At Puzzle Box Horror one of our main goals is finding all the real-life horror stories that inspire the horror movies we all love. From hauntings to possessions there is a long history of true events that have inspired some truly terrifying supernatural horror movies. Please enjoy this ever-growing list of horror films based on real supernatural events and true stories. Our writers will continue to update this page so check back to find out about the latest real-life horror.
The Amityville Horror – 2005
The Amityville Horror begins with married couple George and Kathy Lutz finding a beautiful home in upstate New York. While they’re suspicious about the oddly low price, they still decide to move in with their three kids. However, a series of paranormal events begin to take place, such as strange noises and one of the children making an “imaginary friend” named Jodie. The Lutz family soon discovers that their new home was the site of a brutal mass murder just one year prior, when Ronald DeFeo Jr. murdered his family after claiming he was possessed by the devil. Horrified at the discovery, the Lutz’s enlist the help of a priest to cleanse their home of evil spirits.
The Real Events Behind The Amityville Horror
Amityville has become known not just as a small town in upstate New York, but the site of one of the most famous mass murders in pop culture. The Amityville Horror franchise features numerous books and films that tell the story of the fateful night in 1974 that Ronald DeFeo, Jr. murdered his entire family, and the paranormal entities that have supposedly haunted the house ever since.
When 23-year old DeFeo Jr. was asked why he took a rifle and fatally shot his parents and four siblings in their home, he didn’t really have an answer. His story changed multiple times – from claiming that the murders were committed by a mafia hitman, to admitting to killing his family because the “voices” made him, to a chain reaction of family murders that didn’t even make sense. He was sent to the Sullivan Correctional Facility in New York, where he remains today.
And then there’s the Lutzes. The young couple lasted just 28 days in their new “dream home” before running out. George claimed that he would wake up around 3:15AM every single day – also known as the “devil’s hour” – while they felt cold spots around the home and even claimed to have levitated above their beds. When a priest came by to bless the home, a demonic voice told him to “get out!” They have declined to explain the final straw that made them leave the house, but they grabbed just a few things and never looked back.
Of course, there’s always the skeptics. While George and Kathy Lutz stood by their paranormal encounters until their deaths in the early 2000’s, many have questioned the validity of their claims. The Amityville home has had multiple other tenants since the Lutz family vacated, most of whom claim that they experienced little to no ghostly activity. Paranormal researchers have also weighed in on the topic… inspiring a 2002 ABC documentary called “Amityville Horror: Horror or Hoax?”
Renowned paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren backed up the Lutz’s story, saying that the Amityville home was “a 10 on a 1-10 haunting scale.” George and Kathy also reportedly passed lie detector tests to verify their claims. The couple may be gone, but the legendary horror house still stands today… and people actually live in it!
Another scary documentary about this house came out in 2012 “My Amityville Horror” featuring Daniel Lutz for the first time.
Annabelle – 2014
Annabelle—written by Gary Dauberman and directed by John R. Leonetti is about a couple tormented by a malevolent spirit inhabiting a vintage doll. The film opens the Gordons, a young and happy couple. Evil descends on them when their neighbor’s daughter returns after joining a satanic cult. The daughter kills her parents and then tries to kill the couple. The police kill her. Mia Gordon gives birth to a daughter and throws away the doll, but Annabelle finds her way back into the apartment. With the supernatural activity at an all-time high, Mia befriends a bookstore owner who tries to help her overcome the evil plaguing her family.
The True Paranormal Story Behind Annabelle
The real doll is a Raggedy Ann doll with red yarn hair. Annabelle was gifted to a 27-year-old nurse in the 1970s by her mother. Soon after receiving the doll, strange things started happening in her apartment. She noticed the doll would change positions even though she didn’t touch it. Then she and her roommate found handwritten notes on the floor asking for help. The doll appeared in different rooms and would attack guests. One male guest fell asleep on the sofa and woke to Annabelle staring at him. He also felt like something was choking him.
The girls decided to have a seance and learned that a spirit named Annabelle was playing with the doll. The medium told the girls that Annabelle was a seven-year-old girl that died on the property, and she just wanted to be loved. She wanted permission to enter the doll which the girls granted. This did not make things any better. The paranormal activity got worse.
