The True Story BehindThe Conjuring: Where Is the Perron Family Now?

Mar. 15, 2025

The Perron family.Photo:The Conjuring House: A Homecoming | The Dark Zone | TRAILER/YouTube

The Conjuring House: A Homecoming | The Dark Zone | TRAILER/YouTube

The Conjuringhas spooked audiences for over a decade since its release, but the premise of the movie isn’t as fictitious as people may think.

The horror movie premiered in theaters in 2013 and quickly became a smash hit, grossing over $320 million at the global box office. The movie starred Lili Taylor andRon Livingstonas Roger and Carolyn Perron, two parents who try to protect their children from malicious spirits in their new home.

Desperate for help, the parents call in paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren (Vera FarmigaandPatrick Wilson), who reveal that the spirit of an alleged witch named Bathsheba Sherman is the one harming the family.

The Conjuringtransformed the Warrens into folk heroes and turned the Rhode Island farmhouse where the events supposedly took place into a tourist hotspot. In 2022, the home wassold for a whopping $1.5 million, thanks to the film’s fame.

However, while the movie is based on the Perrons' true experiences, the majority of the film is fictionalized.

“Even thoughThe Conjuringis an excellent film for what it is, it’s about 95 percent fiction and about five percent hard truth,” the Perrons' daughter, Andrea Perron, told Canada’sGlobal Newsin 2021.

But what’s the true story behind the notorious haunting, and where is the real Perron family now? Here’s everything to know about the tale that inspiredThe Conjuring.

IsThe Conjuringbased on a real story?

Roger and Caroline Perron.The Conjuring House: A Homecoming | The Dark Zone | TRAILER/YouTube

The Conjuringis loosely based on a real story. In real life, Roger and Carolyn Perron moved into the Rhode Island farmhouse in 1971 with their five daughters, Andrea, Nancy, Christine, Cindy and April. While the movie portrays the events happening over a very short period, the Perrons actually lived in the house until 1980.

The most vocal member of the family is Andrea, who wrote the 2011 bookHouse of Darkness: House of Light, which helped inspire the movie. “We all experienced encounters with spirits,” she toldGlobal Newsin 2021. “Some were unpleasant, some were lovely, cordial and communicative. From benign to benevolent to oblivious to mean-spirited, the spirits were just like us, a wide variety of personalities.”

The family (mostly Carolyn and her daughters) saw full-body apparitions, heard noises and smelled rotten odors, culminating in a terrifying séance performed with the help of paranormal researchers Ed andLorraine Warren. The Warrens contacted the Perrons after hearing about their situation from other paranormal researchers and offered to come investigate.

“I knew the house was haunted, all I had to do was walk in it,” Lorraine said inaConjuringfeaturette.

While depicted as more of an exorcism in the film, the Warrens allegedly did guide the Perron parents through a séance to help them communicate with whatever malicious entity was targeting Carolyn and her daughters.

Andrea toldUSA Todayin 2013 that she secretly witnessed the alleged séance. “My mother began to speak a language not of this world in a voice not her own,” she said. “Her chair levitated and she was thrown across the room."

The Perrons eventually moved out in 1980. In 2021, Andrea explained to a luncheon (perThe Providence Journal) how the family finally decided to leave. “My mother told my father she would not survive another winter in the house, she had been under attack in that house for 10 years," she said.

In recent years, many historians, and even Andrea herself, have further investigated the history of Bathsheba Sherman and have discovered that she likely wasn’t a murderer or a witch andhad been wrongfully accused. “Essentially, Bathsheba copped the blame for everything evil, and it simply wasn’t the case,” Andrea toldGlobal News. She now believes the evil spirit in their home was likely someone else.

Who are the Perrons?

“He wasn’t having the same experiences we were having and when he did come home exhausted, the last thing he wanted to hear was my mother saying, ‘Roger, I think we have ghosts,’ " Andrea toldGlobal News.

However, later in life, Andrea said Roger had admitted that he didn’t want to believe his wife because he didn’t want to think he’d put his family in a perilous situation with the purchase of the house.

Who are Ed and Lorraine Warren?

American ghost hunters Lorraine and Ed Warren.Russell McPhedran/Fairfax Media/Getty Images

Russell McPhedran/Fairfax Media/Getty Images

Ed and Lorraine were husband and wife, and from the 1970s-1990s, they were prominent self-professed paranormal investigators and demonologists. On top of helping the Perron family in Rhode Island, they were also connected to several other famous hauntings like the Amityville house in New York, the Enfield Poltergeist case (which becamethe basis forThe Conjuring 2, though critics argue that the film exaggerates how much the Warrens were actually involved) and eventhe trial of Arne Cheyenne Johnson, whom the Warrens claimed was possessed. Up until 2019, Lorraine used to run a paranormal museum filled with artifacts from their investigations, including theinfamous Annabelle doll.

Lorraine said in an interview withWarner Bros.that she first noticed her paranormal abilities when she was a child.

“From the time that I was about 7 years old, I remember seeing lights around people,” she said. “I realized that I was communicating.”

The Warrens have also received a large dose of skepticism. Many of the cases they’ve worked on lack proper evidence and have beenaccused of being embellishedor full-on hoaxes.

Ed died in 2006 at the age of 79, and Lorraine died in 2019 at the age of 92.

What happened to the Perron family?

The Perron family.The Conjuring House: A Homecoming | The Dark Zone | TRAILER/YouTube

In 2021, Andrea toldThe Providence Journalthat different members of the family had different experiences with the spirits. “I always got along with the spirits right from the start,” she said before admitting the hauntings sometimes scared her. “I had moments of fear because I saw what was happening to my mom and to my family.”

In 2017, the youngest sister, April, died from an accidental prescription overdose after undergoing surgery.

Who owns the realConjuringHouse?

Barry Chin/The Boston Globe/Getty Images

Where are the Perrons now?

Andrea Perron, oldest daughter.The Conjuring House: A Homecoming | The Dark Zone | TRAILER/YouTube

Andrea is still heavily involved in the supernatural field and sinceThe Conjuringshe’s appeared on numerous paranormal shows likeGhost Adventures(2019) andMysteries Decoded(2019).

Aside from sometimes appearing in specials and documentaries related to their experience in the house, most of the Perron family live their lives outside the spotlight.

source: people.com