Stuff You Should Know

The Warrens: Paranormal Power Couple

January 6, 2026

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  • Ed and Lorraine Warren, who founded the New England Society for Psychic Research in 1952, are credited with making ghost hunting mainstream, influencing much of the paranormal television content today. 
  • The Warrens' careers, which spanned decades, generated significant wealth through lectures, book sales, and museum entry fees, though they claimed never to charge the families they assisted. 
  • Several of the Warrens' most famous cases, including the Perron family haunting (basis for *The Conjuring*), the Annabelle doll incident, and the Amityville haunting, contain factual kernels that were heavily embellished by the Warrens to create compelling narratives. 

Segments

Introduction and Warrens’ Background
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(00:00:00)
  • Key Takeaway: Ed and Lorraine Warren founded the New England Society for Psychic Research in Connecticut in 1952, with Ed self-describing as a demonologist and Lorraine as a clairvoyant.
  • Summary: The podcast Stuff You Should Know introduces the subject of the episode, Ed and Lorraine Warren, the paranormal power couple who inspired The Conjuring franchise. Ed Warren was born in 1926 in Bridgeport, claiming a haunted childhood, while Lorraine Moran was born a year later in the same city. They met as teenagers, married in 1945, and began their ghost-hunting work while Ed was selling his art.
Financial Success of Conjuring Franchise
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(00:06:54)
  • Key Takeaway: The Conjuring movie franchise, based on the Warrens’ files, has grossed at least $2.3 billion since its start in 2013.
  • Summary: The Warrens’ stories have formed the basis for the largest horror franchise in history, grossing over $2.3 billion. The couple earned money through lectures, selling their stories, and charging admission to their museum, explicitly stating they never charged the people they were helping with hauntings. Their investigations were heavily steeped in Catholic dogma, often involving phenomena like speaking in tongues and levitation.
Perron Family Haunting Case
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(00:08:40)
  • Key Takeaway: The Perron family case in Rhode Island (1971), the basis for the first Conjuring film, allegedly involved a spirit traced back to a child-murdering witch from the early 1800s.
  • Summary: The Perron family moved into an old farmhouse in Rhode Island in 1971 and experienced hauntings for ten years, including levitating beds and foul smells. During a seance conducted by the Warrens, Carolyn Perron allegedly spoke in tongues and was thrown across the room. The Warrens attributed the haunting to the spirit of a witch who had murdered an infant in the house with a knitting needle.
Annabelle Doll Origin Story
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(00:12:15)
  • Key Takeaway: The Annabelle doll case involved a nurse in the early 1970s whose Raggedy Ann doll exhibited movement and notes, which the Warrens identified as a demon attempting to possess the nurse.
  • Summary: The Annabelle doll case began in the early 1970s in Hartford, Connecticut, when a nurse received the doll, which started moving and leaving notes. The Warrens determined the doll was inhabited by a demon masquerading as the ghost of a girl named Annabelle Higgins, intending to possess the nurse, Donna. After an exorcism failed, the Warrens took the doll and placed it in their museum under a prayer of containment.
Amityville Lutz Family Investigation
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(00:14:47)
  • Key Takeaway: The Lutz family fled their Amityville home after only a month due to alleged experiences including hoof prints in the snow and George and Kathy Lutz feeling possessed, leading the Warrens to claim the land itself was evil.
  • Summary: The Lutz family moved into the Amityville house a year after Ronald DeFeo Jr. murdered his family there in 1974. The Lutzes reported terrible odors, possession, and the appearance of hoof prints outside, which the Warrens interpreted as Satan or a pig ghost demon. The Warrens concluded the house was built on an evil Native American cemetery, a trope they popularized.
Enfield Poltergeist Case
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(00:20:19)
  • Key Takeaway: The Enfield haunting in London (1977), the basis for The Conjuring 2, involved the Hodgson family experiencing moving furniture and the daughter Janet allegedly possessed by the ghost of Bill Wilkins.
  • Summary: In 1977, the Hodgson family in Enfield, London, reported a dresser moving by itself and Janet, the youngest daughter, falling into trances. The Society for Psychical Research (SPR), founded in 1882, also investigated the case alongside the Warrens. Janet claimed to be possessed by Bill Wilkins, a man who allegedly died in the house, demanding everyone leave.
Skepticism and Criticism of Warrens
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(00:30:28)
  • Key Takeaway: Skeptics, including the New England Skeptical Society in 1997, dismissed the Warrens’ evidence as non-falsifiable ‘Blarney’ because the Warrens started with a demonic hypothesis rather than testing evidence first.
  • Summary: Many of the Warrens’ cases contain factual elements, such as the DeFeo murders or the death of Bill Wilkins in the Enfield house, which provided a basis for their supernatural claims. The New England Skeptical Society found the Warrens’ methods unscientific, noting they gathered evidence to support a pre-existing demonic conclusion. Critics argue the Warrens exploited vulnerable families by selling their stories for profit and contributed to the 1980s Satanic Panic.
Allegations Against Ed Warren
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(00:40:48)
  • Key Takeaway: In 2017, Judith Penny alleged a 40-year sexual relationship with Ed Warren starting when she was 15, which Lorraine Warren allegedly pressured her to terminate to protect the family business.
  • Summary: Lorraine Warren reportedly included specific contractual clauses barring New Line Cinema from depicting Ed in any extramarital relationship or criminal offense while consulting on The Conjuring films. Judith Penny came forward claiming a long-term sexual relationship with Ed Warren and that Lorraine pressured her into an abortion to protect their business. Both Ed and Lorraine Warren have since passed away, but their son-in-law continues the New England Society for Psychic Research.