Ed and Lorraine Warren were intrigued by the doll and went to speak to the girls. The girls were afraid and eager for any help they could get. The Warrens were convinced the spirit inside the doll was not a seven-year-old girl, but a demon. The demon had come to them as an innocent girl so they would let their guard down and let it in. The doll host would be temporary until it could inhabit one of the girls. Ed and Loraine took the doll with them. On their ride home, they had to sprinkle the doll with Holy water so they could get there safely. Annabelle was placed in a glass cage in their museum filled with other supernatural artifacts. Annabelle is blessed often.
Read More about the Haunted Annabelle Doll on Puzzle Box Horror
References: https://www.nhregister.com/lifestyle/article/Real-Annabelle-story-shared-by-Lorraine-11382545.php
An American Haunting – 2005
An American Haunting is a 2005 horror film based on a real haunting that was written and directed by Courtney Solomon. Loosely based on the haunting of John Bell and his family. John Bell believes his neighbor Kate Batts put a curse on him, causing a spirit to torment the Bell family. His daughter, Betsy Bell, is both haunted and physically abused by the entity. The film takes some creative license when it reveals Betsy’s innocence as the entity. Her father had been sexually abusing her. When she and her mother remember this, Betsy poisons her father and the haunting stops.
The Ghost Story Behind An American Haunting
The Bell Witch haunting is one of the most well-known hauntings in America. According to the legend, John Bell was walking through his farm when he saw a strange animal in the middle of a cornrow. He took a few shots at it and the animal disappeared. That night strange things started to happen in the Bell household. The Bell family was plagued with strange noises.
The Bell children’s bedsheets were removed from their beds and their pillows were thrown about the room. The strange noises turned into whispers and singing. Hair pulling and physical abuse were inflicted on Betsy Bell.
John Bell eventually told his neighbor what was happening. His neighbors stayed at the Bell home and experienced what the Bells had been going through firsthand. As time went on, the voice was no longer a whisper. Loudly the voice would quote scripture, sing hymns and have intelligent conversations with the residents. The malevolent entity had a severe disdain for John Bell. It even proclaimed that it would be the death of him.
John’s health started to decline until he could no longer leave the house. He died on December 20, 1820. When his family started going through the cupboards, they found an unidentifiable liquid. John Bell Jr. gave some to a cat and the cat died immediately. At the moment the spirit announced loudly that it gave John Bell some of that liquid the night before. This is the first paranormal case where a spirit is believed to be responsible for a person’s death. The validity of this story has been disputed but if you visit northern Robertson County, Tennessee, almost everyone you meet has a story about the Bell Witch. To this day people visit the Bell farm looking for the Bell Witch.
References: https://bellwitchcave.com/
An American Haunting (2005) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0429573/
Child’s Play – 1988
Child’s Play, co-written by Tom Holland and produced by David Kirschner from a story by Don Mancini, is the first movie in the franchise about horror legend Chucky. The film opens as fugitive and serial killer Charles Lee Ray is chased by police into a toy shop after being shot multiple times. As he slowly dies, the criminal performs a Haitian Vodoo spell to transfer his soul into a popular children’s doll. That doll, named Chucky, is purchased by widow Karen Barclay and gifted to her six-year-old son Andy. A series of mysterious and violent murders take place after Chucky comes into their lives… with Andy deemed as the primary suspect, but it’s up to Karen to prove the murderous doll’s intentions before he claims his next victim.
Story of Robert the Doll that Inspired Child’s Play
Believe it or not, the doll that Chucky is based on is creepier than he is. Much creepier. Robert the Doll is a straw-stuffed toy dressed in a sailor suit, with black button eyes and a smirk that says he’s up to something. And he is… because he’s supposedly one of the most haunted dolls in American history.
The doll was originally owned by Robert “Gene” Otto, who named the toy after himself after he received it as a gift as a child. There is debate on who gave Gene the doll, but the most common story is that it was a present from one of the Otto family servants, a mistreated woman who was skilled in the art of voodoo.
