Ed and Lorraine Warren

Ed and Lorraine Warren were a married couple who spent decades investigating reports of haunted houses and demonic activity. Ed, who called himself a demonologist, had no formal training in the field; he also worked as an artist, a lecturer, and a writer. Lorraine claimed to have psychic abilities, including clairvoyance and the ability to act as a medium in a light trance. Together, they founded the New England Society for Psychic Research in 1952, which is considered the oldest ghost-hunting organization in that region. Over their careers, the Warrens said they looked into more than 10,000 cases. They were early participants in the investigation of the Amityville haunting. Their accounts of paranormal events have been turned into many movies, TV shows, and documentaries, including the Amityville Horror films and the entire Conjuring Universe.

Among their most famous cases was the Annabelle doll. In 1970, two roommates told the Warrens that a Raggedy Ann doll was possessed by the spirit of a girl named Annabelle Higgins. The Warrens took the doll, explaining that an inhuman force was controlling it, and later displayed it in their Occult Museum. This story inspired several Conjuring Universe films.

In 1971, the Warrens investigated the Perron family’s home in Harrisville, Rhode Island. They claimed a witch named Bathsheba Sherman, who lived there in the early 1800s, had sacrificed her baby to the devil and cursed the land, causing anyone who lived there to die horribly. This case became the basis for the 2013 film *The Conjuring*, on which Lorraine Warren served as a consultant and made a cameo appearance.

The Warrens are most known for their role in the Amityville case. In 1975, George and Kathy Lutz said a demonic presence drove them out of their New York home. The story was later called a hoax by authors Stephen and Roxanne Kaplan, but Lorraine Warren insisted it was real. The case inspired the 1977 book *The Amityville Horror* and two film adaptations, as well as a series of sequels. The Warrens’ version of events appears in the opening of *The Conjuring 2*. Skeptic Benjamin Radford noted that eyewitnesses, investigations, and forensic evidence all contradicted the story. In 1979, lawyer William Weber admitted that he, author Jay Anson, and the Lutzes invented the tale over wine.

In 1977, the Warrens looked into the Enfield poltergeist case in North London. Many independent observers believed the activity was a hoax by children seeking attention, but the Warrens concluded it was demonic possession. The case inspired *The Conjuring 2*, though critics say the Warrens’ involvement was far smaller than the movie shows. They showed up uninvited and were turned away from the house. Parapsychologist Guy Lyon Playfair, who investigated the case, said the Warrens only visited once, and Ed Warren told him they could make a lot of money from it. Playfair confirmed that the family had never heard of Ed Warren before he arrived.

In 1981, Arne Cheyenne Johnson was charged with killing his landlord, Alan Bono. The Warrens had been called in before the murder to handle the alleged demonic possession of Johnson’s fiancée’s brother. They later claimed Johnson himself was possessed. At trial, Johnson tried to plead not guilty by reason of demonic possession, but the court rejected that defense. This case inspired *The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It* (2021) and was documented in Gerald Brittle’s 1983 book *The Devil in Connecticut*.

In 1986, the Warrens declared that the Snedeker family’s home in Connecticut—a former funeral home—was infested with demons. The case appeared in the 1993 book *In a Dark Place: The Story of a True Haunting* and a 2002 TV film on the Discovery Channel series *A Haunting*. The 2009 film *The Haunting in Connecticut* was based on the Warrens’ version of events. Horror author Ray Garton, who wrote an account of the Snedeker haunting, later questioned its truth, saying the family had fabricated the story.