Annabelle Doll from The Conjuring Universe at the Warren’s Occult Museum

The Annabelle doll was actually a Raggedy Ann doll, not what you might expect a haunted, evil doll would look like. How could anyone ever see that smiling, brightly colored doll as a demonic menace? A young med student named Donna would find out. As well as paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren who have a compelling tale of horror that will make you think twice about this rosy-cheeked rag doll.

True History of the Annabelle Doll

The year is 1970 and soon to be registered nurse Donna has just received an antique Raggedy Ann doll from her mother for her birthday. She takes the doll back to her shared apartment with her roommate and fellow nurse, Angie. Both girls fawn over the cute smiling doll when it arrives but quickly forget its existence as it becomes part of the decor. However, the doll doesn’t go unnoticed long. Only days later, both girls start to notice that the doll seems to not only move from room to room but also change positions on its own. Donna would sometimes leave the doll in the living room only to come home to find the doll on her bed with the door closed. The doll was often found with its legs crossed or standing on both feet but it was never left in those positions, to begin with.

A month after the doll’s arrival, Donna started to find handwritten notes seemingly from the doll itself. Each note was written on scraps of parchment paper with the handwriting of a small child that bore the message, “Help us” and “Help Lou.” Donna, confused and scared, noted that she had never owned parchment paper and had no idea where it could have come from. Lou was a long-time friend to both Donna and Angie and at the time it was unclear why the doll had written his name specifically.

Up to this point, Donna kept what was happening to herself and didn’t feel the need to call in any kind of specialist until after one particularly unsettling event. Donna had just come home to find that the doll had moved again, this time to her bed. This time, something a bit more was off about the doll than just its changing position. Upon further inspection, Donna found to her horror that the doll had drops of a blood-like substance on its chest and hands. Nearly petrified with fear, Donna and Angie agreed they needed help and called a medium.

Who was Annabelle? Was the Annabelle doll possessed?

Through this medium, the girls would learn about the now infamous Annabelle Higgins. Before the apartment complex where the girls lived was built, there was just a field and a small house. It’s said that Annabelle and her family lived there happily until tragedy struck the family when seven-year-old Annabelle would be found dead in the field where the apartments now sit. The medium relayed to the sympathetic Donna and Angie, that Annabelle just wanted to stay and be loved. Without question, Donna allowed the spirit of Annabelle to stay in the Raggedy Ann doll. Not long after accepting Annabelle’s plea to stay, the girls realized that the spirit might not be as innocent as its soft doll was make it seem.

From the very beginning, Lou had disliked the cheery doll, even saying it was evil and he urged Donna and Angie to get rid of it as soon as it arrived. Both girls continuously refused since they felt such compassion for both the doll and Annabelle. Lou, on the other hand, had nothing but terrifying experiences when it came to the Annabelle doll. One night, Lou awoke to find that he could not move his body. Panic-stricken, he looked toward the end of the bed and saw the doll standing there. Seconds later, Lou felt the pressure of hands around his throat and was choked almost to the point of asphyxiation. Lou woke the next day terrified and convinced it had not been a dream or sleep paralysis. This would not be his only encounter with Annabelle. He also received seven long claw marks on his chest, three vertical and four horizontal. Interestingly, the cuts were fully healed in two days, leaving no trace they had ever been there.

The Warrens take on Annabelle

After these violent episodes, Donna realized this was not the spirit of a little girl but something much more sinister. Donna knew she needed more than a medium, so she contacted an Episcopal priest named Father Hegan. After Donna explained what had been happening to Lou and the doll, Father Hegan decided to call a priest of higher authority, Father Cooke. Upon hearing about the horrifying events, he instantly called Ed and Lorraine Warren. The Warrens came to the conclusion that it was not the spirit of the young Annabelle but instead a demonic presence since spirits want to possess people, not inanimate objects. It was only making the doll seem alive so it could attach to a human host instead.

Starting small, the evil spirit started attracting attention to itself to get closer to a human host. The medium also made it much easier for the spirit to manipulate the girls with a sob story. Considering how violent the spirit started to get, the Warren’s predicted that the spirit would have possessed or killed someone in a couple of weeks if they haven’t been notified. Father Cooke cleansed the apartment with a seven-page prayer and, to Donna, Angie, and Lou’s relief, the Warrens took the Raggedy Ann doll with them.

Where is the Annabelle doll now?

The Annabelle doll is currently in a case in The Warren’s Occult Museum in Connecticut with a sign on the glass reading: “WARNING POSITIVELY DO NOT OPEN.”

The doll still showed signs of violence while in the Warren’s care. As they traveled home with the doll in the back seat, the car stalled repeatedly on every corner making the power steering and brakes fail. After almost colliding with another car because of this, Ed Warren poured holy water over the doll and they made it home safely with no more strange automobile failure. Ed also reported that the doll levitated off a chair when they returned and would turn up in rooms randomly. The Warrens built a special case for the doll after Father Jason Bradford, a Catholic exorcist friend of the Warrens, got into an almost fatal car accident after tossing the doll and telling it, ”You’re just a ragdoll Annabelle, you can’t hurt anyone.”

Tony Spera, curator of The Warren’s Occult Museum on Annabelle

Comparisons to the Annabelle film

While some of the above was included in the film, much of it was embellished for Hollywood’s big screen. Here are a few truths and falsities.

The doll was indeed a birthday gift to Donna from her mother. She was a nursing student which was depicted in the film.
The doll was never given to a pregnant wife.
The satanic cult scene never happened.
The owners never attempted to throw away the Annabelle doll. The activity was never really bad enough to warrant tossing the doll.
There were messages that appeared to have been left by the doll. Another odd fact was that the paper used was parchment. Donna, Angie, and Lou did not have any parchment in the house.
The doll never started a fire.
Father Hegan did perform an exorcism on the doll.
The Warrens did confiscate the doll to be held at their Occult Museum.

Ever wonder where the real Conjuring house is?