Gene loved Robert and took him everywhere, developing a bond so deep that he even began whispering to the doll and telling secrets. His parents only became concerned when they heard a deep voice answering Gene back… which soon became loud, violent arguments. However, as soon as Gene’s parents would enter his bedroom upon hearing a commotion, they would find Gene alone with Robert, cowering in terror. It wasn’t long before Gene’s other toys were ripped apart, furniture overturned, and his parents saw glimpses of a small figure running around the house out of the corner of their eye. Gene’s response? “Robert did it.”
However, as Gene grew up, got married and began his career – he took Robert with him. The doll was said to have a stronghold on him, placing demands on Gene such as a “spot with a view of the street.” Gene obliged and propped Robert up in a window of his house, with numerous reports from people walking by that they would notice Robert making frightening faces or vanish before their eyes. Of course, Gene didn’t listen to them – not even his wife, who hated Robert – and kept the doll in his care until his death in 1974.
Myrtle Reuter bought Gene’s house after his death, and donated Robert to the Fort East Martello Museum in Key West, FL – where he has been an exhibit since 1994. Despite being behind a glass case, he wreaks more havoc than ever before. Hundreds of people visit him every single week and are required to ask Robert’s permission before snapping a photo of him. Those who don’t have reported terrible misfortune that includes car accidents, breakups, and health scares – leading them to write an apology letter to Robert. Don’t believe it? The wall is filled with hundreds of letters that questioned the power of one of the most haunted dolls in America – and the inspiration for a horror icon.
The Conjuring – 2013
The Conjuring– written by Chad and Corey W. Hayes is a story about a family being harassed by a dark force in their Rhode Island farmhouse. The Perron family moves into the rundown farmhouse, and everything seems okay at first. Soon after they settle in, the family realizes there is something dark in their home. After being terrorized by a malevolent force, the family realizes they need help. First, they research the home, and then they turn to Ed and Loraine Warren. The Warrens must remove the evil spirit before it takes over Mrs. Perron and further destroys her family.
The True Story Behind The Conjuring
The Perron family moved into a farmhouse in Harrisville, Rhode Island in 1971. They stayed in the home for ten years. The family of seven, Carolyn, her husband Roger, and their five daughters begin experiencing strange things. The supernatural occurrences start small. Household items disappear or show up in the wrong places. Piles of dirt appear in the middle of the kitchen even though; Carolyn had just cleaned it. Their daughters have their own experiences which, cause them to note that most of the spirits in the home are harmless. But a few are not. Most notable, Bathsheba Thayer. Carolyn does some research on the property and learns that a family had lived there for eight generations. Most of them had died on the property in mysterious ways. Bathsheba had lived on the property and was the worst spirit to roam the house. Bathsheba was believed to be a Satanist and may have killed a neighbor’s child with a knitting needle. The family frequently felt cold spots throughout the house. They also believed a few of the spirits smelled like rotting flesh. They would smell something rotting in certain parts of the house. Knowing that they needed help, the family turned to Ed and Lorraine Warren. The Warrens went to the Perron home several times to rid them of the dark entities plaguing their home. They conducted a seance and Carolyn became possessed. Allegedly she spoke in tongues and her chair lifted off the ground. After the seance Mr. Perron made the Warrens leave. He feared for his wife’s mental state and believed they weren’t helping her. The family lived in the home until they were financially stable enough to move. Reportedly the families that have lived there since have either experienced mild hauntings or none at all.
The Conjuring 2: Enfield Poltergeist
The Conjuring 2 was directed by James Wan and was written by Chad and Corey W. Hayes is a film about a family in London being terrorized by a spirit. Peggy Hodgson is struggling with raising her children on her own after her husband left her. Her daughter Janet starts to sleepwalk and speak to an old man that isn’t there. The mother comes to the conclusion that Janet is probably possessed. Strange things start to happen and soon the whole town knows about Peggy’s home being haunted. A priest comes to the home and then Ed and Lorraine Warren arrive to investigate. They bring a skeptic with them to prove whether the Enfield haunting is real or a hoax.
The True Paranormal Story Behind The Conjuring 2
The Hodgson family was haunted in the 1970s in London. It started with strange noises coming from the girl’s room. Furniture moved on its own, and fires started out of nowhere. Then the ghost began to speak through Janet. But it only spoke through Janet. She seemed to be the only one that had direct contact with the spirit.
