The Creepiest Part of the ‘Conjuring’ Universe Is What They Won’t Talk About in the Movies

The Conjuring: Last Rites had a $194 million opening weekend, making it the biggest horror movie opening in history. This broke the record set by It (2017) which earned $190 million globally in its opening weekend. The scary movies are based on real life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. However, one of the creepiest aspects of this couple’s lives will never be shown in the movies. When entering into a contract with Warner Bros, Lorraine Warren made sure the couple could never be shown engaging in sexual misconduct. Which is a weird stipulation to have, unless…

Who were Ed and Lorraine Warren?

The most famous of the Warren’s investigations was at 112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville, New York. In the home in 1974, Ronald DeFeo Jr. murdered six members of his family with a shot gun in the middle of the night. DeFeo told police that he shot his family members because voices in his head told him too, but the court found that he was aware of (and responsible for) his actions at the time of the crime.

One year later, George and Kathy Lutz moved into the home with their three children and dog. They also purchased most of the DeFeo’s furniture for $400. The Lutz family lived there for 28 days before leaving in the middle of the night. They claims demonic activity in the house drove them out. This story became The Amityville Horror by Jay Anson, which has sold over 10 million copies and lead to the Amityville Horror movie franchise. William Weber, Ronald DeFeo Jr.’s lawyer, claims that the entire story of the haunting experienced by the Lutz’s was fabricated, saying the story was “invented over many bottles of wine” by himself and the Lutzes and helped along by Jay Anson and the Warrens.

Here are Ed and Lorraine Warren discussing the Amityville haunting with their son-in-law, Tony Spera:

The second most famous story associated with the Warrens is that of the Annabelle doll. As they tell it, the Annabelle doll was a Raggedy Ann doll purchased in 1970 by a mother for her daughter, a nursing student. The nursing student and her roommate are said to have noticed that the doll moved around their apartment or changed positions with no help from either of them. They found notes in the apartment that looked like they were written by a small child and attributed them to Annabelle as neither woman wrote them. The notes said things like “help me.”

If this sounds like something right out of a horror show, it may be because The Twilight Zone included a suspiciously similar story in their fifth season which aired in 1963. In the episode, titled Living Doll, a woman named Annabelle buys her daughter a talking doll named “Talky Tina” that turns out to be evil, even capable of murdering the people around her.

Here’s a clip from the episode:

Every case the Warrens investigated were plagued by similar concerns about the validity of their stories. There was never any proof that any haunting investigated by the couple was real. There always seemed to be a money grab or a book deal or a television appearance in the works.

What did the Warrens do wrong?

If you think grifting people who want to believe in hauntings is relatively harmless, there’s an even more sinister secret the Warrens kept.

Lorraine Warren’s contract for the Conjuring movies have all included a stipulation which precludes the filmmakers from portraying Ed or Lorraine as having an affair, having sex with a minor, having any involvement with child pornography or sex workers, or as being guilty of sexual assault. This is because of Judith Penney. Penney says she was just 15 when Ed Warren began a sexual relationship with her. They met when Ed was her bus driver.

Penney moved into the Warren’s home in 1963 and stayed for four decades as Ed’s girlfriend, obviously with Lorraine’s knowledge and cooperation. Penney said Ed frequently told her she was the “love of his life” and physically abused Lorraine in front of her. In 1978, following Lorraine Warren’s direction, Penney says she aborted a pregnancy she conceived with Ed.

They wanted me to tell everyone that someone had come into my apartment and raped me, and I wouldn’t do that. I was so scared. I didn’t know what to do, but I had an abortion. The night they picked me up from the hospital after having it, they went out and lectured and left me alone.

Judith Penney, on aborting a pregnancy she had with Ed Warren

Ed and Lorraine Warren have one daughter, Judy Spera. She is two years older than Judith Penney. Judy and Tony Spera maintain that Ed and Lorraine allowed Judith Penney to move into their home when Penney was 18 as an act of charity because she had nowhere else to go. They describe Penney as a long term family friend who frequently ran the Warren home when Ed and Lorraine were on the road. They say Penney had a long term boyfriend while living with the Warrens to whom she later married.

Ed Warren passed away in 2006, Lorraine Warren died in 2019. Of her life with the Warrens, Penney said, “Sometimes I get angry thinking about it, how so much was taken away from me.” 

Further reading:

• The Real Story of the ‘Haunted’ Annabelle Doll
• Here’s How the ‘Conjuring’ Universe Should End (Though They Would Never Dare)
• 7 Facts to Know About the Real Life Smurl Family Haunting That ‘The Conjuring: Last Rites’ Is Based on