Terrifying True Stories That Inspired Favorite Horror Movies, From The Conjuring to Amityville
Cases behind The Conjuring
The Conjuring franchise is based on case files kept by paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. Its films have earned almost $3 billion at the box office. The first movie centers on the Perron family, who moved into Rhode Island’s Old Arnold Estate in 1971.
The family called in the Warrens, who said several ghosts haunted the property and that a spirit named Bathsheba was preying on the family. The house sold for $1.5 million in 2022 and was later acquired by Ghost Hunters star Jason Hawes for $1.3 million, according to land records.
London and a courtroom case
The Conjuring 2 draws on the Hodgson family’s reports of strange events at their London home in August 1977. They described furniture moving through the air and objects flying toward witnesses. Janet Hodgson later said about “2%” of the haunting was made up, while maintaining that the Enfield Poltergeist was real.
The third film, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, is based on Arne Cheyenne Johnson’s case. Johnson and the Warrens said a demon exorcised from 11-year-old David Glatzel later possessed Johnson. His girlfriend said she heard him invite the demon to possess him. The court rejected that defense; Johnson was convicted of manslaughter and served five years in prison.
A disputed Pennsylvania haunting
The Conjuring: Last Rites is a loose adaptation of the alleged Smurl haunting in West Pittston, Pennsylvania, during the 1970s and 1980s. Ed Warren described the family as being attacked by a ghost, devil or demon in their home.
The account had skeptics. A priest who spent two nights in the house reported nothing suspicious. The Smurls eventually left West Pittston for Wilkes-Barre, about 10 miles away.
Dolls and Amityville murders
The Annabelle films feature a doll said to terrorize its owner. The real Raggedy Ann doll is displayed at The Haunted Warren Museum in Salem, Massachusetts. The Warrens said it was manipulated by a spirit rather than possessed, and took it to their museum after cleansing the home.
The Amityville Horror links the DeFeo family murders to a demonic presence. On November 13, 1974, at 3:15 a.m., Ronald DeFeo Jr. killed his family in their Amityville, New York, home. He said voices there made him do it. The Lutz family moved into the house in 1975 and reported paranormal activity soon afterward.
Key points
- The Conjuring franchise is based on cases associated with Ed and Lorraine Warren.
- The Hodgson family reported strange events in London in 1977, though accounts of the haunting were disputed.
- Arne Cheyenne Johnson’s demonic-possession defense was rejected, and he served five years for manslaughter.
- The Amityville story combines the DeFeo murders with the Lutz family’s later reports of paranormal activity.