The Haunting of the Perron Family: The “True” Story Behind The Conjuring Movie

When the Perron family moved into the Arnold estate of Harrisville, Rhode Island in December 1970, they were given just one piece of advice by the previous occupants:
“For the sake of your family, leave the lights on at night!”
The move to the ten-bedroom house had been motivated by Roger and Carolyn Perron’s desire to lead a quiet life in the country with their five daughters. Their new home had been built in 1736 and sat on two hundred acres of land, so certainly seemed more than suited to the task. However, a quiet life was far from what they would have over the next few years.

The haunting began almost immediately.

The children, the five sisters Andrea, Nancy, Christine, Cindy and April, were the main focus of the of the friendly apparitions’ attentions. They would, in fact, grow very fond of two of the spirits. One of these entities was claimed to be the benevolent ghost of Mrs Arnold, who was reported to have tucked the girls in at night and would kiss them on the forehead. The other was Johnny Arnold, a boy who was said to have hung himself in the attic of the secluded farmhouse in the mid-18th century. So fond of the boy spirit were the girls that they lovingly nicknamed him “Manny”. He was said to have played with their toys, and watched the sisters as they played outside.

The family especially welcomed what they called “the sweeping ghost”. This spirit’s presence would only ever be heard from a distance: the sound of a broom shuffling against the floor. Whenever the family would go in and investigate, they would find a broom leaning against a wall, with a neat pile of dirt next to it. However, as time went by, it became apparent that not all the spirits on the estate were friendly.

The Perrons claim to be haunted by malevolent entities
The family have alleged that most mornings at 5:15, spirits who smelled of “rotting flesh” would visit the sleeping family, to lift up their beds, tossing aside whomever was in them

The Perrons also claimed to have encountered demonic forces at the farmhouse. These entities would pull on the girls’ hair and limbs during the night.

Banging doors and disembodied cries were also a regular occurrence.
One night the family supposedly heard a voice that told of seven dead soldiers buried within the walls of their home.

However horrible these occurrences were, there was one entity which made the rest pale in comparison. The events were supposedly so terrible that Andrea Perron, now a grown woman, still refuses to talk in detail about it. She has only made one comment about this malevolent entity.

“Let’s just say there was a very bad male spirit in the home – with five little girls.” – Andrea Perron

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