The True Story Of The Nun: Who Is Valak?

When The Conjuring 2 was released, audiences everywhere left theatres terrified of a demonic crone guised as a sister of the religious community. Not only was it the pasty-skin, yellow eyes, and resemblance to Marilyn Manson that gave everyone the heebie jeebies, it was also its skill at turning crosses upside down, prowling corridors, and hiding behind spooky paintings.

With James Wan’s sequel being an adaptation of both the real-life investigations into the Amityville Horror and Enfield Poltergeist, how much was Valak based on a true story?

Well, similar to Annabelle’s show-stealing debut in The Conjuring, Valak had no connection to either of the famous paranormal events, and was added to the film at the eleventh hour to make the flick even scarier.

But, that doesn’t mean it was entirely fictitious. Although the creepy nun was nowhere to be seen when Ronald DeFeo Jr. murdered his family, or when Janet Hodgson became central to a media circus after speaking in a disturbing voice, Valak was still a notorious demon of Hell.

Here's the true story behind the film...

Although Valak in The Conjuring 2 was not connected to Amityville or Enfield, he was based on an apparition that the real Lorraine Warren encountered. Said by Lorraine to be a swirling vortex with a dark, hooded figure at the centre, Wan opted against using CGI to portray the whirlwind of doom, and organically reached an epiphany with the nun getup.

But why was the Big Bad nun added during the process of additional photography if Lorraine was never affected by the enigmatic vortex? Well, in several interviews, Wan stated that Valak was included as a symbolic attack on Lorraine’s faith, which is presumably why the mischievous demon cosplayed as a nun and was accompanied by the angelic theme of Hark the Herald Angels Sing rather than the headbanging Hells Bells.

Intent on possessing Janet’s body so he could embark upon Earth in the vessel of a human, Valak used mockery, tricks, and deception to infest, oppress, and possess the Hodgson household, only to be stopped at the last minute by a courageous Ed and Lorraine Warren.

However, while Wan’s Valak was wicked enough to enslave another entity, the one studied in ancient texts was a lot more powerful and cunning, enough so that it would never foolishly announce its Achilles heel.