Ed and Lorraine Warren
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Ed Warren (September 7 1926 - August 23, 2006) was a self-described demonologist, author and lecturer. Lorraine Warren, his wife, claimed to be both a clairvoyant and a light trance medium. The latter is featured in several episodes of the Discovery series A Haunting, in which she discusses some of the cases she and Ed worked on as paranormal investigators.
The Warrens founded the New England Society for Psychic Research in 1952 and later opened the Occult Museum. They are the authors of numerous books about the paranormal and their own private investigations into various hauntings. They claimed to have investigated over 10,000 hauntings during their career. The Warrens were among the very first investigators in the controversial Amityville haunting.
The Warrens were responsible for training several current paranormal investigating demonologists including Dave Considine, Lou Gentile, and their nephew John Zaffis.
Notable Warren investigations
- The Amityville horror case in which New York couple George and Kathy Lutz claimed that their house was haunted by a violent, demonic presence so intense that it eventually drove them out of their home. Later researchers would cast considerable doubt on the claims made by both the Lutz family and virtually everyone involved in the case. [1] Though the case has never proven to be a legitimate paranormal occurrence, these alleged events would become the basis for the 1977 best-selling book The Amityville Horror and a 1979 movie of the same name.
- The case of Bill Ramsey, in which the Warrens claim to have exorcised a "werewolf demon" from a man who had bitten several people, believing himself to be a wolf. Controversy remains as to whether Bill Ramsey was actually possessed by a demon or was instead suffering from a mental illness. The events surrounding this case were later described in a 1991 book written by the Warrens.[citation needed]
- The hauntings that allegedly occurred in the home of Pennsylvania residents Jack and Janet Smurl. The manifestations in the Smurl home were reported to include all manner of poltergeist phenomena, including strange sounds, foul smells and sightings of apparitions. The Warrens became involved and claimed that the Smurl home was occupied by three spirits and a demon. Both Jack and Janet Smurl would also claim to have been sexually assaulted by the entities in their home. Later, other investigators working independently from the Warrens would point out the lack of corroboration by independent observers for the events claimed by both the Warrens and the Smurls. These same investigators would further note the lack of any kind of impartial physical evidence and even suggested that a financial motive on the part of Jack Smurl might be involved. The case was the subject of both a book and a 1991 television movie called The Haunted.[2]
Criticisms
Critics claim that the work of Ed and Lorraine Warren were based on facts that were either misinterpreted by them and/or overly-influenced by their personal religious beliefs, noting that many of their claims have failed to stand up to serious independent scrutiny. In part, this criticism rests on the fact that the Warrens' early investigative techniques relied heavily on Lorraine Warren's claimed clairvoyant and trance medium abilities and that the subjective interpretation of her impressions were often substituted in lieu of hard evidence or verifiable data.[3]
Additionally, the Warrens' reliability as neutral, objective paranormal investigators has been called into question. For example, the Warrens' most famous case, the Amityville Horror, has been thoroughly investigated by other researchers and revealed to have most likely been a complete hoax. Despite such evidence, the Warrens' continued belief in the events surrounding the Amityville case seriously strained their credibility in the eyes of many other paranormal researchers.[1][4]
Other famous questionable cases in which the Warrens have played an integral part are the "Lindley Street Haunting" in Bridgeport, Connecticut, the "Devil in Connecticut" case, and the "Curse of Dudleytown" legend.
References
External links
- Official Website
- Article Detailing the Recent Danbury Court Case
- Hunting the Ghost Hunters: An Investigation of Ed and Lorraine Warren - Perry DeAngelis and Steven Novella
- The Demonologist Page on the Warrens - Contains brief biographical information
- Internet Movie Database - Entry for Ed Warren