For over fifty years now, Ed and Lorraine Warren have been considered America’s preeminent experts on the subject of spirits and demonology. Even more important perhaps, is the fact that they have also been the very same people for the past fifty years whom religious authorities have repeatedly called in to control some of the most profane outbreaks of diabolical phenomena in the country. Cases where priests become possessed. Cases where people are physically attacked. Cases where unworldly entities manifest and then preside. Cases where time is violated and the physical environment is completely rearranged. Cases where spirits don’t just haunt a house, they visibly tear it apart.

Ed and Lorraine Warren have dedicated their lives to this work, and in this book they share the wisdom they have gained during their extraordinary career in this field. The work they perform is remarkable. And you can be certain, after all this time, they know things that are completely astounding. The cases they divulge will shock you; yet it is the significance of what they say that will actually floor you. Moreover, the Warrens don’t mince words. They know what they’re talking about. They have seen it. They have done it. And in this book they reveal both the methods and the motives behind spirit activity; indeed they reveal what really breaks the peace in haunted houses, and precisely what it means to you. Both now and forever.

Ed Warren is a demonologist. Lorraine Warren is a trance medium. But you’d never know it if you met them on the street. They are not occultists. They are not strange. They are essentially ordinary people who happen to do highly extraordinary work. And though the Warrens have no ax to grind, their orientation is distinctly religious. For in reality, that is the only way it is possible to function in this work. Because that which they confront are not vaporous, indistinct phantoms that simply come and go in the night. The forces they confront are religious entities that – by their own admission – exist for the sheer purpose of opposing the works of God. These forces are formidable. They are eternal. And they exist today. In a world that scoffs at ghosts and laughs at the unusual, the Warrens deliver a contrary message. That message is this: The fairy tale is true. The devil exists. God exists. And for us, as people, our very destiny hinges upon which one we elect to follow.

Lorraine Warren doesn’t have to go to the movies to see ghost stories, she lives them.

Alongside her late husband, demonologist Ed Warren, clairvoyant Lorraine investigated some of the most famous and infamous paranormal hauntings around. Her most notable cases have inspired plenty of frightening flicks, including 1979’s “The Amityville Horror” (as well as the 2005 remake) and next week’s scream-inducer, “The Conjuring.”

At “The Conjuring” press junket in San Francisco, Yahoo Movies recently had the chance to speak with Warren, now 86-years-young. We asked Warren how the 1971 case of the Perron family in Harrisville, Rhode Island, which inspired “The Conjuring,” compares to the horror the Lutz family experienced in Amityville, New York back in the mid 70s.

Warren instinctively laughed, as if there is no comparison at all.

“Amityville was horrible, honey. It was absolutely horrible,” said Warren. “It followed us right straight across the country. I don’t even like to talk about it. I will never go in the Amityville house ever again. You don’t know how long my career is; that’s the only one.”

Warren’s career is indeed long, as she and Ed founded the New England Society for Psychic Research in 1952, and have over 4,000 cases in their files. So when Warren says that the Amityville house is the one haunted house she won’t return to, it’s apparent something terrifying went down there.

That something horrific did occur at the house is not in dispute. On November 13, 1974, 23-year-old Ronald DeFeo Jr. murdered his parents, two brothers, and two sisters. But that’s not what inspired the film, and subsequent sequels.

About a year later, George and Kathy Lutz moved into the house at 112 Ocean Avenue with Kathy’s three children. Not surprisingly, the Lutzes got a great deal on the house, which was ironically called High Hopes.

But according to the Lutzes, after moving into the house, evil forces started moving the furniture (most of which was left over from the DeFeos), strange welts showed up on Kathy’s body, demonic red eyes peered around corners, and general paranormal terrorizing occurred. The Lutz finally evacuated High Hopes after only 28 days.

The Warrens were some of the only investigators to look into the case. And while many claim the whole story is a hoax, it’s obvious in talking to Lorraine that she remains a firm believer.

Of course, movies based on actual events don’t necessarily stay true to those events, especially in the horror genre, but if the Lutz’s case is scarier than the haunting depicted in “The Conjuring,” then it’s no wonder Lorraine remains affected.