Ed and Lorraine Warren are called to investigate. While they conclude that the home was haunted, some people still refused to believe it. The haunting was recorded, in fact, it is believed to be one of the most documented hauntings in the world.
But even with all the documentation, people still believe that it was a hoax. Ed and Lorraine were repeatedly called fakes for saying the home was haunted. Some skeptics believed it was the girls that were making it seem like their home was haunted.
Later Janet confessed to making some of it up. But she said that out of everything that happened only 2% of it was made up.
The Entity – 1984
The Entity – written by Frank De Felitta (1978) and directed by Sidney J. Furie (1984) is the story of a single mother “Carla” played by Barbara Hershey. Carla is being sexually tormented by several ghosts. She seeks help from a Psychiatrist who believes she is self-harming due to the trauma she experienced in her past. With the Dr. in disbelieve of her paranormal assailant, she turns to a duo of college students who are researching paranormal activities. Once the students realize her attacks are from an evil spirit they help her defeat the ghost. Notably, it is rumored that Furie did not do much research on the actual events but the core of the film is based on the story of Dorris Bither. This film, however disturbing, was rated by Martin Scorsese as one of the top 11 scariest films ever made.
The True Ghost Story Behind The Entity
The story begins in 1974 with single mother Dorris Bither. She was living in a small house in Culver City, California with her three young boys and one daughter. Dorris had a rough history growing up and reportedly was disowned by her abusive family. She had a long history of alcoholism and dating abusive men. One of the long-standing theories is that her internal turmoil is what attracted the dark spirits who attacked her.
She met Dr. Barry Taff and Kerry Gaynor in a bookstore where she had overheard them speaking about paranormal topics. She approached the men and told them her house was likely haunted. Dr. Taff did visit the house which was noted to be in squalid conditions and had allegedly been condemned by the city at one point.
Dorris told Dr. Taff that she had been terrorized by the ghosts almost nightly. She stated that there were three ghosts that all resembled Asian men. Two smaller apparitions would hold her down and the larger ghost would sexually assault her. She showed Dr. Taff bruises on her thighs and body. Her story was corroborated by family members who frequently saw the ghosts and would run into them in the hallway in the house. One of her older boys would go on to say that he witnessed his mother being thrown around the room by the ghosts. From his room, which was adjacent to hers, he could hear the assaults going on and was helpless as he saw his mother being attacked by the spirits.
After hearing the stories Dr. Taff assembled a large team of paranormal investigators who all crammed into the little house with high-speed cameras and lights to attempt to capture images of the ghosts. Once Dorris began to summon the spirits by taunting them with foul language and anger the investigators witnessed a green fog-like substance that resembled a torse, glowing orbs, and lights flashing. They even captured a few light streaks with their cameras. Although the images were not as clear as the reported sightings they were unexplained lights. The fog, much to their dismay, did not show up in post film development.
The team investigated the ghosts for another two months but as time passed the activities decreased. The house today is not reported to have any further paranormal activity and most theories seem to think that Dorris attracted these spirits rather then them being tied to the house itself. Towards the end of Dorris’s life, she would no longer speak of the attacks she experienced. Her sons continued to do interviews telling investigators what they had seen, but ultimately this remains another paranormal mystery.
The concept of spectral rape is not a new one though. There are reports of these types of attacks that go as far back as ancient Greece where there are references in the literature to these types of attacks.
The Exorcism of Emily Rose – 2005
The Exorcism of Emily Rose—directed by Scott Derrickson and written by Paul Harris Boardman, is about an exorcism that went wrong and the trial that follows. Nineteen-year-old Emily Rose dies after an exorcism. The priest goes on trial for negligent homicide. While doctors believed that Emily had epilepsy, Emily and her family thought she was possessed. Emily thought she had six demons inside of her. The movie follows the trial and recounts what happened in flashbacks. The priest, Father Moore, is subsequently found guilty but given time served.
The True Story Behind The Exorcism of Emily Rose
The exorcism of Anneliese Michel is the basis for the film The Exorcism of Emily Rose. Anneliese’s malevolent problems started when she was just 17. The doctors believed she had epilepsy. When she started having hallucinations, she was told she was suicidal and depressed. But she and her family were convinced she was possessed. In 1975 they gave up on modern medicine and turned to the church.