The Nun: A Conjuring Spin-Off

Published by FrightFind On April 23, 2017

The Nun is coming!

Everyone loves a good horror movie and if previous box office numbers are any indicator, it looks like next summer is set to bring us yet another frightful delight. Director James Wan, the macabre mind behind The Conjuring 1 (Rhode Island), The Conjuring 2 (Edenfield, UK) and both Insidious films is back, alongside writer Gary Dauberman of Annabelle fame, to bring us The Nun.

While little is currently confirmed, we do know that it will be a spin-off of The Conjuring 2 and will focus on Wan’s wildly popular “Demon Nun” character. Also joining the crew, and fresh from Annabelle 2, will be Maxime Alexandre, famed cinematographer of over 30 films including gorgeous gore-fests like The Hills Have Eyes, The Crazies, and Maniac.

A Conjuring spin-off that almost wasn’t

If you’re unfamiliar with director James Wan, he has a history of setting -and breaking his own- records. The Conjuring 2 not only met critic and movie goers expectations but also made a remarkable debut grossing $320.3 million worldwide to date (.5% more than the first film). It also currently stands as the second highest grossing original horror film ever, falling in line only behind the horror classic The Exorcist. Faced with that kind of competition, most of us would probably be pretty cozy in second place, however, with the hype already surrounding The Nun, this may be Wan’s most lucrative venture into the horror genre yet. And one that could have never happened.

During the filming of The Conjuring 2, Wan initially had a hard time nailing down the look of his demonic character, Valak (who in real life has been written about since the 17th century and reportedly takes the form of a small boy with wings riding a two headed dragon). Wan even stated in an interview with i09 that he saved film for additional photography, saying he felt like he was “still discovering” the look. It wasn’t until he had a conversation with the real life Lorraine Warren regarding an entity that she felt had been haunting her that his nightmarish nun took form. After getting the go ahead for re-shoots, Wan took Warren’s description of a swirling vortex hidden behind a dark hood and brought it to life. And while re-shoots are normally a bad omen in the film industry, Wan’s demon nun was anything but, spawning YouTube makeup tutorials with millions of views, horrifying Halloween costumes, and now his highly anticipated 2018 spin-off.

Nun Speculations and Spectors

Wan’s admiration for paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren is widely known and he has proven himself a master at weaving their real life encounters in with historical haunts, such as the Perron Family and Enfield poltergeist hauntings in his previous Conjuring films. So while the studio is being tight-lipped regarding the plot of The Nun, one can’t help but speculate on its content.
When asked by Variety at the world premiere of The Conjuring 2 regarding future films, Wan had this to say,

“There could be many more movies because the Warrens have so many stories.”

So is it possible that Wan may have perused even more of their material to make this spin-off happen?

If so, he has a plethora of spine-tingling stories to choose from, and a couple of them might be very fitting contenders for a new flick centered around a demonic force.

One such case surrounds the Trial of Arne Cheyenne Johnson, a real court case from November of 1981 in which Arne Johnson claimed he was possessed by a demonic entity when he killed his landlord, Alan Bono. The Warrens documented eye witness testimony of family and friends who had supposedly seen ghostly hands choking 11 year old David Glatzel who also lived in the house. Lorraine herself reported having seen a black mist materializing next to David, in addition to David’s increasingly bizarre displays of hissing, growling and speaking in various other voices. Although already the plot of the made for television film simply titled “The Demon Murder Cases”, this entity seems reminiscent of the spirit that plagued 11 year old Janet in The Conjuring 2.

Or perhaps the demon nun will reappear in a retelling of the Warren’s Smurl Haunting case? A case involving yet another Janet – this time, Janet Smurl and her family, who claimed demonic activity began in their family home in 1974. Bursting pipes, an exploding television set, scratches on walls and pungent odors filled the house until the family reached out to the Catholic Diocese and begged for assistance, only to be met with a priest that the family quickly came to believe was a demon in disguise. Priest robes and nun habits could jibe well together if Wan chooses this direction.

While nothing is currently set it stone, one thing is for certain, no matter how Wan and crew tackle their next installment in this wildly popular franchise there will be an audience and we’ll be among them!

A Quick History of the Ghost Hunters from The Conjuring

Published by FrightFind On September 10, 2016

The Conjuring’s Real Life Investigators: Ed and Lorraine Warren

In the cold winter of 1970, the Perron family purchased a 200-acre country farmhouse in Rhode Island where they planned to raise their five daughters. But things didn’t work out that way. Instead of living there for decades, the Perrons were driven away from their home and property in less than 10 years. The Conjuring movie tells the tale of the Perron family as reported by the paranormal investigators who were called in to investigate the hauntings.

Background on the Warrens

The Warrens formed the New England Society for Psychic Research (N.E.S.P.R.) in 1952, which is now one of the oldest ghost hunting groups in the U. S. They’ve investigated hundreds of hauntings and written 10 books about their experiences. They’ve also appeared on television shows like Paranormal State and Scariest Places on Earth.

They are most famous for investigating the Amityville hauntings in the 1970s as well as serving as the consultants on the first release of the Amityville Horror movie franchise. The Warren’s never charged a fee for their investigative work and made a living off of lectures, books, movies, and more. They’ve investigated and written books on demon murders, cemetery hauntings, and numerous hauntings of homes throughout New England.

When Ed and Lorraine first married Ed was already conducting paranormal investigations, and Lorraine would accompany him but only as an observer. That all changed when Ed realized that Lorraine was actually a powerful medium and clairvoyant. Lorraine had been aware of her gift since she was a girl, but did not realize how unusual it was. Once she learned to further develop and use her skills as a medium, she and Ed worked together to help drive demons from people and their homes. Now in her late 80s (as of 2016), Lorraine is no longer an active ghost hunter, though she did consult on the set with director James Wan of The Conjuring, which was released in 2013. She also advised Wan in a lesser role on The Conjuring 2: The Enfield Poltergeist in 2016.