In “The Conjuring,” directed by James Wan (“Saw,” “Insidious”), Ed and Lorraine Warren are played by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, who set up an investigation in the Perron’s isolated farmhouse to find definitive proof of the inexplicable and frightening events that endanger the Perron family. Unfortunately for everyone involved, they find that proof.

“You need proof. That’s what you have to have. You can’t tell ghost stories,” Warren told us.

While “The Conjuring” may be more ghost story than proof, it’s still enough to make you crouch in your seat, scream at the screen, and hide behind your spouse. But unlike the house in Amityville, Warren and the filmmakers hope you’ll make return trips to see the flick.

Ed and Lorraine Warren

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ed Warren
Born	Edward Warren Miney September 7, 1926 Bridgeport, Connecticut, U.S.
Died	August 23, 2006 (aged 79) Monroe, Connecticut, U.S.
Occupation	Paranormal investigator, painter, author
Organization	New England Society for Psychic Research
Religion	Roman Catholicism
Website	warrens.net

Lorraine Warren
Warren speaking at the 2013 WonderCon
Born	Lorraine Rita Moran January 31, 1927 (age 89) Bridgeport, Connecticut, U.S.
Occupation	Paranormal investigator, author
Organization	New England Society for Psychic Research
Religion	Roman Catholicism
Website	warrens.net

Edward “Ed” Warren Miney (September 7, 1926 – August 23, 2006) and Lorraine Rita Warren (née Moran, born January 31, 1927) were American paranormal investigators and authors associated with prominent cases of haunting. Edward was a World War II United States Navy veteran and former police officer who became a self-taught demonologist, author, and lecturer. His wife Lorraine is a professed clairvoyant and a light trance medium who worked closely with her husband.

In 1952, the Warrens founded the New England Society for Psychic Research, the oldest ghost hunting group in New EnglandN They are the authors of numerous books about the paranormal and about their private investigations into various reports of paranormal activity. They claimed to have investigated over 10,000 cases during their career. The Warrens were among the very first investigators in the controversial Amityville haunting. According to the Warrens, the N.E.S.P.R. utilizes a variety of individuals, including medical doctors, researchers, police officers, nurses, college students and members of the clergy in its investigati

The Warrens were responsible for training several demonologists including Dave Considine, Lou Gentile, and their nephew John Zaffis. In addition to investigations, Lorraine runs The Warren’s Occult Museum in the back of her house in Monroe, Connecticut with the help of her son-in-law, Tony Sper

Notable investigatioN

Amityville

Main article: The Amityville Horror

The Warrens are best known for their involvement in 1976, in the Amityville Horror case in which New York couple George and Kathy Lutz claimed that their house was haunted by a violent, demonic presence so intense that it eventually drove them out of their home. The Amityville Horror Conspiracy authors Stephen and Roxanne Kaplan characterized the case as a “hoax”. Lorraine Warren told a reporter for The Express-Times newspaper that the Amityville Horror was not a hoax. The reported haunting was the basis for the 1977 book The Amityville Horror and 1979 and 2005 movies of the same name.

Demon murder

Main article: Trial of Arne Cheyenne Johnson

In 1981, Arne Johnson was accused of killing his landlord, Alan Bono. Ed and Lorraine Warren had been called prior to the killing to deal with the alleged demonic possession of the younger brother of Johnson’s fiancée. The Warrens subsequently claimed that Johnson was also possessed. At trial, Johnson attempted to plead Not Guilty by Reason of Demonic Possession, but was unsuccessful with his plea. The case was described in the 1983 book The Devil in Connecticut by Gerald Brittle.

Werewolf

In 1991, the Warrens book Werewolf: The True Story of Demonic Possession was published in which they claim to have exorcised a “werewolf demon.”

Annabelle

Main article: Annabelle (doll)

According to the Warrens, in 1970, two roommates claimed their Raggedy Ann doll was possessed by the spirit of a young girl named Annabelle Higgins. The Warrens took the doll, telling the roommates it was “being manipulated by an inhuman presence”, and put it on display at the family’s “Occult Museum”. The 2014 film Annabelle directed by John R. Leonetti is loosely based on the story.^[6]

Smurl family

Main article: Smurl haunting

Pennsylvania residents Jack and Janet Smurl reported their home was disturbed by various supernatural phenomena, including sounds, smells and apparitions. The Warrens became involved and claimed that the Smurl home was occupied by three minor spirits and also a demon that allegedly sexually assaulted Jack and Janet Smurl. The Smurls’ version of their story was the subject of a 1986 paperback titled The Hauntedand a 1991 made-for-TV movie of the same name directed by Robert Mandel.