In ten months, Anneliese was put through 67 exorcisms. She and her family and the two priests performing the exorcisms believed several demons were inhabiting her. They also believed many damned souls manifested through her. During this time, Anneliese sees demons in the faces of the people around her, urinates on the floor and then licks it up, ate flies, coal, and spiders. She also bit the head off a dead bird and barked like a dog.
She died on July 1, 1976, from dehydration and malnutrition. Four people went on trial for her death. It was believed that her parents and the two priests were responsible for her death through negligence. As time went on, Anneliese refused to eat or drink. She fasted believing that it would rid her of the demons inside of her. But sadly, that didn’t seem to be the case. When she died, she weighed 68lbs. Specialist the testified during the trial claimed that if someone had forced fed her, she would have lived. But Anneliese didn’t want to be force-fed and she didn’t want to go into a facility where they would force her to eat and medicate her.
All four defendants were found guilty. Her parents, Josef and Anna Michel, Pastor Ernst Alt and Father Arnold Renz were found guilty of negligent homicide and sentenced to six months in prison. The four defendants were given 3 years probation in lieu of six months in prison. The recordings of the exorcism can still be heard today.
Reference from Chasing the Frog
The Exorcist – 1973
The Exorcist is one of the most memorable horror films of all time. It tells the story of a 12-year old girl named Regan who begins acting strangely after contacting an entity through a Ouija board. She begins cursing profusely, making strange noises, and becoming violent – while her mother Chris becomes increasingly worried. While a variety of medical tests come back with no results, a local priest and psychiatrist learns about Regan and believes she may be seized by the devil. He receives permission to perform an exorcism and works with an expert to free the young girl of the evil inside her.
The Possession Story Behind The Exorcist
While the film is based off the 1971 novel of the same name, it also takes inspiration from a real-life exorcism from the 1940s. A 14-year old boy, now known by the pseudonym Roland Doe, was believed to be possessed by the devil after a series of strange occurrences and behavior. Doe’s beloved Aunt Harriet had recently passed away, a spiritualist whom the boy was very close with, and had taught him how to use a Ouija board.
Not long after his aunt’s death, the boy experienced unexplained sounds such as scratching and water dripping, along with feeling his bed shaking and witnessing objects levitating. His family visited multiple doctors and priests, until they found one who agreed to perform an exorcism. But it didn’t go as well as the priest would hope. Like Regan in The Exorcist, Doe was violent all throughout the process… at one point breaking one hand free of his restraints, pulling out a bedspring, and cutting the priest’s arm with it. The exorcism was halted, and the family was forced to find another priest to help.
They didn’t just get one – they got three. Multiple priests joined the family in St. Louis to fight for Doe’s soul, and it was quite the battle. Reports claim that curse words were carved into the boy’s body as he swore, became violent and even broke the nose of one of the priests. But the religious figures never gave up, and it all came to a head one night when they shouted at Satan, telling him that St. Michael would fight him for the boy’s soul. The boy came out of his trance, simply said “he’s gone,” and went on to live a completely normal, demon-free life.
The Haunting in Connecticut – 2009
Written by Adam Simon and directed by Peter Cornwell, this haunting tale begins as teenaged Matt Campbell undergoes cancer treatments, and his parents decide to move into a new house to be closer to his doctors. While Sara Campbell initially has reservations about the Victorian home’s eerily low rent and spooky vibe, she and her husband Peter believe that a fresh start will be the best thing for their family. However, the Campbells begin to experience disturbing and violent visions and supernatural behavior as they slowly uncover the house’s dark history. As it turns out…their new house was previously a funeral home in which dozens of séances and evil events took place, and the spirits may just be looking for revenge.
The Story Behind The Haunting in Connecticut
Like many of the greatest ghost stories of the generation, the events that inspired The Haunting In Connecticut involve Ed and Lorraine Warren. The legendary paranormal investigators visited the Snedeker family in 1986, who had just moved into a pretty white house in Southington, Connecticut to be closer to the medical institution treating their oldest son for Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. It was after finding mortuary toys, blood drains, and embalming tools in the basement that the Snedekers discovered that their house had once been a funeral home, explaining the disappearing items, strange and distorted apparitions in the house, and violent behavior from the children – especially their oldest son. No wonder the house was so cheap, right?
