It’s the site that’s on most paranormal investigators’ bucketlists, with hundreds converging on the little unassuming farmhouse in Burrillville, Rhode Island, every year.
Some visit because it’s the site of one of the most notorious hauntings in US history, others because they love that the house was the real-life inspiration for the first film in the The Conjuring series, and some because want to see if they can feel anything at a site known for its paranormal reputation and power.
For me, it was a combination of all three. The Conjuring is one of my favourite all-time films, and I’ve seen it more times than I’d care to admit. And even though the film took a million miles of liberties in portraying the farm and the life of the Perron family when they lived there decades ago, but I’m also a huge fan of paranormal history and this house sits alongside the Amityville, Sallie and Villisca Axe Murder Houses as the granddaddys of them all in the US. It’s such an old, gorgeous home that pre-dates the discovery of Australia, so it’s little wonder it holds so much residual and very-present activity.
But why is this house in particular such an attraction today? Well, not only is the infamous site where the Perron family was terrorised by a demon, but it’s also one of the oldest colonial homes in the area, and that undoubtedly comes with its own set of ghosts, and energies.
Built around 1736, the home is on the Arnold Estate, which is a historical treasure in itself. But it’s definitely the darker history that most come for … a history that’s still casting a shadow more than 50 years after the Perron family lived in the farmhouse.