Perron family

In 1971, the Warrens claimed that the Harrisville, Rhode Island, home of the Perron family was haunted by a witch who lived there in the early 19th century. According to the Warrens, Bathsheba Sherman cursed the land so that whoever lived there somehow died. The story is the subject of the 2013 film, The Conjuring. Lorraine Warren was a consultant to the production and appeared in a cameo role in the film. A reporter forUSA Today covered the film’s supposed grounding in facts sympathetically.^[3][7]

The current owner of the home has collected her own research and that of several investigators with whom she has worked refuting the stories of witchcraft and tragic deaths at the home.^[8]

Union Cemetery

Main article: Union Cemetery (Easton, Connecticut)

The Warrens believed that the cemetery was haunted by a “white lady” ghost.

The Haunting in Connecticut

Main article: The Haunting in Connecticut

In 1986, Ed and Lorraine Warren arrived and proclaimed the Snedeker house, a former funeral home, to be infested with demons. The case was featured in the 1992 book In a Dark Place: The Story of a True Haunting. A TV movie that later became part of the Discovery Channel series A Haunting was produced in 2002 and a film very loosely based on the events, directed by Peter Cornwell, was released in 2009.

The Enfield Poltergeist

In 1977, Ed and Lorraine Warren visited a home in Enfield, England that was allegedly haunted by a poltergeist. This case was awarded a lot of media coverage at the time and is considered to be a hoax by many. The case was featured in a 2015 Sky Atlantic series The Enfield Haunting starring Timothy Spall. It will also be the subject of the 2016 sequel to James Wan’s The Conjuring.

Bibliography

The Demonologist: The Extraordinary Career of Ed and Lorraine Warrenby Gerald Brittle was released as an ebook for the opening of The Conjuring based on the Warrens’ life story.

Ed and Lorraine Warren have written and are featured in a number of non-fiction books, including:

Written by

Ghost Hunters: True Stories From the World’s Most Famous Demonologistsby Ed Warren (St. Martin’s Press, 1989) ISBN 0-312-03353-2
Ghost Tracksby Cheryl A. Wicks with Ed and Lorraine Warren (AuthorHouse, 2004) ISBN 1-4184-6767-7
Graveyard: True Hauntings from an Old New England Cemeteryby Ed Warren (St Martins Press, 1992) ISBN 0-312-08202-9
The Haunted: The True Story of One Family’s Nightmareby Robert Curran with Jack Smurl and Janet Smurl and Ed and Lorraine Warren (St. Martin’s Press, 1988) ISBN 0-312-01440-6
Satan’s Harvestby Michael Lasalandra and Mark Merenda with Maurice and Nancy Theriault and Ed and Lorraine Warren (Dell, 1990) ISBN 0-440-20589-1
Werewolf: A True Story of Demonic Possessionby Ed Warren (St. Martin’s Press, 1991) ISBN 0-312-06493-4

Featured in

Deliver Us From Evil: Taken from the files of Ed and Lorraine Warren,by J. F. Saywer (Phillips Publishing Company, PO Box 141, Westfield, Mass, 01085; Copyright 1973 by J. F Sawyer)
The Amityville Horror, a True Storyby Jay Anson (Prentice Hall, 1977)
The Demonologist: The Extraordinary Career of Ed and Lorraine Warrenby Gerald Brittle (Berkley Books, 1980)
The Devil in Connecticutby Gerald Brittle (Bantam Books, 1983) ISBN 0-553-23714-4
In A Dark Place: The Story of a True Hauntingby Ray Garton (Villard, 1992) ISBN 0-394-58902-5
True Haunting of Borley Rectory: Seekers of the Supernatural presents Conversations of Ed & Lorraine Warren – The original Ghostbusters
Satan’s Harvest

