Written by: Jenae
No trigger warnings for this episode
Who Were the Warrens:
The Warrens were some of the famous paranormal investigators in the US. Ed Warren was self-taught demonology. Lorraine was a medium and clairvoyant. This made them a dynamic duo for paranormal investigations. They founded the New England Society for Psychic Research in 1952, which still functions today. They had conducted over 10,000 investigations in their career, many of these being high profile cases. Many of these cases have been turned into major films including the Conjuring, the Annabelle series, the Haunting in CT, and Amityville Horror. Ed died in 2006 and his wife, Lorraine died in 2019. While they are both gone, their legacy continues to live on and be carried out by the NESPR and the stories are carried on through film. Today, we're going to dive into two of their most famous cases, the Perron Family Haunting and Annabelle the Doll.
The Perron Family Haunting:
The Perron Family was made up of five daughters, Carolyn (mom), and Roger (dad). In 1971, the family moved into a 14 bedroom home in Rhode Island. This would be a move they would come to regret. Carolyn began to notice little things at first, pans and cleaning products missing, strange noises like scratching on the kettle, or dirt and dust in places that had been recently cleaned. At first, she thought nothing of it. The children then began to see strange things moving about the home. These turned out to be spirits. Upon hearing this from her children, Carolyn did research on the home and found that it had belonged to the same family for 8 generations and many people who had lived there died under strange circumstances. One member had been murdered, many suicides in the attic, and many instances of children drowning in the river nearby.
Bathsheba Thayer/Sherman was one of the spirits in the home, the worst one. She had lived in the home in the mid-1800s. People believed her to be a Satanist and a witch and believed she had killed a kid that lived in the neighborhood, as well as killing her own child before hanging herself. The family believed this was who was fucking with them.
Then, things got worse. The family began to smell rotting flesh in the home, a scent that would follow something in the home around, especially in the basement. The children’s beds began to float off the ground. The heating in the home would often fail, as it was located in the basement. The spirit also begun to physical assault some of the children through pinches.
The Perron Family remained in the home for 10 years and during that time, they requested many meetings and investigations from the Warrens. They even went as far as to conduct a seance which resulted in the possession of Carolyn, which included her chair floating off the ground and being thrown across the room and her speaking in tongues in a voice that was not her own.
After this action, Roger threw the Warrens out of the home, concerned about his wife’s mental health. The family continued to live here until 1981, but the spirits had stopped messing with the family. However, the eldest daughter did say that the family was haunted after they moved and believed something had attached to the family.
Annabelle the Doll:
Annabelle was a doll Raggedy Ann that was given to a nursing student, Donna, by her mother in 1970. Donna kept the doll in her home with her roommate, Angie. When they noticed strange behavior coming from the doll, Donna called a medium to inspect the doll. The doll was believed to house the spirit of a 7-year-old girl named Annabelle Higgins.
Annabelle Higgins died on the land the apartment complex had been built on. No details are available about her death. After receiving this info, Donna and Angie gave the spirit permission to live in the doll, thinking there was no danger in doing this. Boy, there were wrong. Unfortunately, the doll became dangerous. At first, they’d find the doll in a different position or place than where it was left.
Angie’s fiance, Lou also lived with the women. Lou made his opinion of the doll known, that he believed the doll to be evil and creepy. Donna and Angie would come home to find handwritten messages around their apartment that said things like “help us” or “help Lou”. On one occasion, Lou claimed that he woke up to Annabelle at the foot of his bed, she had crawled up and choked him out. When we awoke in the morning, he was positive that the experience was real. Once more, Annabelle attacked Lou. Both alone in a dark room, Lou went to turn on the light. He said he felt a presence behind him and when he turned around, he felt pain in his stomach. He discovered he was bleeding from scratches on his stomach. Then saw Annabelle sitting in the middle of the floor.
After this attack, the Warrens were called and they removed the doll. The doll still resides in the Warren Museum in CT.
Do you have any experiences with the paranormal? We'd love to hear about them!