In August of 2006, Ed Warren passed away at the age of 79.

Over their many years of ghost hunting, the Warrens trained other demonologists, including their son-in-law, Tony Spera, who is now the director of N.E.S.P.R. and the Occult Museum the Warrens started in their home in Connecticut. Read part one of our interview with Tony Spera to learn more about the Warrens’ career including their involvement in The Conjuring movies. There are also many more details about the Warrens in part two of FrightFind’s interview with Tony from N.E.S.P.R.

See the Real Conjuring House that kicked off the franchise and learn more about the history of the property.

Interview with Ghost Hunter Tony Spera – Part 3

Published by FrightFind On June 22, 2016

FrightFind Talks with Ghost Hunter Tony Spera

Tony Spera, director of the New England Society of Psychic Researchers (NESPR), has been a ghost hunter for more than 30 years. During much of that time Tony worked with his in-laws, Ed and Lorraine Warren, the legendary experts in the field of spirits and demonology. They’re also the couple portrayed in The Conjuring movies. You can read more about the Warrens’ connection to The Conjuring movies in part one of our interview, plus much more in part 2 of the interview.

In part 3 of our interview, Tony explains how hard it is to set up an exorcism, the difference between an demonologist and an exorcist, and how he decides which cases to pursue. He also offers advice for those interested in becoming a ghost hunter.

FF:In The Conjuring there was a scene in which Ed Warren was called the only non-ordained person to be approved by the Catholic Church to perform exorcisms. Is that accurate?

Tony Spera: No. He’s the only one who’s not an ordained member of the clergy that’s recognized as a religious demonologist. A demonologist and an exorcist are two different animals. A demonologist studies devils and demons. An exorcist expels devils and demons. In other words, a priest or minister could be an exorcist, but a layman cannot. Now, having said that, a layman, like Ed, could recite the Rituale Romanum (or Roman Ritual), which is the right of exorcism in the Catholic faith, but it’s not going to have much effect at all.

FF: Why not?

TS: Because there’s power in ordination. When somebody gets ordained they have the authority to do these things. They’re holy, they’re pious, they go through special fasts and things like that, and they prepare for the ritual. It’s like a cop. You can go make a citizen’s arrest, but how much power is that going to wield when the guy takes a gun out and shoots you. You don’t have the authority to do the things that the cops have the authority to do. Only in this case it’s a spiritual authority from God.

Through God’s name, the priest is working. God is working through that priest to get rid of the devil. Ed did not have that power. I don’t. You don’t. But an ordained member of the clergy who has approval from the bishop, and who is trained in demonology and in exorcism can do it. It doesn’t mean they’re going to be successful because a lot of it depends on the piousness of the priest. If he has a lot of secrets, a lot of sins that he’s not telling people about, or he’s not pure, then it may not work.

FF: So Ed would actually determine whether there was an evil presence, and if there was, then he could call in a priest at that point to hopefully conduct an exorcism.

TS: That’s exactly it. Ed was an information gatherer. And Lorraine an information gatherer. That’s their job. Their job was to detect, gather, document, and photograph evidence to give to the clergy for possible blessings, deliverances, or exorcisms. Because the clergy are the only people authorized to do that. What Ed and Lorraine did is very different than what you see on TV with a lot of these shows.

If you watch these other TV shows, most of them, I’m not going to give any names, but most of them, they go into a house. Their job should be to try to help the family. Not by just going in and documenting. They’re only doing half the job that way.

Let’s go back to the police example again. I used to be a cop, so I keep going back to the police. Anyway, a cop goes to a murder scene. He walks in the house, he goes, “Yep. The guy’s dead, all right.” And he walks out and doesn’t investigate who did it, or how to find the killer, or how to resolve anything.

Same thing that they’re doing in these ghost shows. They’re going, “Wow! Yeah! You got a ghost here, all right. You hear that? You see that? Ooh, I got something on my EVPs (electronic voice phenomena). I got something on my night camera.” But what are they doing when they leave? Nothing. The family still has the problem.

Ed and Lorraine, on the other hand, used to take that information and try to find the clergy to come back out because they would have the knowledge, and the clergy would trust their expertise. Ed would say, “Look, Father. You have to come out and at least do a blessing on the house. Let’s see what happens after you do a blessing.”

And then the priest would come out, do the blessing, and see if that would work. If it didn’t, you try the next step, which is getting authorization from the diocese or from the bishop to do an exorcism, which is very difficult. But they tried. Their goal was to solve the problem that the family was experiencing.

The Inside Scoop on Exorcisms

FF: I see. So the church saw the Warrens as authorities after they correctly identified enough cases?

TS: Right. So they were more apt to help. But a lot of times the church would turn them down. Right now, if you called 50 Catholic churches in your area and said, “Is there a priest there who can come out and do an exorcism in my house? Just exorcise the house, not even me, just the house,” you’d be hard pressed to get one out of 50 to come out and do it. It’s very difficult.

FF: Because they assume people are making it up or it’s simply not what they think it is?

TS: One reason is that they assume you’re making it up. Another reason is like the ostrich who puts his head in the dirt, they don’t want to deal with it, or they’re afraid. The worst is if they don’t believe in the devil. There are priests that do not believe in the personification of evil.

That is the truth. There are priests that don’t believe in the devil. There are priests that are afraid to confront the devil because maybe they have hidden demons of their own and they know they are not going to be effective and they are frightened.

And then there are other church dioceses that don’t want their priests doing this work. So, it can be very difficult unless there’s a lot of documentation, not just somebody calling you on the phone saying, “We need help.” But Ed and Lorraine used to forge ahead and try anyway. Normally they would at least get a priest to do a blessing.

FF: That is fascinating. Do you also work with the church to help people?

