The Conjuring 2 is one of the most entertaining, memorable, and terrifying entries in the horror movie series. The films are Halloween staples and renowned for their jump scares, horrifying imagery, and all-round creepiness.
So, when you go into The Conjuring movies, you’re expecting to be frightened out of your skin. What might be more surprising, though, is that The Conjuring 2 is based on a true story. Yes, that’s right, the terrifying thriller movie about demonic possession and supernatural spookiness is adapted from real-life events.
If you want to know the true story behind The Conjuring 2, you might want to grab your teddy bear: this one really is quite unsettling. You’ve had your warning.
First off, you may (or may not, depending on your level of familiarity with The Conjuring movies) be surprised to learn that The Conjuring movies’ leading characters Lorraine and Ed Warren, played by Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, are themselves based on real-life people. Yep, the Warrens were bonafide paranormal investigators and demonologists.
The Conjuring 2 is based on the real-life pair’s real-life adventures, as they were brought in to investigate the Enfield poltergeist. “But what is the Enflied poltergeist?” I hear you cry. Well, I’m glad you asked. The Enfield poltergeist was a reported instance of supernatural activity that occurred in London, England, in the 1970s.
The instance centred on two young girls, aged 11 (the real Janet Hodgson) and 13, and their single mother who lived at 284 Green Street in Enfield. In August 1977, the mother called the police after seeing her furniture move around her house of its own accord, and after the two girls reported hearing knocks around the walls of the house. That alone is pretty spooky, and the police officer who responded to the call corroborated that the furniture was moving without cause.
Pretty spooky right? Well, that’s not all. In fact, over the next year and a half, the family, neighbours, and local residents all reported strange, terrifying happenings at the house. The knocking noises continued and were even recorded. What’s more, they were accompanied by deep, disembodied voices which could be heard in the house, but not tracked down.
In addition to this, the moving furniture continued too. Others, including journalists, reported having seen heavy, large pieces of furniture sliding across the floor without any explanation. Soon, there were other moving objects. Toys were seen flying across the rooms of the house without being thrown, appearing to fly of their own accord.
Perhaps the single scariest aspect of the whole affair, though, was the levitating. The two girls were seen levitating, without any non-supernatural explanation, several feet into the air. It wasn’t just their mother that saw this, but other locals too.
So, it was no surprise that the real-life Warrens came to figure out what was going on. The demonologists visited the house and conducted their investigations in 1978, and concluded that what was going on could be put down to supernatural explanations.
Of course, it is worth pointing out that there is scepticism around the events in Enfield, and many have suggested that it was all a result of a prank getting out of hand, and could be put down to a hoax. But, when you think about all that happened and all the people who claimed to have seen things that can’t be explained, there is still that lingering sensation that leaves you unsettled.
It goes without saying that The Conjuring 2 is a fictionalised version of the events and that most of what happens in the movie (such as the confrontation with Valak) is the writers using their imagination, rather than sticking to what really happened. But, nevertheless, the story is based on real events, even if it exaggerates what happens. That’s still pretty damn scary if you ask me.
For more terrifying true stories, check out our write up the true story of the haunted doll that inspired Annabelle.