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The Conjuring Universe became a successful franchise that’s based around the cases Ed and Lorraine Warren investigated. However, like all Hollywood movies that are based on real-life events, they tend to fluff it up a bit. In the movies, The Warrens are deeply involved in each case; however, in real life, some cases they weren’t really involved in. The franchise started with The Conjuring, which was released in 2013, and ended with The Conjuring: Last Rites in 2025.
In twelve years, nine movies were released based on cases the Warrens took that spanned from the 1970s to the 1980s.
The Warrens have been very controversial throughout their career and continue to do so posthumously.
Here are the real cases that the Conjuring Universe based their franchise on.
The Conjuring (2013): The Perron Family Haunting
MOVIE VERSION: The movie starts out with the Perron Family: Carolyn and Roger Perron, along with their five daughters, moving into a farmhouse in Harrisville, Rhode Island, in 1971. Strange things start happening: clocks stop at 3:07 a.m., birds crash into windows, and spirits appear. The family discovers their home was once owned by a woman named Bathsheba Sherman, rumored to be a witch who sacrificed her infant to the devil. Eventually, Carolyn gets attacked and possessed. The Warrens performed the exorcism and saved the family.
REAL CASE: The Perrons did move into a 14-room farmhouse in Harrisville, Rhode Island, where they lived for ten years. According to the Perrons, they experienced paranormal stuff the entire time they lived there.
While Bathsheba Sherman was a real person, there are different stories of her. According to All That’s Interesting.com, Carolyn Perron found out that Bathsheba was rumored to be a Satanist, and supposedly, there was evidence that she was involved in the death of a neighbor’s child, but she wasn’t tried for it. Not only Bathsheba haunted them, but other spirits as well, some harmless, some harmful.
The Warrens were involved in this case, as they visited the Perron house multiple times throughout the 10 years they lived there. Lorraine conducted a séance during one of those visits, and Carolyn became possessed. The oldest daughter, Andrea Perron, witnessed this and said that Carolyn began to speak in tongues, “a language not of this world in a voice not her own. Her chair levitated and she was thrown across the room”.
The Warrens did not perform an exorcism, as they were not authorized by the Catholic Church, and Ed was a self-taught demonologist, not a priest.
After the séance, Carolyn was left in a horrible and traumatized state. According to the family, Roger, very concerned for his wife, punched Ed Warren in the face and kicked him and Lorraine out of the house.
Even decades later, the Perron daughters (especially Andrea Perron, who wrote a trilogy called House of Darkness, House of Light) maintain that the haunting was real. The farmhouse still stands in Rhode Island and has become a paranormal tourist attraction.
The Warrens’ brief but explosive involvement, capped by Roger’s punch, shows just how volatile the case really was — a much messier, more human story than the heroic showdown shown in The Conjuring.
The Conjuring 2 (2016)
MOVIE VERSION: The Hodgsons’ family experienced hauntings in their home in Enfield, London, between 1977 and 1979. The movie centers around their daughter, Janet Hodgson, who is possessed by one of the previous homeowners, Bill Wilkins, who claims he died in the house. The Warrens investigate and find out that the haunting is not caused by Wilkins’ ghost, but a powerful demon named Valak (the “demonic nun”), using Wilkins as a disguise.
REAL CASE: The family did experience paranormal activity in their home, such as furniture moving on its own, knocking sounds, and even Janet speaking in a deep male voice, similar to what happened in the movie. Records later confirm that a man named Bill Wilkins did actually live in the house and died in the house. There’s a famous picture of Janet “levitating” above her bed, though skeptics argue she was simply mid-jump. The case was investigated primarily by the Society for Psychical Research (SPR), especially Maurice Grosse and Guy Lyon Playfair. They documented hundreds of hours of activity.
Janet herself later admitted to faking “a small percentage” of the activity, but insisted much of it was real.
Unlike the film, Ed and Lorraine Warren were not central investigators. They did briefly visit the Hodgsons, but according to Guy Lyon Playfair, they were “uninvited” and only stayed for a short time. The Warrens reported the case in their lectures, but their role was minimal compared movie.
The house itself still stands in Enfield, and later occupants reported little to no activity.
Annabelle Trilogy (2014, 2018, 2019)
Annabelle is one of the most famous cases tied to the Warrens, and the movies take a lot of creative liberties with her story.
In the first Annabelle movie, we learn that Annabelle is a porcelain doll that was inhabited by a demon, due to cultists who invaded a home.
This never happened. The real Annabelle doll is a Raggedy Ann doll. The real doll never directly killed or stalked people.
