The Perron Family Haunting: The True Story Behind The Conjuring
The farmhouse sat quietly on the rolling hills of Harrisville, Rhode Island, its clapboard walls weathered by centuries of storms. At night, the wind seemed to whisper through the trees, and the house groaned as if it were alive. To most, it was simply an old home.
But to the Perron family—who moved in during the winter of 1970—it became something else entirely. Doors slammed on their own, shadows moved without light, and whispers called to them from empty rooms. At the center of it all, they believed, was a dark presence: the spirit of a woman named Bathsheba Sherman.
“This house was an absolute portal cleverly disguised as a farmhouse,” Andrea Perron would later write, capturing the family’s sense that they had stepped into a place where history and the supernatural collided.
This is the real story that inspired The Conjuring.
WHO (OR WHAT) IS HAUNTING THE PERRON HOUSE?
The Perron family haunting is one of the most famous cases investigated by paranormal researchers Ed and Lorraine Warren. For ten years, the Perron family claimed their farmhouse was plagued by spirits—some playful, others terrifyingly violent.
Andrea later recalled: “Not all of the spirits were malevolent. Most were just curious about us. But there was one — she despised my mother.”
The most infamous entity was said to be Bathsheba Sherman, a woman accused of witchcraft in the 19th century. Local legends claimed she sacrificed infants to Satan and cursed the land before taking her own life. Whether or not the Bathsheba story is true, the Perrons and the Warrens believed she was the source of the haunting.
Unlike the Hollywood adaptation, the haunting wasn’t limited to a single climactic battle. For the Perrons, it was a decade of daily fear.
ORIGIN STORY / VARIATIONS
The house itself was built around 1736 and had seen generations of families live—and die—within its walls. According to the Perrons, many former residents met grim fates: suicides, drownings, murders, and mysterious illnesses.
When the Perrons moved in, neighbors allegedly warned them: “For the sake of your family, leave the lights on at night.”
The Bathsheba legend adds another layer. Bathsheba Thayer Sherman lived nearby in the 1800s and was accused of sacrificing an infant with a knitting needle. Although she was never convicted, rumors followed her until her death in 1885. Some believe she cursed the land and all who dared occupy it.
Over time, the story has shifted:
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Perron family account (1970s–80s): Multiple spirits haunted the house, not just Bathsheba.
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Warrens’ account (1970s): A demonic entity, tied to Bathsheba, had targeted the Perrons.
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Modern lore: Thanks to The Conjuring, Bathsheba is now cemented as the central villain, though historians dispute her actual involvement.
WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU ENCOUNTER THEM?
The Perrons described escalating encounters, ranging from mild disturbances to horrifying attacks.
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Almost immediately after moving in, the family encountered shadowy figures in the hallways—silhouettes that vanished when approached. They also reported repeated appearances of a tall, faceless woman with a head “like a sack of cobwebs,” a vision Carolyn described as "the most frightening thing I have ever seen."
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The house was filled with rotting odors at random intervals—so intense that the air felt heavy and suffocating.
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Children would awaken with mysterious bruises or marks, and Andrea spoke of waking to a sharp, stabbing pain, as if something unseen had attacked her. “She would feel a sharp pain, as if a knitting needle had pierced her skin. She would be pinned to the bed, unable to move,” Andrea later said of her mother’s torment.
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Carolyn experienced terrifying physical phenomena: she was pinned to her bed, struck by invisible forces, and once believed she’d been stabbed with an unseen knitting needle—a horrific echo of the Bathsheba story.
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Roger, the father, often confronted a cold, stinking presence in the basement, especially near the dirt-floored cellar. The heating equipment would fail mysteriously, forcing him into that oppressive space.
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During a séance arranged by the Warrens, Carolyn was allegedly possessed, speaking in a strange language and nearly levitating from her chair—flinging across the room—until Roger intervened, terrified for her sanity.
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The family eventually asked the Warrens to leave, fearing the dangers of spiritual interference, and only moved out when Carolyn declared she wouldn’t survive another winter under that roof.
Andrea later explained how they adapted: “We learned to live around the spirits, the way you live around a housecat. You know it’s there, you hear it at night, and you try not to bother it.”
The family said they often felt watched, surrounded by unseen eyes. Even after moving away, they believed something of the house followed them. “That house would never let us leave in peace. Even after we moved, it followed us,” Andrea warned.
WHERE THE LEGEND SPREADS
The Perron haunting first gained attention through Ed and Lorraine Warren, who visited the farmhouse in the 1970s. Their involvement made the case famous, though not without controversy.