TS Yes, I do. That’s how I know how difficult it is. The end game is getting clergy to cooperate. Just like if you called a hundred churches in your area to find someone to do an exorcism. None of them are going to admit that they do. Not one of them. It’s very, very tough. Even though it’s recognized by the Vatican that there are devils and demons and exorcists around, it’s a difficult process. It involves fact gathering and a lot of psychological testing needs to be done on the person before. There’s a lot of red tape.

FF: Interesting. I didn’t realize how hard it would be to convince someone.

TS: The thing is, with me, I’m just one ghost hunting group, the New England Society for Psychic Research. I get many, many emails from people all over the world, asking for help and saying they need an exorcist. That’s where we filter people out.

If we went to see every person that called we’d be overwhelmed. It would waste a lot of time for priests because a lot of these people are mentally disturbed. And a lot just have overactive imaginations. The calls and the ramping up of cases that happen after a horror movie, like The Exorcist, it’s phenomenal. Some people think they’re possessed, but it’s psychological, so you have to filter it out. You have to be trained enough to know when these people are making up a story, or they’re just using overactive imagination, or they’re letting their mind get away from them.

Choosing the Cases to Investigate

FF: So over the past 30 years, I’d assume you’ll developed a pretty good filter. I’m sure being a cop helped as well. How do you decide which cases to investigate?

TS: Well, seven out of 10 calls are fake. When I say fake, I’m mean it’s not really paranormal phenomena. It might be pipes banging, it might be the air conditioning unit not working right, it might be imagination, it might be some 14 year old kid causing a problem in the house, making up stuff because he doesn’t want to go to school, or whatever.

Then there’s mental illness, or drug use, stuff like that. There’s a lot of bipolar because the first question I’ll ask somebody when they start to give me this long story of these demons and devils in their house, I’ll say, “Have you ever been treated for psychological problems?” And they come back with, “Well, I’m bipolar. I’m on meds, but I stopped taking them two months ago.” Boom! There’s your answer right there.

But that’s why it takes a lot of training and expertise. Yeah, they could be bipolar, but they also could be possessed. So, just because they’re bipolar doesn’t necessarily mean they’re crazy when it comes to being possessed. Maybe they are possessed because that’s where the demons and devils like to go. They like to go where there’s weakness. They attack the very weakest level.

In other words, if you like alcohol, they would entice you to drink more. The devils, they would obsess your thoughts, make you drink more to make you weaker, then attack you because you’re in a weakened state. Same with mentally ill people. What would most people say? “She’s bipolar. She’s not possessed.” And now the devil is hiding within her, possessing her body and nobody believes her. So, you can’t just go by, “Oh, well I’m bipolar and I stopped taking my meds,” as being definitely not possessed. You have to go farther and dig deeper until you get to the root.

FF: So at some point, if you find enough hard evidence, you’ll pursue a case?

TS That’s right. I’ll usually start by telling them to go find a priest or minister and have them come to your house. Have them bless the house, property, and you and all the members of your family that are there in the house, and let me know what happens.” Nine times out of 10 either the blessing works or they don’t get it done. They just don’t contact me anymore because sometimes I’ll follow up and ask how the blessing went and they’ll say “Well, I couldn’t find a priest to come out.” Or something similar.

Now, coming out to do a blessing is a lot different than doing an exorcism. House blessings are common. It takes just a little effort, and you may have to offer a small donation to the church.

But some people won’t even do that. If they don’t want to donate $50 to the priest or the church, then how much of a problem do they have? So, that’s almost like a filter, right there. If you’re telling me you’re tormented, you’re tortured, and you can’t take it anymore but won’t even get a simple blessing for a small donation, then how bad can it be?

In other words, they have to do their part. They’re not calling David Copperfield. I’m not coming out with a magic wand and going, “Whoop,” and everything’s fine. That’s what they want. They want a magic wand answer. If that were the case, then we don’t need exorcists. We don’t need priests. We don’t need anything, just a guy with a magic wand.

It’s not easy to get rid of a real devil or demon in a house, anything that has evil influence. If it was so easy, then there wouldn’t be any devils or demons, would there? You’d just go, “Get out. Stay out,” and they’re out. But it’s not that easy. They’re pains in the ass. They’re like a bully at school. They keep coming back, unless you know how to deal with it.

Tony’s Advice for Ghost Hunters

FF: Do you get many people asking how to get involved in ghost hunting? What do you tell someone interested in doing this kind of work?

TS: Yeah. That happens a lot. They’re normally young people without much direction in their life and they don’t know what to do. So they’re looking for something that sounds fun, sounds exciting, sounds like Hollywood. But that’s not the way it is at all and I usually just tell them to start by reading a lot of books, and I give them a couple of titles to read to start.

Some people call or email me to ask how to become a demonologist. They ask if there is a school of demonology they can attend. Well, not in the United States. There might be one in the Vatican, but not in the United States.

So, I try and steer them away from it unless they’re really, totally passionate about it. It’s like when a 14 year old kids says, “I want to be an NBA star.” It’s a pipe dream because the odds of becoming an NBA star are pretty bad. A demonologist, the same thing. It’s a lot of study. I didn’t learn what I learned in 10 days. I didn’t learn what I learned in a couple of weeks, or a month, or a year. It took me a long, long time to get what I know today. And I don’t know everything! That’s the crazy part. I don’t know nearly everything about the supernatural because I’m not supposed to. Only God knows everything about the supernatural because He created everything.

Read part 1 and part 2 of our interview with Tony Spera.

A History of the Conjuring Ghost Hunters – Interview

Published by FrightFind On June 7, 2016

An Interview with NESPR Director Tony Spera

Tony Spera is the director of the New England Society of Psychic Researchers (NESPR). He’s been a ghost hunter and paranormal researcher for more than 30 years. He worked with and was trained by Ed and Lorraine Warren, the preeminent experts in the field of spirits and demonology and the people portrayed in The Conjuring movies. They also happen to be Tony’s in-laws.

When FrightFind spoke with Tony, he talked about how he met the Warrens when he began dating Ed and Lorraine’s daughter, Judy, and what it was like working with them all those years.