Media appearances

Lorraine was featured in several episodes of the Discovery seriesA Haunting, in which she discusses some of the cases the pair worked on as paranormal investigators.^[12]
Lorraine also appeared onParanormal State, where she acted as a guest investigator.^[13]
Both Ed and Lorraine have appeared onScariest Places on Earth.
Lorraine has acameo appearance in the 2013 film The Conjuring, where she is also credited as a consultant.
Lorraine is visited during the 2012 documentary filmMy Amityville Horror, where she reunites with Daniel Lutz, whose family was plagued by supernatural happenings in 1975. Ed and Lorraine Warren originally visited the house after the Lutz family fled the house after 28 days of occupancy.

Film adaptations

In 1991, a two-hour made for TV movie based on the Smurl haunting, entitled The Haunted, was released by 20th Century Fox. Written by Robert Curran, Jack Smurl, Janet Smurl, Ed Warren and Lorraine Warren, the film starred Jeffrey DeMunn as Jack Smurl and Sally Kirkland as Janet Smurl.^[14]

The 2009 film The Haunting in Connecticut was loosely based on the 1986 Snedeker haunting investigated by the Warrens.^[15]

The 2013 film The Conjuring was directed by James Wan. Based on a Warren case, it stars Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga as Ed and Lorraine Warren.^[16]

The 2014 film Annabelle is a supernatural psychological horror film directed by John R. Leonetti. It is both a prequel to and spin-off of The Conjuring and was inspired by a story of a possessed doll named Annabelle. It stars Annabelle Wallis, Ward Horton, and Alfre Woodard.

The upcoming horror film The Conjuring 2 is based on the Enfield Poltergeist. It is scheduled to be released on June 10, 2016.

References

Jump up^Brown, Alan (September 30, 2008). Ghost Hunters of New England. Lebanon, New Hampshire: University Press of New England. p. 3.
Jump up^http://www.warrens.net/
^Jump up to:^a ^b Elsworth, Peter (July 17, 2013). “‘The Conjuring’ depicts family’s reported haunting in Burrillville farmhouse in ’70s”. The Providence Journal. Retrieved July 21, 2013.
Jump up^Downes, Lawrence (April 14, 2005). “Editorial Observer; The Devil We Know on the Island We Love”. New York Times. Retrieved August 17,2011.
Jump up^Lynne Baranski (October 26, 1981). “In a Connecticut Murder Trial, Will (demonic) Possession Prove Nine-Tenths of the Law?”.People Magazine. Retrieved August 17, 2008.
Jump up^McLoughlin, Pam (October 5, 2014). “Real ‘Annabelle’ story shared by Lorraine Warren at Milford’s Lauralton Hall”. New Haven Register. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
Jump up^Alexander, Bryan (July 22, 2013). “The ‘true’ story behind ‘The Conjuring'”. USA Today. RetrievedAugust 5, 2013.
Jump up^[1] Norma Sutcliffe, he Coring & eron Stry: The Current Owner Speaks Out, YouTube, April 14, 2014.
Jump up^Radford, Benjamin. “The Amityville Horror”.Urban Legends Reference Pages. Snopes.com. Retrieved October 25, 2011.
Jump up^Associated Press (July 27, 1979). “‘Amityville Horror ‘amplified over bottles of wine, – lawyer”.Lakeland Ledger. Retrieved October 25, 2011.
Jump up^Nickell, Joe. “Demons in Connecticut”.Skeptical Inquirer. CSI. Retrieved August 17, 2011.
Jump up^A Haunting at the Internet Movie Database
Jump up^Paranormal State at the Internet Movie Database
Jump up^Belanger, Jeff. “50 Years of Ghost Hunting and Research With the Warrens” (PDF). TheOneMatrix.com. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
Jump up^Radford, Benjamin (March 26, 2009). “The Real Story Behind ‘The Haunting in Connecticut'”.LiveScience. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
Jump up^Puchko, Kristy (October 15, 2012). “The Conjuring Reveals Spooky Trailer and Scene, And James Wan Talks Horror As Therapy”. Cinema Blend. Retrieved June 5, 2013.

Demonologist Ed & Lorraine Warren