Thomas has been a great friend and mentor in my blogging and podcasting journey, and I want to thank him for being on the show… and I hope he’ll join us again! Thanks, Thomas!
The Big Seance Podcast can be found right here, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn Radio, Stitcher, Google Play Music, and iHeart Radio. Please subscribe, submit a rating, or share with a fellow paranerd! Do you have any comments or feedback? Please contact me at Patrick@BigSeance.com. Consider recording your voice feedback directly from your device on my SpeakPipe page! You can also call the show and leave feedback at (775) 583-5563 (or 7755-TELL-ME). I would love to include your voice feedback in a future show. The candles are already lit, so come on in and join the séance!
I was very honored that Debbie Black and Thomas Spychalski invited me to be their very first on-air guest for Episode Two of the brand new podcast,The Kiwi Psychic and the Midwest Ghost! I was very nervous, but excited. (Sometime I’ll have to tell you a funny behind-the-scenes story that happened while recording.) Both Debbie and Thomas have been great supporters and followers of this blog, and I thank them for giving me the opportunity. The YouTube video of the episode is below. The episode can also be downloadedHERE.
My “Show Notes”
If you’d like to listen and follow along, the links to many of the topics and stories that I discussed in the episode can be found below.
Final Report from theFriedens United Church of Christ investigation. The “It’s all over me” EVP is covered in the video at the top of the page, or you can scroll down through the report and find more details and further discussion just below the first picture of the fellowship hall.
The Conjuring, a film that hasnow grossed over 125 million dollars, has been ranked by Box Office Mojo as #6 for top grossing horror films of all time. Last month I had the opportunity to see an advanced screening of the film and was researching the story to write my review. In my research, I quickly became fascinated with learning about the very real family behind the true story. This led me to Volume One of Andrea Perron’s trilogy, House of Darkness House of Light: The True Story.
The author, who is the eldest Perron daughter, writes in a beautiful style that leaves no detail behind. After all, volume one alone is 504 pages. As I’ve mentioned before, she puts you in that house with the characters. Roger and Carolyn Perron, along with their five daughters, moved to the infamous farmhouse (built in 1736) in Harrisville, Rhode Island in 1971. They remained there for nearly ten years. For decades, the world knew very little about the incredible events that happened in that farmhouse. What little we knew was probably due to the fact that the famous Ed and Lorraine Warren, pioneers in the field of paranormal investigation, came to the aid of the family and documented their experiences. This was all before the famous Amityville case that involved the Warrens as well.
Forty years later, the family’s story is finally told.
The book begins with the Perron family in their former suburban home, before they even knew the farmhouse existed. But fate seems to take over and leads them there, like it or not. They experienced paranormal activity in the farmhouse from day one, and even though it is hard for the reader to believe, the family’s acceptance of their reality – the fact that they share their home with others – is a slow and gradual process.
As a reader, I felt I had the opportunity to get to know each of the seven members of the Perron family. Mrs. Perron (Carolyn) seems to have experienced the worst of the activity, having been directly attacked by a jealous ghost named Bathsheba, the nastiest and most complicated spirit (with quite a history) in the farmhouse. Mr. Perron (Roger), a hard worker who spent much of the time traveling to provide for his family, for the majority of the book is in complete denial about the activity in the house. This causes a lot of friction in the family, and it frustrated me to no end. One of my favorite moments involved an incredibly brave and blunt Nancy, the second daughter, who finally had enough and told her father what was what. Everyone else knew and accepted it. It was time for him to wake up. That seemed to be the beginning of his awakening, and also the moment that I tried to silently cheer in the middle of the night while the rest of the world was asleep. Roger Perron’s family was indeed learning to survive in an incredibly haunted house.
Another character that I felt like I got to know and related to was Cindy, the 4th daughter in line. Growing up in the house, she experienced hundreds of visits from the spirit of a little girl. She was always crying for her mother. As she grew older, the little girl didn’t. Cindy cared for her, giving her space whenever she came around, and even letting her play with her toys.