FF: Did you know Judy Warren’s parents were paranormal investigators when you began dating?

Tony Spera: No. After we’d been dating about a month she invited me to attend a lecture her parents were giving at the University of Connecticut. I asked her if they were professors, which I assumed they were, but she told me they were ghost hunters. I was dumbfounded.

But I was also intrigued. I’d always been interested in the occult and had studied astrology when I was a cop. So when I heard Ed’s lecture I was really interested. And that’s when I began to get to know them and got to ask lots of questions about what they were doing.

Ed was a real cool dude. Lorraine would invite me to dinner, so Judy and I would go over and I would pick Ed’s brain. I’d say, “Ed, tell me all about this ghost hunting stuff,” and he would get into it. As we spent more time together, Ed and Lorraine would tell me all these stories about the many ghost adventures they had been on together. The more I heard, the more interested I got.

I was fascinated by all this stuff, so one day I got the nerve to ask if I could go on a case with them. I told Ed I wanted to be involved and he said “sure.” He then started taking me on investigations and to lectures with them. And that began my real education on the supernatural. I began working with them from then on.

Sometimes we would do lectures five days a week, and I learned so much through the lectures and the Q&A periods afterwards when people would ask all these crazy questions. Ed would answer them all and I would learn from that. Then we’d go on cases I would learn on the job. And that’s how I know them and how I know all this stuff today.

FF: So you’re continuing the Warren’s paranormal work?

TS: Yes. I worked with them for about 30 years, and now I’m here to teach and impart knowledge I happen to have about the supernatural. All that started from working with them.

But the Warrens started back in 1952 when they formed the New England Society for Psychic Research. Back then, of course, there were no ghost shows, no Internet, no clubs of ghost hunters and psychics. Hardly anything was out there. But Ed was an avid ghost hunter because he lived in a haunted home from age 5 through 12 in Bridgeport, CT.

Tony Spera with his wife Judy Warren, the daughter of the Conjuring’s Ed & Lorraine Warren.

Growing Up in a Haunted House

FF: Ed grew up in a haunted house?

TS: That’s right. He was raised in a haunted house with twin sister, Babe. They both experienced strange phenomena and were so frightened sometimes, especially Ed. He saw so many things, and often when he was alone in the house, that it got to the point when he didn’t want to be there alone. He told me that when he was 6, 7, 8 years old that when he came home from school in the winter if the lights were off it meant no one was home yet. But he was so scared that he would wait outside in the freezing weather and hide in an abandoned vegetable cart until someone got home and turned the lights on. And then he would go in.

He had so many strange and scary experiences in that house. The closet door in his bedroom would open and he’d see the face of an old hag with white hair peering out at him. Or he would hear footsteps at night coming upstairs, or the noise of a cane on a wooden floor. These were very frightening things to happen to a young boy and his sister. He and his sister would just hide under the covers in fear.

After he and Lorraine were married he told her he wanted to find other people who’d had similar experiences with ghosts and hauntings to see what they experienced. To do that, he would read Fate magazine, which had articles about mystical things and haunted houses and things. It might still be in business. [It is. It started in 1948.]

If an article was about a location not too far away – maybe Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut, or New Hampshire – he’d say, “Lorraine, let’s get in the car and go talk to some people.”

Finding Haunted Houses

TS: But how he would approach them is pretty unique. He wouldn’t just walk up to somebody’s house and say “Hey, I heard your house is haunted. Can I come in and talk about it?” He didn’t do that. He had a better way.

Ed was an artist, a painter. He went to art school for two years after he got out of the navy and he got good at it. But he ended up quitting because he said he knew more than the instructors and could paint better than them. Ed was a cocky guy, you see. He would paint these nautical scenes, New England barn scenes, and other stuff. He would also paint haunted houses. Often these were visualizations of what he thought the haunted houses featured in Fate magazine looked like.

So he and Lorraine would take this 1933 Chevy he bought for $15 and drive all over New England looking for these haunted houses he read about. When he found one he would sit in front of it in the car and sketch the house in pencil. It would take about 20 minutes. Then he’d give it to Lorraine and she would go to the door and say her husband made a nice sketch of your house that he’d like you to have.

And nine times out of 10 times they would be invited in, thanks largely to Lorraine and her Irish charm. She would wave at Ed to come on up to the house and then they’d go in and interview the people. He’d ask if this was the house he read about in Fate magazine and then the conversation would get rolling. He would learn about their hauntings and hear their stories, and compare it to what he experienced as a kid. This helped confirm what was in his mind was real.

After they had done this for a year or so, Lorraine tells Ed, “You know, I don’t believe in any of these ghosts. You guys are all just reading the same books.” And Ed says, “That’s because you didn’t live in a house like I did growing up. You don’t know what it’s like to live in a haunted home.” This was a big moment for them.

You see, at that time, Lorraine was a psychic, but she didn’t believe in ghosts. In fact, she assumed everyone had psychic abilities like her. When she was nine years old she was attending a Catholic girl’s school called Laurelton Hall in Connecticut that was run by nuns. One day she’s standing in line with some other girls and says to a classmate, “Hey, look at Sister Josephs. Her lights are brighter than Mother Superior’s. She was talking about the aura around their body. She didn’t know what an aura was at that time, but she could see it. And she thought all the other girls could too. She didn’t think she was anything special. She’s young, figures everyone else sees them.

Mother Superior overhears this and calls Lorraine aside and tells her she’s staying after school today to pray and that she shouldn’t be talking about those kind of things. So as a girl Lorraine was nervous to tell people she had this ability. Even when she was 16 or 17 years old she wouldn’t even tell her parents. Then, when she was about 21 or 22 (she and Ed were married when she was 18) she started going to these places with Ed as he was getting really involved in checking out these hauntings. Lorraine was more of a spectator then. But one day that all changed.

