Andrea Perron is the oldest child of the Perron family, whose real life experiences in a haunted house in the 1970s inspired the hit horror movie, The Conjuring (trailer). She joined Dave Schrader (email) for the entire program to detail the bizarre and disturbing occurrences that plagued her parents and four sisters for almost 10 years when they lived in the Rhode Island home, which was built in the 1700s. Some of the Perron family members, including Andrea, witnessed apparitions that appeared as full body human beings, to the extent she thought they were real people in her home, before they disappeared.
Early on, Andrea's sister said she heard multiple voices repeating the phrase 'there are seven dead soldiers buried in the wall.' Later, the sisters repeatedly saw the ghost of a little girl, who would cry and play with toys in their bedrooms. There were sinister events, such as Andrea being attacked by a black smoke-like-mass that was hovering over her as she lay in bed. Eventually, paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren visited the home, and upon first arriving, Lorraine said "I sense a malignant presence in this home, and her name is Bathsheba" (a woman named Bathsheba actually lived in the home in the 1800s, they eventually learned).
As is typical with Hollywood movies, The Conjuring had some major departures and omissions from the actual events, Perron noted, even though she thought it was an extremely well made film. For instance, her mother, Carolyn, never received an exorcism as was depicted in the climax of the movie. Carolyn, did however, exhibit a kind of possession during a séance that the Warrens organized, which included a medium and a priest. At the séance, the medium called out for all spirits to show themselves, and paranormal chaos ensued, she recounted. There was a massive rogue wind that blew through the room, a 200 lb. dining table lifted, and Carolyn's face contorted and she began speaking in a grotesque-sounding unidentifiable language. Her body seemed as if it was being controlled by someone else, and was wrenched into a ball, as she was levitated in a chair and thrown about the room, Andrea continued. The traumatizing events of the séance seemed to quell or scare the spirits, and they did not reappear in the home for several months, she added.
News segment guest: Aaron Sagers