We occasionally get bounced around in time when it is necessary, and the Warrens never make an official appearance, but I have no doubt that by the third volume (not yet released) we’ll know it all.
Author, Andrea Perron
It is important to note that Andrea Perron began writing the trilogy in 2007 and this volume was released in 2011, well before the movie. It also must be noted that the movie is based on the case files of Ed and Lorraine Warren and not Andrea’s books.
One of the many photos of 11-year-old Janet Hodgson supposedly levitating.
There are rumors floating (no pun intended) around the internet that suggest the story line for the sequel of The Conjuring, now a major box office success, will involve the 1977 Enfield Poltergeist in England. This case involves two young sisters, mainly Janet Hodgson, who were really either great at psychokinesis (PK) or were tortured by an unseen spirit, perhaps the spirit of a man named Bill (who reportedly died in the same house years before), who apparently possessed and spoke through one of the girls. The video below includes the famous levitation photos from the case and audio of the creepy and traumatizing supposed voice of Bill during investigations.
I’ve been reading rumors about a sequel for weeks now, and though nothing is official, apparently the film will again involve the characters of Ed and Lorraine Warren. So many thoughts circle in my head about the details of this news. First off, I don’t believe I knew about about the Warrens being involved with this case. It is well documented that two members of the well-respected Society for Psychical Research (SPR), Maurice Grosse and Guy Lyon Playfair (see mentioned book below), were involved in investigations. Also, I get somewhat annoyed that we’re still using the term “poltergeist” for psychokinesis or telekinesis, which is the ability of one’s mind (often an adolescent girl as the agent) to influence solid matter, such as moving a chair across the room, rapping on the wall, etc. Many times the agent creating this phenomena has no knowledge that they’re the one causing the activity. Using the term “poltergeist” (a German word popularly translated as “noisy ghost”) makes people think “ghost” or “entity” when it might not be. If one of the sisters was truly possessed by the spirit of a man named Bill, then this may have simply been a haunting. Or was it both psychokinesis AND a haunting? Or… was it all cleverly faked?
Many people have considered the fact that the last scene of The Conjuring hints at the famous Amityville case being their next visit. I thought that was an interesting treat to leave for the fans at the end of the movie, but I certainly hope they aren’t literally making a sequel about Amityville. We’ve seen and heard enough of that over the years. If the Enfield case is the direction the next film is going, I’m SO there!!
Earlier this month, while researching for areview I was writing before seeing an advanced screening of the new and exciting film, The Conjuring, I learned of the very real family behind the true story. The Perron family moved to the infamous farmhouse (built in 1736) in Harrisville, Rhode Island in 1971. It didn’t take long to find a wealth of information online about Andrea Perron, the eldest of the five Perron daughters. For decades, the world knew very little about the incredible events that happened in that farmhouse. What little we knew was probably due to the fact that the famous Ed and Lorraine Warren, pioneers in the field of paranormal investigation, came to the aid of the family and documented their experiences. This was all before the famous Amityville case that involved the Warrens as well. In 2007 Andrea Perron began writing what is now a trilogy and titledHouse of Darkness House of Light. The movie is based on the Warrens’ case files, but I can only assume that if we’re looking for an accurate account of the events that happened during the span of a decade, this is where we’re going to find it.
Author, Andrea Perron
I have to tell you, each of the first two volumes, released in 2011 and 2013 (the third volume hasn’t been released yet), are quite intimidating, as they are around 500 pages each. But you quickly find that it’s because Andrea’s beautiful style of writing leaves no detail behind. She puts you in that house with the characters.
This is not a review. In fact, I’m only 66 pages into the first book. One thing is for sure, though… I’m sucked in already, and I foresee several blog posts about these books in our future.
To be continued…
I know several of you have already been reading the books. What are your thoughts? No spoilers, please.
