The Conjuring follows the investigations of demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren as they investigate the malevolent spirits plaguing a Rhode Island farmhouse, a story made more terrifying with its real-life accounts involving the Perron family.

Set in 1971, The Conjuring follows the Perron family: Roger, Carolyn, and children Andrea, Nancy, Christine, Cindy, and April. What starts as mildly paranormal events quickly take a turn for the terrifying as they realize they are haunted by the evil Bathsheba. The movie craftily uses hidden corners and moving shadows to fill audiences with the same dread the Perron family feels.

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The Conjuring quickly garnered a fan base. Little terrifies audiences more than the written warning, ‘based on a true story’. Since it came out in 2013, The Conjuring has bred several offshoots, sequels that explore other Warren cases and origin stories that look into the haunted artifacts in the Warren’s private collection.

The Conjuring’s True Story Explained: The Perron Family

In search of a quiet life, real-life Roger and Carolyn Perron bought the Old Arnold Estate in Rhode Island. A 200-acre property originally built in 1736, it seemed like an idyllic location to raise five children, or, apparently, the perfect setting for a horror movie. According to Andrea Perron, the oldest daughter, the family noticed something was off about the property from the moment they stepped foot on it. The seller, who didn’t disclose any of the location’s sordid history of rape, murder, and suicide, left the family with one warning as he dropped off the keys: leave the lights on at night.

Amid an icy snowstorm, they were welcomed to a house that creaked, slammed, and whispered at night. Andrea Perron was the only girl to have her own room. Nancy and Christine shared one while Cindy and April shared another. However, come night, Andrea’s sisters would come crying into her bed, terrified. Eight-year-old Cindy sobbed to Andrea that she heard a repeated whisper in her room saying again and again that “there are seven dead soldiers in the walls.”

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The house was, according to the family, lousy with spirits: one kept them awake at night crying “Mama”, another the girls made friends with and called Manny. Over the decade the family lived at the house, the Warrens came over to investigate many times, once performing a séance on Carolyn that, according to Andrea, caused her mother to speak in tongues and levitate. It wasn’t until 1980 that they were able to sell the house and move out.

The Conjuring’s True Story: Where Is The Perron Family Now?

The Perron family has been relatively open about their experiences. In 2011, Andrea wrote a book in three parts about their experiences at the house called House of Darkness House of Light. In it, she quotes Frank Lloyd Wright, stating “I believe in God, only I call it Nature.” Both Lorraine Warren and the Perron family had a hand overseeing the making of The Conjuring. Every Perron put their support behind the film. According to Andrea, the movie actually had to tone down the horror compared to what really happened.

Since the Perron family left, the Old Arnold Estate has passed through a few hands. Norma Sutcliffe and partner Gerry Helfrich, who lived at the estate when The Conjuring came out, claimed they never experienced any supernatural occurrences, going so far as to sue the movie studio for damages caused by trespassing fans. However, the home’s current owners report differently. Cory and Jennifer Heinzen, who acquired the property in June 2019, told the Sun Journal that from the start, they experienced paranormal activity: faraway footsteps, slamming doors, and the like. To the benefit of any The Conjuring fans, the Heinzens have expressed interest in opening the property to the public, for a documentary or perhaps even tours of the estate that for so many years haunted the Perron family.

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About The Author


Shannon Lewis
(79 Articles Published)

Shannon Lewis is a features and news writer on Screen Rant. She has experience in editorial working as the deputy editor for Specialty Food, an online and print magazine, curating its news section and social media. She has worked as a freelance writer since 2017, writing articles, features, and profiles in a wide range of topics, from business and tech to pop culture and media. Previously, she has also worked as a ghost writer for a fiction manuscript, and co-founded arts-and-literature magazine, Octarine.

Hailing from Queretaro, Mexico, she is a graduate of the University of East Anglia’s English Literature with Creative Writing program. An avid reader and fan of writing, she leverages her love of literature to dissect movies in her favorite genres, including horror, rom-coms, and superhero movies. Her focus is on the cross-section between story, cultural background, and character development. When she isn’t busy reading everything ever published under the mantle of Image Comics, you might find her writing fiction, rock climbing, or putting together a horror anthology with friends.

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