The story truly exploded in 2013 with the release of The Conjuring. The film dramatized the events, focusing on Bathsheba as a central demonic antagonist. While the Perrons acknowledged some creative liberties, they confirmed the essence of the haunting was real.
Today, the Harrisville farmhouse is a paranormal landmark:
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Featured on TV shows like Ghost Adventures.
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Operated as a haunted attraction and paranormal research site.
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Draws tourists, ghost hunters, and skeptics from around the world.
The haunting has left the farmhouse as one of the most infamous haunted houses in America.
WHY THE STORY STICKS
Several factors make the Perron haunting unforgettable:
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Family witnesses: With seven family members experiencing phenomena, the testimony felt harder to dismiss.
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Historical roots: The Bathsheba story and the farmhouse’s dark history give the legend a tangible anchor.
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Psychological weight: A haunting that lasts a decade suggests endurance, not hysteria.
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Hollywood boost: The Conjuring turned the Perrons’ nightmare into a global phenomenon, reintroducing the Warrens to pop culture.
At its core, the haunting speaks to a universal fear: that your home, the one place meant to protect you, can turn against you.
MODERN SIGHTINGS / ENCOUNTERS
Even after the Perrons moved away in 1980, stories continued. Later owners reported eerie noises, disembodied voices, and flashes of movement in the halls. Paranormal teams visiting the site have recorded EVPs (electronic voice phenomena) and unexplained equipment malfunctions.
In 2022, the farmhouse was put up for sale as a haunted attraction. Visitors reported feeling watched, touched, or suddenly overcome with dread. Skeptics argue the legend attracts suggestion and embellishment, but believers insist the energy within the house has never left.
POP CULTURE REFERENCES
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The Conjuring (2013): Loosely based on the Perron haunting, with Bathsheba as the antagonist.
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Books: Andrea Perron, the eldest daughter, published a trilogy titled House of Darkness, House of Light, detailing the family’s decade-long ordeal.
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TV: The farmhouse has appeared on paranormal shows like Ghost Adventures, cementing its reputation as one of America’s most haunted homes.
The legend of the Perrons is now inseparable from The Conjuring universe, part real history, part Hollywood myth.
SIMILAR SPIRITS/CREATURES AROUND THE WORLD
The Perron haunting fits into a global tradition of cursed homes and vengeful spirits. Across cultures, we find stories of spirits tied to tragedy, places where sorrow lingers, and forces that turn a home into a prison.
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La Llorona (Mexico): The wailing ghost of a woman who drowned her children lives near rivers, crying for them and snatching unsuspecting travelers—blending tragedy with warning, much like Bathsheba’s legacy of maternal destruction.
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The Bell Witch (Tennessee, USA): This malevolent entity tormented the Bell family through physical attacks, illness, and poltergeist activity in the early 19th century—echoing the relentless assaults on Carolyn and her daughters.
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Amityville Horror (New York, USA): Another famous claim of demonic infestation and house-bound terror linked to the Warrens. The parallels with the Perron haunting (gruesome history, family terror, media explosion) are striking.
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Onryō (Japan): Vengeful spirits of women who died tragically—returning to torment the living. Like the Bathsheba figure, Onryō often target families and locations tied to injustice or violence.
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Kuman-thong (Thailand): Spirits of children believed to bring good fortune, but if mistreated, can become vengeful and cause illness—mirroring how childhood vulnerability becomes twisted into something sinister.
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The Haunted Doll Annabelle (USA): Another Warrens case, this time involving a ragged doll said to be possessed by a demonic force. Like Bathsheba, Annabelle has become a physical object embodying a dark presence, now haunting the Warrens’ museum.
Together, these legends reflect a universal dread: that places meant to protect—homes, families, objects—can become vessels for evil.
FINAL THOUGHTS
For the Perrons, the farmhouse in Harrisville was more than just an old home. It was a place where history refused to rest, where tragedy lingered in every beam and floorboard. Whether Bathsheba Sherman was truly behind the terror—or whether the house itself absorbed centuries of grief—the story continues to haunt both believers and skeptics.
Legends like these remind us that sometimes, evil doesn’t need to find you. Sometimes, you invite it in when you open the wrong door.
So if you ever visit Harrisville and see the old farmhouse at the end of the road—think twice before stepping inside. Some homes don’t forget their ghosts.
CALL TO ACTION / BLOG CLOSING
📌 Check out our articles on the Smurl Haunting and the Enfield Poltergeist for more from the Conjuring Universe.
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