Lorraine Learns She’s a Psychic – And a Ghost Hunting Team is Formed

TS: On one of their trips, Ed said, “I’m going to bring a legitimate psychic with me.” He goes in the house with Lorraine and this psychic he invited. They’re walking around the house, talking to the family, and the psychic starts explaining what she feels is going on in the house, what happened. At one point, Lorraine stops Ed and says, “That psychic is not telling the truth. She’s not right. She’s incorrect.” Up to that point, Ed didn’t even know his wife was psychic. She didn’t tell him. But mostly because she didn’t think she was psychic at that point.

So, Ed says, “What the heck are you talking about, Lorraine?” She says, “No. This is really what happened.” And she explains to him what she thinks happened in the house. The wife of the family hears this and tells Ed, “Your wife is right. That psychic was way off base.” That’s when Ed first had the inkling that his wife had psychic ability, from that encounter right there.

Ed knew that was going to be invaluable going forward. Because now he could just ask Lorraine, “Is there a spirit here?” and she’ll know. That’s how the team actually was formed. He studied devils and demons and haunted houses all his life. She was a natural psychic who developed more and more ability as she went on these cases. She became more and more attuned.

It’s like a cop goes on a burglary case for the first time. He’s not attuned to anything or how to investigate it or anything. But, you go on a thousand cases, you start to be an expert. You get that ability, that sense. That’s what happened to her. She naturally developed that psychic ability by going on all these cases with Ed.

FF: That’s fascinating. I knew they were a team, but I assumed it was because they were aware of each other’s skills ahead of time.

TS: Yeah, it was a perfect storm. She didn’t believe in ghosts, at first. And Ed wasn’t aware of her psychic ability. Ed didn’t even know what the word clairvoyance meant at the time. But he soon learned.

Lorraine’s Paranormal Experience at the Ocean Born Mary House

In about 1949, they are taking a trip to Henniker, New Hampshire, to investigate a haunted house he read about called the Ocean Born Mary House. They track it down somehow and Lorraine goes to the door and charms the caretaker, a man named Mr. Roy, into letting them in to look around.

At one point they are sitting and talking with the caretaker and Ed asks Lorraine a question, but she doesn’t answer. So he looks at her and she’s staring straight ahead like in a trance. She’s not answering him, her eyes are glazed over. Ed says, “Lorraine! Hey!” He’s snapping his fingers in front of her. Ed says, “Lorraine! What’s wrong with you?” She’s not answering him. All of a sudden, Ed panics, like somethings wrong with his wife. He looks over at Mr. Roy and goes, “What the hell is wrong with my wife?” And Mr. Roy responds, “Oh, that happens a lot to clairvoyants in this house.” Ed goes like this. He looks at Mr. Roy and goes, “Clairvoyants? She’s no clairvoyant, she’s my wife.”

FF: Sounds like a punch line!

TS: It does! But Ed didn’t know what the word clairvoyant meant at that time. Mr. Roy explained it to him and said, “Oh, no, she must have some psychic ability. That happens a lot here.”

What happened to Lorraine at that moment was felt a jolt to her back and shoulders as if somebody hit her, and suddenly she was out of her body. She had an out of the body experience and was floating up to the second floor looking down at Mr. Roy and Ed. When she explained this moment to me, she said, “For the first time in my life, I didn’t fear death anymore. I knew there were two separate entities, body and soul. I was looking down at my own body staring straight ahead and I saw everybody and I saw Ed talking to Mr. Roy. Then, suddenly, boom! I was back in my body, just like that.” That was the first time that she had an out of body experience.

FF: Wow! I’m sure Ed became a believer in her abilities then.

TS: That’s right. Yeah. Ed suddenly became a believer because then he knew. He knew that Lorraine had the gift. That is so invaluable if you’re an investigator of the paranormal, especially haunted houses, when you walk into a house and people are saying, “Hey! There’s a spirit in this house and it’s pretty bad! I have something going on in here!” A normal person like you or me, the only way we’d know is by doing a lot of investigating to see what kind of phenomena we can come up with.

But at that point, all Ed would need to do is look at Lorraine and say, “Lorraine, why don’t you walk through the house and tell me what you feel.” She’d walk through the house and she’d say, “Yeah. There’s a spirit here, but it’s not demonic, it’s human.” Or she’d say, “There’s something very dark here. There’s something bad here. There’s something evil here.” And Ed would know that was right and that she’s telling him the truth. That’s the great part about having a psychic come along on every case with you.

Training Lorraine’s Psychic Ability

FF: No kidding. So, Tony, based on that, did they believe, and do you believe, that psychic abilities are simply a gift some people have and others don’t? Do you think it’s possible for people to develop the skill or learn it if they were to immerse themselves in it?

TS: I think everybody has a modicum of psychic ability. There’s levels of it, just like there’s levels of intelligence. There’s low intelligence, or low IQ, and people with very high, naturally intelligent people where their IQ goes off the chart. Well, with psychics, the same thing. You have psychic ability, and so do I, but it’s very, very untrained and it might be very, very small.

Whereas, a true psychic might have a lot more where they could really tune in to things easily. There’s psychics on TV, there’s psychics all over the place, that you go, “Wow! They’re great.” But are they great? Are they making stuff up? Are they cold reading people? What are they doing? I’ve met a lot of psychics who did not impress me at all. But, Lorraine impressed me. And, remember, she may only have like 10% more psychic ability than us, but that’s enough to put her over the top, where she could sense things that we can’t. If you practice it, train yourself, like Lorraine did by going into the haunted houses, it just naturally gets better.

FF: I would imagine she wasn’t afraid of it either at some point.

TS: She was not afraid of it, no. She forged ahead. Sometimes she was frightened, but she would forge ahead. She always used to tell me, “Certainly, I’m frightened, but I have my faith in God to protect me.”

FF: So she thought she was doing some good and she could push forward through it?

TS: Absolutely. That’s the only reason they did it, to help people.

FF: How is Lorraine doing now?