The movies Annabelle Creation and Annabelle Comes Home are entirely fictional. We don’t know the origins of Annabelle, as the Warrens never provided us with one, but they did claim that the they believed the spirit in the doll was pretending to be a child spirit.
The Nun and The Nun II
These two movies are based around a demon, Valak, who takes the form of a nun. In the movies, the Warrens face off against Valak, when in reality, there’s no documented evidence of it. There are no documentation of the Warrens ever facing off against a demon named Valak or a demonic entity disguising themselves as a nun.
However, there is a demon called Valac, (sometimes spelled Valak, Ualac, or Valu) comes from the 17th-century grimoire The Lesser Key of Solomon. The “real” Valac hasn’t taken the guise of a nun. Valac is described as a child with angelic wings, riding a two-headed dragon. He is listed as the “62nd spirit,” commanding 30 legions of demons.
So, the “nun” aspect is entirely invented for the movies — a cinematic decision to give audiences a more terrifying, religiously symbolic villain.
These two movies are entirely fictional.
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021)
The Trial of Arne Cheyenne Johnson is a very well-known case, as this was the very first case in the US in which demonic possession was used as a legal defense.
MOVIE VERSION: The film opens with the exorcism of 11-year-old David Glatzel, who is possessed by a powerful demon. During the ritual, Arne Johnson (David’s sister’s boyfriend) challenges the demon to enter him instead. The demon transfers into Arne, who later stabs his landlord, Alan Bono, to death while possessed. Ed and Lorraine Warren uncover that the possession was caused by a Satanic cult that cursed the Glatzel family. They track the cult’s activities, narrowly surviving multiple attacks, and ultimately expose the curse, saving Arne. The trial ends with Arne convicted of manslaughter but spared from a harsher sentence because of the Warrens’ testimony.
REAL CASE: 11-year-old David Glatzel reportedly began experiencing strange behavior, which the Warrens claimed was a sign of possession by multiple demons. They claimed the Catholic priests performed three exorcisms, though there’s no documented proof of this. During one of the exorcisms, Arne Johnson, the boyfriend of David’s sister, Debbie Glatzel, allegedly shouted for the demons to leave David alone and “take him instead”. Lorraine claimed she witnessed the demon transfer from David to Arne. A few months later, Arne Johnson murdered his landlord, Alan Bono. They had gotten into a heated argument after drinking. Witnesses were present, including Debbie Glatzel, when Arne stabbed Alana with a pocket knife.
Arne was charged with murder. His defense attorney, Martin Minnella, attempted to argue that Arne was possessed at the time and therefore not legally responsible — the so-called “Devil Made Me Do It” defense. The judge rejected the defense immediately, stating there was no legal basis for proving demonic possession in court. The jury was instructed to consider only traditional legal arguments.
Arne was convicted of first-degree manslaughter and sentenced to 10–20 years. He served just over 5 years before being released for good behavior.
Though the Warrens were involved in the beginning stages of the case, they weren’t directly involved in the trial, though they did support “The Devil Made Me Do It” defense.
NOTABLE MENTION: AMITYVILLE
Though not tied to the Conjuring Universe, the Warrens became best known for their involvement in the Amityville Haunting, where a couple, George and Kathy Lutz, claimed that their home was haunted. It’s been widely known as a hoax. Though the Amityville Horror series is based on fiction, the real Amityville Horror is thought of Ronald Defeo Jr.
On November 13, 1974, 23-year-old Ronald DeFeo Jr shot and killed his entire family: Ronald DeFeo Sr. (43), Louise (43), and his four siblings: Dawn (18), Allison (13), Marc (12), and John (9). All of the victims had been shot with a .35 caliber lever action Marlin 336C riflearound 3:00 a.m.
During the investigation and trial, it was found that Defeo was a heroin and LSD user and had a personality disorder. Despite this, he was aware of what he was doing that night. The crimes were said to be “the most heinous murders committed in Suffolk County, since its founding.”
On November 15, 1975, Ronald DeFeo Jr. was found guilty on all six counts and was given six life sentences.
DeFeo was held at the Sullivan Correctional Facility in New York until his death at age 69 on March 12, 2021. His cause of death hasn’t been released to the public.
When it comes down to it, all these cases were fluffed for the movie, and some events didn’t happen in real life. Ed and Lorraine Warren are very controversial, as people are skeptical. But you have to ask yourself if there’s some truth to this. Family members have written books on it, detailing their experiences. All these cases from Northern London, to the US. Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, and Pennsylvania. There are many people who believe in the hauntings and phenomena in these states, as well as those surrounding them.
What those four states have in common: They were part of the Original Thirteen Colonies. And there have been many reports of paranormal phenomena.
This was written by our contributing writer, Gigi Grindley.
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