The True Story Of The Conjuring: What Really Happened?

Since its release in 2013, The Conjuring has become one of the most popular horror movies of this century. Not only did it spawn a well-received sequel, but it started another cinematic universe for Warner Bros. with two Annabelle spin-offs, the upcoming The Nun, and the planned Crooked Man.

But how much of The Conjuring’s spine-chilling terror was faithful and honest to the true story it was based on? Well, despite making audiences wet themselves with unforgettable and implausible frights like ghosts playing with children’s feet, girls being thrown about like ragdolls, and an old hag pouncing off wardrobes, the real Lorraine Warren insists that many of the film's harrowing moments genuinely occurred.

However, while the real Lorraine is adamant that the film was more reality than fiction, there are a few inconsistences that – astonishingly – makes the truth more disturbing than Hollywood’s masterful recreation.

So, what really happened?

After moving into the 14-room farmhouse in Harrisville, Rhode Island in January 1971, despite the property seller's warning to keep the lights on at night for safety, the Perrons immediately noticed paranormal activity. Like the well-made horror adaptation’s slow build-up, the ghosts of the old Arnold estate first made their presence known by being rapscallion pranksters; they would hide the family’s broom and place small piles of dirt in the centre of a newly-clean kitchen floor.

In both the film and reality, Carolyn researched the history of the estate and discovered that it had been home to a bunch of gruesome fatalities.

Andrea Perron, the oldest of the sisters, said that the farmhouse belonged to the extended family of the Arnolds for eight generations, and the Black Book of Burnville confirms that during its existence the land had been host to two drownings, two suicides by hanging, one suicide by poison, and the rape and murder of eleven-year-old Prudence Arnold.

April, the youngest of the five Perron girls, befriended an entity named Rory in Wan’s flick. In reality, the boy was named Johnny Arnold, and all the Perron girls were fond of his presence. Still, despite changing his name, the film was honest to him having been hanged in the farmhouse’s attic in the mid-18th century.

A benevolent apparition not mentioned in the film, however, was Mrs. Arnold; an entity reported to have sweetly kissed the girls on their forehead after tucking them in at night. While that does sound creepy rather than comforting, it was most definitely better than when the spirits told the sisters there were seven dead soldiers buried in the wall.