5 Chilling Real-Life Facts The Conjuring Movie Got Wrong (And What Really Happened)

The Conjuring film franchise has cemented its place as one of the most successful horror series of the 21st century, all built on the chilling premise that it is "Based on a True Story." As of late 2025, with new installments like *The Conjuring: Last Rites* on the horizon, public fascination with the original 1971 case remains intense. However, according to the real-life people who lived through the terrifying ordeal—the Perron family—the 2013 blockbuster is nearly 95% fiction. The true story of the Harrisville, Rhode Island farmhouse haunting is far more complex, lasted a decade, and involves details more intense and personal than anything director James Wan put on screen.

The Real-Life Players: Perron Family and The Warrens

To understand the difference between the Hollywood version and the actual events, one must first know the key figures whose lives were forever changed by the haunting of the Old Arnold Estate.

The Perron Family Profile

• Mother: Carolyn Perron (1938–2013). The primary target of the most malevolent spirit.
• Father: Roger Perron (1937–2020). The patriarch who eventually ordered the Warrens to leave the house.
• Daughter 1: Andrea Perron (b. 1958). The eldest daughter and author of the three-volume memoir, House of Darkness House of Light.
• Daughter 2: Nancy Perron (b. 1960).
• Daughter 3: Christine Perron (b. 1962).
• Daughter 4: Cindy Perron (b. 1964).
• Daughter 5: April Perron (b. 1966).
• The House: A 14-room farmhouse in Harrisville, Burrillville, Rhode Island, purchased in 1970. The family lived there from 1971 to 1980.

Ed and Lorraine Warren Profile

• Ed Warren (Edward Warren Miney): (September 7, 1926 – August 23, 2006). A self-taught demonologist and author.
• Lorraine Warren (Lorraine Rita Moran): (January 31, 1927 – April 18, 2019). A professional clairvoyant and medium who claimed to be able to communicate with the dead.
• Organization: Co-founders of the New England Society for Psychic Research (NESPR) in 1952.
• Key Cases: The Amityville Horror, The Enfield Poltergeist, and the Perron Family Haunting.
• Controversy: The Warrens faced significant skepticism throughout their careers, with critics questioning their methods, credibility, and the sensationalism of their case files.

The Haunting’s True Duration: 10 Years, Not 9 Days

One of the most dramatic liberties the movie took was condensing a decade-long ordeal into a matter of weeks. The cinematic timeline creates a sense of immediate, escalating terror, but the real-life experience for the Perron family was a slow burn of psychological and physical torment that lasted for ten years, from 1971 until they finally moved out in 1980.

The Real Timeline vs. The Movie’s Pace

The Perrons did not immediately call in the Warrens. They first tried to live with the strange occurrences, which began as relatively benign phenomena. These early events included doors opening and closing, beds lifting, and the sounds of sweeping in the kitchen.

The Warrens’ involvement was brief—a matter of days—and happened years into the haunting. Roger Perron, the father, grew suspicious of Ed Warren’s methods and the media circus that followed, eventually demanding the couple leave the property.

The family was forced to stay for years after the Warrens left because they had invested all their money in the house and could not afford to move. They were financially trapped in a home they believed was infested with multiple spirits.

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The True Nature of Bathsheba Sherman and the Exorcism That Never Was

The most terrifying spirit in the film is Bathsheba Sherman, a supposed 19th-century witch who cursed the land. While a real person named Bathsheba Thayer Sherman did live on the property in the 1800s, the movie’s depiction of her as the sole, demonic entity is a simplification of the real-life events.

More Spirits, Less Focus on Bathsheba

Andrea Perron’s account describes a house inhabited by multiple spirits—some benevolent, some mischievous, and some truly malevolent. She claimed to have interacted with the ghosts of children, and even a friendly spirit she called "Manny." The focus on Bathsheba in the movie was a narrative choice to create a single, identifiable villain for the audience.

The Exorcism Scene Was Pure Fiction

The movie’s climactic scene, where Ed and Lorraine Warren perform a terrifying exorcism on Carolyn Perron, is the single biggest fabrication. According to Andrea Perron, the exorcism never happened.

What *did* happen was a terrifying incident where Carolyn Perron became possessed. Lorraine Warren attempted a séance, which went horribly wrong. Carolyn began speaking in tongues and exhibiting signs of possession, but Roger intervened, fearing for his wife’s life, and immediately forced the Warrens to leave the house. The family then had to deal with the aftermath alone for the remaining years.

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What Happened to The Conjuring House and Its New Owners?

The Harrisville farmhouse, a key entity in the horror universe, remains a real-life location in Burrillville, Rhode Island, and its history is as dramatic as the film it inspired.

The House Today: A Tourist Hotspot and a Legal Battle

The farmhouse, often referred to as the Old Arnold Estate, has changed hands several times since the Perrons left. In 2019, it was purchased by Cory and Jennifer Heinzen, who opened it up for paranormal investigations and public tours, capitalizing on the film’s success.

The most recent sale, in 2022, saw the house acquired by Jacqueline Nuñez, a self-described medium and Boston developer, for a massive $1.525 million—27 percent over the asking price. Nuñez intended to continue the paranormal business, but the property has since become mired in legal and financial issues, including a foreclosure order issued by the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training. The ongoing saga of the house’s ownership and its status as a paranormal tourism destination keeps the legend of the Perron haunting alive in the news today.

The controversy surrounding the house—and the Warrens themselves—is a recurring theme. The latest film in the franchise, *The Conjuring: Last Rites*, shifts focus to another controversial Warren case: the alleged 1986 haunting of the Smurl family in Pennsylvania, ensuring the legacy of the demonologists continues to be debated and dramatized for a new generation.

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While the movie is a masterpiece of modern horror, the true, unedited story detailed in Andrea Perron’s books is a powerful, decade-long testimony to a family’s endurance against a haunting far more intense, complex, and enduring than Hollywood ever dared to show.