The real life stories that inspired The Conjuring franchise 

The Conjuring series is known for its frightening depiction of haunted houses, cursed items, and demonic entities. Now add to that the enhanced fear factor, which is that each of the stories, while elaborated for films, is based on the paranormal investigations of Ed and Lorraine Warren. While the films are dramatized for entertainment purposes, the compelling element of each story is rooted in their documented investigation cases.

The inspirations behind The Conjuring franchise range from the Annabelle doll to the Enfield poltergeist. With the ninth addition to the franchise coming right up this year, here's everything you need to know about the real life inspirations behind The Conjuring franchise.

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Annabelle: The Raggedy Ann Doll

Inspired: Annabelle, Annabelle: Creation, Annabelle Comes Home

Before Annabelle was a Hollywood horror icon, she was a simple Raggedy Ann doll, until things started to get weird. The Annabelle films are inspired by the real life Annabelle Raggedy Ann Doll. In 1970, nursing student Donna was given the doll as a birthday gift. At first, the doll sat motionless in her small apartment, until one day, she and her roommate, began to notice odd things happening. The doll began moving on its own, being in entirely different rooms, and then to top it all off, creepy written notes appeared, handwritten, on parchment paper that the women didn't own.

The couple mentioned a psychic medium who claimed the doll was possessed by a girl, Annabelle Higgins. The girls decided to let this spirit linger, wanting to be nice, but then things got worse. A male friend of theirs came over and stated he was attacked by the doll, and then things started to ramp up.

Eventually, the girls contacted Ed and Lorraine Warren, who stated the doll wasn't haunted by a little girl at all, but a demonic entity looking for a human host. They took the doll and put it in a glass case along with a sign at their Occult Museum in Monroe, Connecticut, that has a strict warning to not open it.

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Haunting of the Perron Family

Inspired: The Conjuring

The first film: The Conjuring's inspiration comes from the terrifying true-life tale of the Perron family in the 1970s. Roger and Carolyn Perron together with their five daughters, relocated to a beautiful farmhouse in Harrisville, Rhode Island, and promptly learned they were not alone. Not long after they settled into their home, the family reported about paranormal activity, with things moving on their own, clocks stopping at the same time every night, and several ghostly apparitions.

The most prominent of the ghostly happenings, was reportedly attributed to Bathsheba Sherman, who supposedly lived on the land in the 1800s and was a witch in practice. Histories have claimed she sacrificed her baby to the devil before hanging herself on the land, cursing the land to all who resided there.

In desperation and fear, the Perrons contacted Ed and Lorraine Warren. Lorraine said she sensed a presence that was simply evil, and the Warrens believed the family was under a spiritual attachment. While the events in the movie were dramatized, the Perrons indicated they had confirmed many of the haunting details from the film.

Even after the Warrens left, the family continued to live in the house for almost 10 years; haunted not only by spirits, but also by memories they could never completely forget.

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The Enfield Poltergiest

Inspired: The Conjuring 2

The Conjuring 2 gets its terrifying premise from one of the most famous and alarming paranormal investigations in Britain; the 1977 happenings at the Hodgson family's humble home, based in Enfield, London. Peggy Hodgson and her four children experienced disturbing events for well over a 12-month period. Many of the details surrounding the haunting activity revolved around 11-year-old Janet Hodgson, who claimed to hear voices, consistently felt invisible hands grabbing her, and even occasionally levitated off her bed.

Nearby neighbors, journalists and investigators documented weird things as they saw chairs slide across the floor, bangs on the wall to furniture flying about. Janet stated that her body was possessed, as she started speaking in a low, guttural voice, claiming to be a male, named Bill Wilkins, who died in the house. Incredibly, the madness became so widespread that even Scotland Yard officers were called to investigate and signed statements swearing to likewise have witnessed chairs moving on their own volition.

While critics accused the children of faking the activity, many paranormal investigators such as Maurice Grosse and Guy Lyon Playfair believed the events unfolding were genuine. Ed and Lorraine Warren arrived on site at the height of the chaos. While their investigation was all too brief in life, The Conjuring 2 weaves an elaborate tale of Ed and Lorraine vs demons, where haunting is just the surface, and deeper layers of evil exist, including the terrifying demon nun, Valak, who was introduced in this chapter.

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Trial of Arne Cheyenne Johnson

Inspired: The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It

In 1981, a young man named Arne Cheyenne Johnson stabbed his landlord Alan Bono to death in Brookfield, Connecticut. But what made this case special was not just the murder - it was the defense. Johnson claimed to be possessed by a demon at the time of the murder, making this the first murder trial, in the United States, to employ demonic possession as a legal defense.

The story started months earlier when David Glatzel, the 11-year old younger brother of Johnson's girlfriend, started to show clear signs of possession. He had horrifying visions, he growled in different sounds and voices and he seemed to be going through an intense spiritual attack. The Glatzel family went to Ed and Lorraine Warren for help. During the numerous exorcisms, the Warrens claimed that David was tormented by multiple demons, and said that one of them eventually transferred to Arne.

After some time, Arne began to show odd behavior and eventually committed the murder. Although the judge dismissed possession as a lawful defense, the case blew up in the national media, feeding curiosity into Ed and Lorraine Warren's work. The movie dramatizes this true and chilling case, but the essential idea of evil using a person as a vessel, is rooted in ultimate reality.

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The Smurl Haunting

Inspired: The Conjuring: Last Rites

The latest film in the franchise, The Conjuring: Last Rites focuses on one of the heaviest cases taken up by Ed and Lorraine Warren, the Smurl family haunting. The case took place in 1986 with Jack and Janet Smurl, and their four daughters who reported a range of horrifying events happening in their West Pittston, Pennsylvania home. The Smurl family claimed to have experienced foul smells, voices that were not present, and even violence against them.

The Warrens also believed that an extremely powerful demon was inhabiting the Smurl home, and even after countless exorcisms and blessings, the occurrences continued, which drew media attention and public curiosities.

Directed by Michael Chaves, this film is said to be the darkest installment of the franchise. It will explore the haunting of the Smurls, while also bidding goodbye to Ed and Lorraine in their paranormal journey.

The Conjuring: Last Rites is set to release on September 5, 2025.