Amityville Haunting Psychic Lorraine Warren Has Died
Paranormal investigator and self-proclaimed clairvoyant Lorraine Warren, one of the psychics most closely associated with what was known as the Amityville haunting, died Thursday, April 18 at the age of 92. Warren and her husband, Ed, who died in 2006, achieved their greatest fame for their research and writing about the events in Amityville, New York. From there, their probes into rampant hauntings and demonic possessions mostly along the eastern seaboard inspired a series of novels and movies including The Amityville Horror, The Conjuring, The Conjuring 2, the Annabelle trilogy, and The Haunting in Connecticut.
The purported haunting of a house in the Long Island town of Amityville was the Warrens’ most high profile case, thanks to the subsequent books and movies based (loosely in most versions) on the events. After a family moved into the house where a multiple murder had previously occurred, they reported several inexplicable occurrences and sensations. The Warrens were among the paranormal investigators called in to inspect the property, and duly reported having found evidence of psychic trouble, some of it predating the multiple murder. Lorraine would say years later that the Amityville case even haunted her.
Early pioneers in the ’70s Satanic Panic era, a time when cults performing satanic rituals were supposedly, although without much evidence, thought to be a widespread problem. Lorraine and Ed capitalized on the trend and made a killing—not by charging clients (their services were free) but through book and movie deals. The couple collected enough satanic paraphernalia to fill a museum at their small Monroe, Connecticut home.