Edward was a lecturer, author, and self-described demonologist who was self-taught. Lorraine claimed to be a light-trance medium who worked closely with her husband and to be clairvoyant. The oldest ghost-hunting organization in New England was established by the Warrens in 1952 and is called the New England Society for Psychic Research (NESPR). They wrote a number of books regarding the paranormal and their personal research into different paranormal activity stories. Throughout their tenure, they claimed to have looked into well over 10,000 cases. Among the first investigators in the Amityville haunting were the Warren family. The NESPR employs a wide range of people in its investigations, including medical professionals, researchers, police officers, nurses, college students, and members of the clergy, according to the Warrens, the organization's official website, Viviglam Magazine, and numerous other sources. Numerous films, TV shows, and documentaries have been made based on the Warrens' popularized accounts of ghost hauntings, either directly or indirectly. Examples of these include several Amityville Horror films and The Conjuring Universe films. Doubters Following their investigation, Perry DeAngelis and Steven Novella labelled the Warrens' evidence as "blarney". Investigators Joe Nickell and Benjamin Radford, who were sceptical, came to the conclusion that the most well-known hauntings, such as the Snedeker family haunting and Amityville, were made up.

Renowned investigations

• Annabelle

The Warrens say that in 1968, two roommates declared that the ghost of a little girl called Annabelle Higgins was inhabiting their Raggedy Ann doll. The doll was taken by the Warrens, who informed their roommates that it was "being manipulated by an inhuman presence" before displaying it at their "Occult Museum". The doll mythology serves as a motif in numerous Conjuring Universe films and served as inspiration for several of them.

• Perron Family

The Warren family asserted in 1971 that a witch who had been in the Perron family's Harrisville, Rhode Island home in the early 1800s was still haunting the property. The Warrens claimed that Bathsheba Sherman cursed the area, ensuring that everyone who stayed there would eventually meet a tragic end. The Conjuring, a movie from 2013, is based on this tale. In addition to serving as a production consultant, Lorraine Warren had a brief appearance in the movie. A USA Today reporter wrote about the film's purported historical accuracy.

• Amityville

The Warren family is most well-known for its role in the 1975 Amityville Horror, in which George and Kathy Lutz of New York claimed that a violent, demonic presence in their home pushed them out voluntarily. Stephen and Roxanne Kaplan, the authors of The Amityville Horror Conspiracy, called the case a "hoax". Lorraine Warren denied the Amityville Horror was a fabrication to a reporter for The Express-Times newspaper. The alleged haunting served as the foundation for the film series that followed, as well as the premise for the 1977 novel The Amityville Horror, which was adapted into the 1979 and 2005 films of the same name. A portion of the Warrens' version of events is depicted in The Conjuring 2 (2016)'s opening scene. Benjamin Radford stated that forensic evidence, investigations, and eyewitnesses "refuted" the story. Attorney William Weber claimed in 1979 that the horror narrative was "invented" "over many bottles of wine" by him, Jay Anson, and the inhabitants.

• Enfield poltergeist

The Warrens looked into reports in 1977 that a family in the Enfield neighbourhood of North London was experiencing poltergeist activity. The Warrens were certain that there had been "demonic possession," despite the fact that many other spectators wrote the occurrence down as the work of "attention-hungry" kids. Although critics claim the Warrens were involved "to a far lesser degree than portrayed in the movie" and that they had actually walked up to the scene unannounced and been denied entry to the residence, the narrative served as the basis for The Conjuring 2. Guy Lyon Playfair, a parapsychologist who worked with Maurice Grosse to examine the Enfield case, similarly claims that the movie overstates the Warrens' contribution to the investigation. He said in 2016 that Ed Warren informed Playfair that "[the Warrens] could make a lot of money [...] out of [the case]" and that they "turned up once." He confirmed that "nobody [...] in the family had ever heard of him until [Ed Warren] turned up" and that the Warrens were "not invited" to the Enfield home.

• Arne Johnson

Arne Cheyenne Johnson was charged in 1981 with killing Alan Bono, his landlord. Prior to the murder, Johnson's fiancée's younger brother was allegedly under the demonic possession of Ed and Lorraine Warren. Later on, the Warrens asserted that Johnson was also possessed. Johnson tried to enter a Not Guilty by Reason of Demonic Possession plea during the trial, but his plea was not accepted. The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021) was inspired by this tale. Gerald Brittle's 1983 book The Devil in Connecticut included a description of the case.

• Snedeker house

When Ed and Lorraine Warren moved in, 1986, they declared the old funeral home, the Snedeker residence, to be under demonic infestation. The 1993 book In a Dark Place: The Story of a True Haunting included a section on the case. In 2002, a TV movie was made that was eventually incorporated into the Discovery Channel series A Haunting. The Haunting in Connecticut, a 2009 film directed by Peter Cornwell and based on the Warrens' interpretation of events, was released. Horror writer Ray Garton questioned the authenticity of the accounts in his book, saying, "The family involved, which was going through some serious problems like alcoholism and drug addiction, could not keep their story straight, and I became very frustrated; it's hard writing a non-fiction book when all the people involved are telling you different stories." Garton wrote about the alleged haunting of the Snedeker family in Southington, Connecticut. Garton remarked about Lorraine to paranormal investigator Benjamin Radford, “If she told me the sun would come up tomorrow morning, I'd get a second opinion”.

• Smurl family

Jack and Janet Smurl of Pennsylvania said a number of paranormal occurrences, such as apparitions, sounds, and odours, disturbed their home. When the Warrens got involved, they said that a demon and four spirits were living in the Smurl house, and that the spirits had sexually abused Jack and Janet. A 1986 novel titled The Haunted and a Robert Mandel-directed television film of the same name both explored the Smurls' version of their experience.

To sum up, Edward and Lorraine Warren were trailblazers in the field of paranormal research, spending their entire lives trying to comprehend and dispel evil spirits. Their writings, talks, and the organization they started all carry on their legacy. Generations of scholars seeking solutions outside our physical sphere have been motivated by them.

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