TS: She’s doing okay, but she’s almost 90 and she’s frail. She has memory issues, so it’s very difficult for her to talk in depth about certain cases now, even though she may remember some of it. It’s hard for her to gather enough thoughts and verbalize it.

Read part 1 of our 3 part interview with Tony Spera where he discusses the upcoming film The Conjuring 2.

A look into The Conjuring 2 with Ghost Hunter Tony Spera

Published by FrightFind On May 16, 2016

The Conjuring 2: An Interview with Tony Spera of NESPR

In anticipation of the release of The Conjuring 2 on June 10, 2016, FrightFind spoke with Tony Spera, director of the New England Society of Psychic Researchers (N.E.S.P.R.). He’s been a ghost hunter and paranormal researcher for more than 30 years. Most of that time was spent working with Ed and Lorraine Warren, the preeminent experts in the field in subjects of spirits and demonology – and who also happen to be his in-laws.

Ed and Lorraine Warren are also the paranormal investigators on which The Conjuring and The Conjuring 2 movies are based, as portrayed by actors Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga. The Conjuring was about the Warren’s work with the Perron family and the hauntings at their Rhode Island farmhouse. The Conjuring 2 follows the Warren’s experience in England where they went to investigate The Enfield Poltergeist at a council house in Enfield.

We spoke with Mr. Spera about how the movies came about, the accuracy of The Conjuring, and discussed the controversy about the Warren’s work at the Enfield house. Our conversation with him ran more than an hour, and he had so many fascinating things to say that we will be posting his interview in several installments, so stay tuned for more.

FrightFind: Did Lorraine Warren see the first Conjuring movie? If so, what was her opinion of it?

Tony Spera: She saw it about four times. She loved it. She thought it was very, very good. Now, it wasn’t 100% accurate, but The Conjuring was about 80% accurate, which is very good. Because most of these films that people make that are “inspired by true events,” they just take a very small amount of it and create everything else. But I’d say 80-85% of The Conjuring was right. The filmmakers used a lot of dramatic license at the end, when they had the levitation scene and the chair turning around and things like that. That didn’t really happen. But, most of the other stuff did, including the hair being pulled, and the noises, and the witch. All of that was real and accurate.

FF: Was this the first movie you and the Warrens were approached about?

TS: No. Lorraine talked to Dino de Laurentiis about The Amityville Horror, but they didn’t use much of what she told him. The problem with the first Amityville movie is they based it on the book by Jay Anson, which has a lot of made up stuff in it. He tried to make it more dramatic, but some of the stuff he said was semi-true. Or if it was true, he didn’t present it correctly.

For example, when Anson wrote in the book about the staircase blowing up in front of George Lutz, he didn’t explain that it was a telepathic image sent to George Lutz to make him see it that way. It didn’t really blow up. So when somebody goes into the house afterwards and sees the staircase is still there it doesn’t add any credence. It just looks like everybody’s lying. But George Lutz, in his mind’s eye, saw that staircase explode in front of him, though it really didn’t happen in reality. It was a telepathic image, sent to George, by whatever was in that house, to make him believe it.

That’s the difference between reality and perception and how you write it in a book. If you don’t have knowledge of the supernatural, then you’re going to just write it. When George says, “I looked and the damn staircase blew up,” and the guy writes it that way without saying telepathically this image was sent to George then it lessens the credence of everything.

So the Warrens were semi-consultants on Amityville, but they didn’t use much of what Ed and Lorraine told them. But they were heavily consulted on The Conjuring.

Lorraine Warren with Vera Farmiga & Patrick Wilson. Vera Farmiga plays Lorraine in the Conjuring films.

The Warren’s involvement with The Conjuring 2

FF: How did they decide that the Perron incident [the basis for The Conjuring] would be the one to base a movie on? Were they just kind of riffing with you guys on different ideas?

TS: No, they picked it. We sent them some cases and they picked the one they wanted to use for the first movie. But Ed and Lorraine never called it “the conjuring.” Ed used to call it the “bewitched farmhouse.” I remember Ed saying to me several times that the “bewitched farmhouse” would make a great movie. And I’d say, “Yeah, it probably would, Ed.” Then we’d drop it or forget.

Years later, after Ed passed away in 2006, movie producer Tony DeRosa-Grund called Lorraine and said he had a treatment for a movie he’s calling The Conjuring. And it was the bewitched farmhouse case. So they made the movie after consulting us.

The The Conjuring 2 is based on another case of Ed and Lorraine’s, the Enfield poltergeist case.

FF: Did you or Lorraine have much input on The Conjuring 2? And have you seen any early scenes or previews?

TS: No. Lorraine has not seen the second one at all because it’s only recently finished. I haven’t either. Hardly anyone has seen it except the director James Wan and the editors. But it will be out in June.

Our consulting on The Conjuring 2 was minimal. We shared some pictures of the Enfield house and some recordings of the voices we took there when they asked us. Basically, they took a lot of stuff from the 1977 investigation by Maurice Grosse and his paranormal group in London.

You may have read on the Internet or elsewhere that Ed and Lorraine didn’t even investigate the Enfield house. But they did and there’s proof. We have audio recordings and photographs inside the house. Ed has hours of interviews with Peggy, Margaret, and Janet Hodgson. And recordings of spirit voices that came out of thin air that Ed made. In fact, they sent those interviews over to James Wan and producer Rob Cowan, and they’re going to try to use the real voices at the end credits.

So, Ed and Lorraine were there. They saw a lot of phenomena occur. The voices were the most startling. Ed would be talking and all of a sudden the voices would answer him. One time, Ed says out loud, “What are you?” And the spirit says, “I’m a soldier. Soldier.” Like that. Then Ed says, “Are you a Christian?” And the guy says, “No.” And Ed says, “What are you?” And the guy says, “I’m a soldier.” Ed says, “Aren’t soldiers Christians?” And then the voice just makes a long, growling sound, “Grrrrrr,” like that. It would answer Ed like, “What’s your name?” And he’d tell him, “My name is Tommy.” And another one’d say, “No. I’m Tommy. He’s Fred.” It was two people talking to Ed, named Tom and Freddy. That’s right out of thin air in that house. Crazy, crazy, phenomena like that occurred.

