Page 54 - July - August 2019 - v3_june_july_2009_Neat

54 Ed & Lorraine Warren Exposed as Frauds

Every Time Ed &

Lorraine Warren Were

Exposed As Total Frauds

by Christopher Shultz

Paranormal research has steadily gained more
mainstream acknowledgement since the 1970s,
following the release of books and films such as
The Exorcist and The Amityville Horror, the
latter of which was supposedly based on a true
story. And while there is a serious science
fueling supernatural exploration, many
organizations such as the those featured in the
numerous "ghost investigator" reality TV shows
- groups that are primarily concerned with
entertainment and brand-building, compelling
them to fabricate evidence in order to get ratings
- give genuine researchers a bad name. George, Kathy, and their three children - presented to us by the couple based on their
Perhaps the forebearers to this purchased the DeFeo home and moved in. The word alone.
conglomeration approach are Ed and Lorraine Lutzes later claimed they experienced This is especially true with the Annabelle
Warren, self-described demonologists whose unexplainable phenomena, nightmares, and Doll case (adapted into the movie Annabelle in
names have been attached to some of the most encountered entities of a demonic nature. The 2014, a prequel to The Conjuring, though the
well-known paranormal cases in the latter half public at large became aware of their story doll had nothing to do with the case upon which
of the 20th century. Lorraine claims to be a following the 1977 release of the book The The Conjuring was based). According to Joseph
psychic who can communicate with spirits. Amityville Horror by screenwriter turned Laycock in his article "The Paranormal to Pop
Since her husband's death in 2006, she has novelist Jay Anson, and even more so with the Culture Pipeline," "...a nursing student received
worked as a psychic consultant on various TV film adaptation, which appeared in theaters two a Raggedy Ann doll from her mother in 1970.
shows and she has maintained The Occult years later. When the doll exhibited strange behavior, a
Museum in Connecticut (which is temporarily There are countless articles revealing the medium revealed that the doll was possessed by
closed due to zoning regulations) featuring Lutzs' haunting as more fiction than fact, a dead woman named 'Annabelle Higgins.' The
artifacts from some of their cases. Many people including statements made by Ronald DeFeo's student and her roommate took sympathy on the
swear they are "the real deal" - in particular lawyer, William Weber, who claims he, Kathy, spirit and allowed Annabelle permission to
devout Christians; according to Ed Warren, one and George Lutz consumed "many bottles of inhabit the doll. However, frightening
has to believe in God in order to understand the wine" one evening. George and Kathy Lutz happenings began to occur, and the student
couple's research. But other writers and skeptics always maintained that their experiences were contacted the Warrens to investigate.
have discovered outright fabrications in their real, and their son Daniel even made a The demonologists took the doll back to
claims. documentary, called My Amityville Horror, in their museum and put in on display for safety's
Below are some of the Warrens' most which he effectively expands upon the lore. sake. Before his death, Ed would apparently
famous cases, and the thorough debunking Perhaps something truly unexplainable did warn museum visitors that the last man to mock
they've undergone. Let's find out the real stories happen to the family in that short month stay in Annabelle ended up dying in a motorcycle
behind The Conjuring, The Amityville Horror, the DeFeo murder house, perhaps not. We'll crash, providing no names or evidence to this
Annabelle, and more. likely never know for sure. claim whatsoever. It's a great little ghost story,
Note: The intention of this list is not to But where do the Warrens fit in with all but the Annabelle legend originates from the
question the existence of supernatural entities, this? They participated in a "psychic slumber Warrens themselves (or, as Laycock points out,
nor to assert that the families investigated by the party" shortly after the Lutzes abandoned their from a 1963 episode of The Twilight Zone, in
Warrens are also frauds or in any way co- new home in the middle of the night, followed which a woman named Annabelle gives her
conspirators of hoaxes. Moreover - because who by a camera crew from a local news affiliate. daughter a doll that comes to life and terrorizes
doesn't love a good ghost story - it is the Lorraine sensed great malevolence in the house, the family).
Warrens' intertwining of Catholicism into their and insisted it was infested with demonic
own folklore that make them highly questionable entities. Perron Family Case
figures, because they aren't only preying upon This TV appearance catapulted the
people's fears, they're also preying upon their Warrens as experts in the field of paranormal This case was the basis for the hit 2013 film The
faith. research, despite the fact that they presented no Conjuring, though the Annabelle doll was
concrete evidence of their findings that the related to a separate case. While certain events
Amityville Amityville house was haunted, and that they depicted in the film were exaggerated for the
furthermore had no real evidence in any prior purposes of spectacle, Lorraine Warren and one
Amityville is perhaps the most famous Warren cases they had worked on. But the fervor for this of the daughters, Andrea Perron, both insist it
case out there, and thus it the most thoroughly "true ghost story" had already begun, reaching a was mostly accurate to real-life events. Problem
investigated. As Stephen King predicted in his fever pitch with the release of The Amityville is, outside sources insist otherwise, and have a
book Danse Macabre, the Amityville narrative Horror film in 1979, and cementing the Warrens' fair amount of evidence to back up their claims.
has become a kind of campfire ghost tale, reputation for years to come.
effective as a spine-tingler but likely fabricated, (Continued on Page 55)
or at least mostly so. Annabelle
The facts are these: In 1974, in the DID YOU KNOW that Andrea Perron not
Amityville neighborhood of Long Island, NY, One of the biggest issues with any case only believes in ghosts, demonic spirits, and
Ronald DeFeo Jr. murdered his entire family in associated with the Warrens is that there is scant all things that go bump in the night, but also
the middle of the night, later claiming he heard information concerning the hauntings outside claims that she has been witness to multiple
voices plotting against him, which motivated his what is provided by the Warrens - meaning that UFO sightings that were the size of football
actions. Roughly a year later, the Lutz family - we are supposed to accept whatever facts are fields!