When you think of the 10 most haunting stories ever chronicled, the names Ed and Lorraine Warren instantly spring to mind. This legendary husband‑and‑wife duo spent decades hunting down the darkest specters, demonic forces, and cursed objects that plagued ordinary families. Below, we count down the ten most bone‑chilling investigations they ever faced, each packed with eerie details, unsettling testimonies, and unforgettable confrontations.
10 The Perron Family
In 1970 the Perron clan settled into an aged farmhouse nestled in Rhode Island, only to discover that their picture‑perfect home quickly morphed into a nightmarish realm. The household—parents Carolyn and Roger and their five children—started spotting a towering woman draped in a gray gown drifting through the corridors. When the Warrens arrived, they identified the apparition as Bathsheba, a 19th‑century witch who had murdered her infant and then hanged herself from a tree in the backyard.
Bathsheba proved to be a relentless, invasive presence, constantly battling Carolyn for dominance. Their daughter Andrea later recalled, “[Bathsheba] loathed my mother, and she lusted after my father. My mother was never allowed to resume her rightful position as mistress of the house.” Andrea added, “It wanted to be the dominating force, and we fought it for a long time. I guess we know who won, as [we] left and [the ghost] is still there.”
9 Annabelle
The Warren Occult Museum now houses the infamous Annabelle doll inside a fortified glass case. In 1970, the rag‑doll was gifted to a 28‑year‑old named Donna, who soon noticed the toy moving on its own and discovered cryptic parchment notes that simply read, “Help Us.” Initially dismissed as a prank, the disturbances escalated, prompting a medium’s involvement. During a séance, the spirit of a seven‑year‑old girl named Annabelle made contact.
Ed and Lorraine warned the occupants that a demonic entity was manipulating the doll to secure a human host. After witnessing Annabelle levitate, they seized the doll and placed it permanently behind the museum’s sealed glass. Rumors in 2020 claimed the doll had escaped, but those were debunked as a mistranslated hoax originating from a Chinese source.
8 Snedeker House
In 1986 the Snedeker family relocated from New York to a Connecticut residence, hoping proximity to a hospital would aid their eldest son’s cancer treatment. Unbeknownst to them, the home on Meriden Avenue had once functioned as a funeral parlor. After finishing renovations, Carmen Snedeker descended into the basement and uncovered embalming tools and body tags bearing deceased names.
The household soon realized they were sharing the space with malevolent demons. Carmen described her mop bucket’s water turning an intense, deep crimson, while her middle son reported lights flickering on and off despite having no bulbs installed. Ed and Lorraine performed a thorough exorcism, after which the hauntings ceased. The Snedekers stayed two more years before moving to Tennessee; the house remains a private home, occasionally observed from afar by curious passersby.
7 Enfield Poltergeist
The Enfield Poltergeist plagued a modest London home between 1977 and 1979. Single‑parent Peggy Hodgson and her daughters, 13‑year‑old Margaret and 11‑year‑old Janet, endured furniture being hurled, objects soaring across rooms, and picture frames crashing to the floor. The girls even experienced levitation while in bed. Neighbors, journalists, and police officers all bore witness to the chaos.
Janet began speaking in a deep, masculine voice that investigators linked to an old male spirit. The family faced intense media scrutiny, with skeptics accusing the girls of seeking attention. The Warrens, upon investigation, classified the phenomenon as demonic possession. Janet later admitted she had used a Ouija board before the disturbances began, unaware of the trance‑like states she entered until later shown photographs. Despite the notoriety, the Hodgsons remained in the house, and Janet still maintains the possession was genuine.
6 The Donovan Family
Early in the 1970s, the Warrens met a terrified family—the Donovans—who reported thunderous pounding from within their walls, peeling wallpaper, blood‑red water, and animal‑like roars echoing through the house. Their investigation revealed no obvious cause until the youngest daughter, Patty, confessed she had consulted a Ouija board, communicating with a teenage boy who had died a decade earlier. The spirit never disclosed his name, leading the Warrens to suspect a demonic masquerade.