The startling thing is, most human voices that you hear, they don’t communicate back and forth like that. You may hear your name called in a house, but they’re not going to answer questions. They’re not going to go back and forth communicating. That’s the difference. These voices were actually listening to what Ed said and answering his questions.

In fact, Ed was with another investigator in the house one time, a guy named John Kennyhurst. He sent John to the car to get a bottle of holy water, but he couldn’t find it. He came back and said, “Hey, Ed. I can’t find the darn holy water. It’s not there. I looked all over the car. It’s not there. I know I put it there, but it’s not there.” Which is the kind of thing that would happen in a haunted location with a devil. So Ed decides to make his own holy water.

He took water and he put some salt in the water and did a blessing over it, “In the name of the Father, Son, Holy Ghost,” like that, in front of the water to make it holy, hopefully. He had nothing else to work with. So Ed says, “Let’s walk through the house and start sprinkling this holy water.” And a voice, out of nowhere, says to Ed, “It’s not blessed. It’s not blessed.” Just like that. In other words, he knew that that holy water wasn’t blessed holy water. It wasn’t real. That’s the intelligence that these spirits had.

FF: So the spirit knew Ed wasn’t authorized or allowed to bless holy water?

TS: Ed was not an ordained member of the clergy. You really can’t bless anything with any authority unless you’re an ordained member of the clergy. That’s just the rules of the universe, you know what I mean? It’s not going to have any power because there’s no authorization.

That brings me to something important Ed said. Now I’ve heard through the grapevine through producers and others that The Conjuring 2 will include a scene based on a real episode that happened on the Sally Jessy Raphael show between Ed and a skeptic [Joe Nickell]. The skeptic was challenging Ed and claiming there were no such things as ghosts or supernatural events. So Ed asked the guy if he believed in God, and the guy said something like, “Well, that doesn’t have anything to do with what I’m talking about today.” Ed replied that it certainly did because if you don’t believe in God then that’s why you don’t believe in ghosts. Ed’s point was that if you don’t believe in a supernatural being, if you don’t believe in God, then you can’t believe in the devil. So I don’t know if that in-depth characterization will be in the movie since I haven’t seen it yet, but I hope it is because it explains Ed’s point very well.

What I do know is The Conjuring 2 is supposed to be bigger, richer, and scarier than the first one. I think it’s going to be fantastic. I can’t wait to see it.

FF: Bigger and scarier?

TS: I asked a promotions person from Warner Brothers if she’d seen the movie. She said, “Well, I only saw the first raw cut. It scared the shit out of me. It was the scariest thing I ever saw.” I also heard through the grapevine, through other producers and stuff, that it’s a real spine-tingling, scary movie.

FrightFind definitely can’t wait to see the new Conjuring film and we look forward to hearing more from Tony once he’s had a chance to see the premiere. We’ll let you know what he says.

The True Story of the Conjuring

Published by FrightFind On November 3, 2015

The True Story of the haunting at the Conjuring House.

The Conjuring is based on what is believed to be a true story of the Perron family as told through the files of the paranormal investigators they hired, Ed and Lorraine Warren. The Conjuring movie, follows the Perron family’s move into the Old Arnold Estate Farmhouse in Harrisville, Rhode Island. The Estate sat on 200 acres of farm land and was established in the 1700s. There were many deaths on the land since it was established. Many deaths that suggest the presence of the supernatural and even evil spirits. Starting with deaths at the farmhouse to sightings and paranormal activity that was so intense, the Perron’s won’t even speak of it today. Now labeled, “The Conjuring House” to many because of the movie, there has been a lot of interest in the history of the land and the homes that reside on it.

Deaths at the Farmhouse

The earliest picture of the Arnold farmhouse dates back to 1885. The Arnolds owned the home through eight generations of their family, and at least 10 people have died there according to the Black Book of Burrillville, which stands as the town’s public record of that time. The deaths include two hanging suicides inside the home, a poison suicide, two drownings, and four men who froze to death. One young girl died after being raped and murdered, but her death is reported in another city, even though she was an Arnold.

Bathsheba Sherman

Bathsheba Sherman reportedly killed all of her children before they reached their fourth birthdays. When she was young, she was caring for a child who died from convulsions. The reports are not clear regarding who the child was, but it was believed that Bathsheba killed the child by jabbing a large sewing into their head.

Bathsheba faced charges of manslaughter, but there was no evidence to convict her so the charges were dropped. The townsfolk believed her to be guilty and rumors circulated that she was a witch sacrificing children to stay beautiful. When she died in 1885, the coroner states that her body “mysteriously turned to stone.”

Incidents, and Who Haunts the Old Farmhouse?

The Perrons reported many unexplained incidents in the farmhouse. On the first day, the realtor didn’t disclose any issues with hauntings, but they are not required to reveal paranormal happenings. Strangely, he did tell the father to leave the lights on at night. Also, three of the children saw a man watching them as they unpacked.

The family heard voices on many occasions, including those saying over and over that there were soldiers buried in the wall. Also, a young girl was repeatedly seen walking around weeping and calling for her mother.

Lorraine Warren and the Real Annabelle Doll

April, the youngest daughter, had many interactions with a young boy, and also saw a little girl occasionally. They would make themselves known to her in two different forms. In one form, they were healthy and lively. At other times, the two would appear as if dead or dying.

The ghost of Bathsheba Sherman is said to haunt the home. She was particularly active with the, mom Carolyn Perron. Once while napping, the Carolyn was stabbed in the back of the leg with a sharp object. The family wondered at the time if it were a bee or insect, but nothing was to be found. It was later revealed in the history of the home that it was most likely Bathsheba poking her with her sewing needle.

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