Promptly, they summoned a priest, and an exorcism was performed. Following the rite, the family’s home gradually returned to normalcy. Ted Donovan’s brother, who witnessed both the possession and the exorcism, later recounted, “I, nor anyone else in my family, have ever before witnessed anything so weird and terrifying.”
5 Smurl Family
In 1974 the Smurl family moved into a West Pittston, Pennsylvania home, only to endure thirteen harrowing years of supernatural assault. The household—Jack and Janet Smurl, their young daughters, and Jack’s elderly parents—experienced shattered renovations, peeling wallpaper, cracked newly‑painted windows, foul odors, and unsettling voices echoing through every room. Janet even reported being molested in her sleep by a malevolent presence.
Desperate, they called on the Warrens. Lorraine identified four spirits: a benign elderly woman, an old man who died on the premises, a violent young girl, and a dominant demon that commandeered the others. By October 1986 the phenomena ceased, and the family relocated back to Wilkes‑Barre in 1988 after a church‑sanctioned exorcism cleared the property.
4 Demon Murder Trial
In 1981, 19‑year‑old Arne Cheyenne Johnson brutally stabbed his landlord, Alan Bono, more than twenty times, marking the first homicide in Brookline, Connecticut, in 193 years. Prior to the murder, Johnson had moved in with his girlfriend and her brother David, who claimed demonic torment. The Warrens were summoned to aid the family.
They conducted an exorcism on David, successfully expelling forty‑two demons. During the rite, Johnson challenged the demons to inhabit his own body. A month later, with no prior history of violence, Johnson murdered Bono in cold blood. In court, he claimed demonic possession as a defense, but was convicted of first‑degree manslaughter and sentenced to twenty years, serving only five due to good behavior.
3 Union Cemetery
Easton, Connecticut’s Union Cemetery is famed for the “White Lady,” a specter reported by numerous witnesses. Dressed in a flowing white gown or bridal dress, she has been seen strolling in front of drivers on Route 59 late at night, causing motorists to stop, fearing they’d struck a person—only to discover no one was there.
In 1990 the Warrens set up cameras to capture evidence. At approximately 2:40 AM, they heard a woman’s mournful sobbing and observed a translucent figure moving toward them. As Ed approached, the apparition vanished. Today, the cemetery closes at sunset to deter further nocturnal sightings.
2 The Demonic Werewolf In London
Bill Ramsey, hailed as living proof of lycanthropy, recounted a childhood incident where a sudden, fierce rage enabled him to uproot an entire fence. As an adult, he described his visage morphing into a wolf’s snarling face and his hands turning into claws. London police reported attacks by a werewolf‑like figure, prompting the Warrens’ involvement.
Ed noted, “This was the first case of lycanthropy we had ever encountered. He stood about 5’7” and weighed roughly 150 lb, yet he overpowered officers over 6 ft tall, tossing them like kindling.” In 1989, the Warrens convinced Ramsey to travel to their Connecticut church for an exorcism. During the rite, his face contorted, he lunged at the exorcist, then calmed, indicating a successful expulsion of the demonic entity. No further incidents have been reported since.
1 The Amityville Horror
On the night of November 13, 1974, at 3:15 AM, Ronald “Butch” DeFeo Jr. unleashed a .35‑caliber rifle on his sleeping parents and siblings, killing them all. He later told police, “Once I started, I just couldn’t stop. It went so fast.” The following year, the Lutz family moved into the Ocean Drive house in Amityville, unaware of its grim legacy.
A priest was summoned to bless the home, warning the family not to use the upstairs bedroom. Within days, the Lutzes experienced bizarre phenomena: their daughter fabricated an imaginary friend—a red‑eyed pig—while foul odors permeated the rooms, furniture levitated, and violent banging echoed through the night. Terrified, they fled the property.
The Warrens’ investigation revealed the land had previously been a burial site for a practicing black magician, who had demanded to be interred there—a presence that allegedly lingers to this day. Kathy Lutz reflected, “Things of this nature happen quite frequently, and when they happen to families, they usually close the door, and they don’t talk about it; and unless these things are talked about, they’ll never be understood.”