If this all sounds very similar to The Haunting In Connecticut, it’s because it is… but there were a few details that Hollywood left out. The eldest son was a lot more dangerous and violent than the film showed – writing poetry with necrophiliac themes, claiming to be possessed by demons, and once even physically attacking his cousin and threatening her with sexual violence. While Carmen and Al Snedeker blamed the cancer treatments for their son’s radical personality change, they eventually decided to call the Warrens for a proper paranormal evaluation.
After the Warrens moved into the house for a few weeks, they supported the Snedeker’s claims and said they also felt a strong demonic presence throughout the home – even discovering that one of the previous funeral home directors was found guilty of necrophilia. The Warrens had an exorcism performed on the house… and all was well, right? Wrong.
There have been reports that the Snedekers stretched the truth, with those living in the home before and after the family insisting that they experienced none of the paranormal activity that Al and Carmen claimed. In addition, their eldest son was rumored to have a severe case of schizophrenia… which several paranormal researchers claim was responsible for his violent outburts and mood changes, rather than spiritual forces. Just like Amityville, Anabelle or any other horror event “based on a true story”… we’ll probably never know the whole truth, but it’s still lots of spooky fun.
The Haunting in Connecticut 2 Ghosts of Georgia (2013)
The Haunting in Connecticut 2 — directed by Tom Elkins and written by David Caggeshall, follows a family that moves to a historic home in Georgia that is also home to a dark presence. The film follows the Wyrick family when they move into a farmhouse in Georgia. Lisa Wyrick is a medium but self-medicates to stop seeing the dead around her. Her daughter, Heidi has inherited her mother’s gifts and makes friends with an old spirit named Mr. Gordy. Mr. Gordy warns them that something dark is trapped on the land and it wants to be set free.
The Paranormal Story Behind The Haunting in Connecticut 2
The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghost in Georgia is loosely based on the true story of the Wyrick family. The Wyrick’s move into a new home and strange things start happening almost immediately. Heidi Wyrick was four when she began playing with a spirit named Mr. Gordy. Her parents thought he was just an imaginary friend. Most children had one at that age and because they didn’t see him, they paid it no mind. Heidi sees Mr. Gordy and plays with him almost every day. During this time, Heidi never feels threatened by him. Months later, Heidi sees a man with his hand wrapped in bandages and blood on his shirt. He appeared at the front door and scared her. Her family also believed he was just a figment of her imagination.
But then Heidi starts to see a dark hooded figure. She awakes one night with claw marks on her face and then something scratches her father on his side. When this happens, the family starts to think there may be more to the spirits Heidi has been seeing. After doing some research, the family learns that Mr. Gordy and the man with the bandaged hand lived on the property decades earlier.
As Heidi grows up, she sees Mr. Gordy less and less. Finally, she stops seeing him completely, but the hooded figure still roams the home. There is also a little girl, voices and other strange sounds that were reported. The Wyricks turned to the church for help and while the prayers comforted them the hauntings continued.
Poltergeist – 1982
In Steven Spielberg’s Poltergeist, an evil entity plagues a family while trying to steal their daughter. The Freeling family seems like a normal suburban family. Steve Freeling is a realtor while his wife is a stay at home mom to their three children. The poltergeist seems harmless at first. It amuses the family. Furniture moves on its own, cupboard doors open and chairs slide across the room. The spirits become serious when a tree springs to life and the youngest daughter Carol Anne is taken. Paranormal investigators move into the home but they can’t help get Carol Anne back. A special Tangina woman has to help get Carol Anne from the other dimension. The family leaves the house.
The True Paranormal Horror Story that Inspired Poltergeist
The movie Poltergeist is loosely based on the Hermann family. The Hermanns lived in Seaford, New York. The family was tormented by a poltergeist. The activity happened between February and March 1958. During this time, bottle tops and lids were popped off containers by an unseen force. At first, the parents believed it was the children that were doing it. But then objects would fly around the room and that made it clear that it wasn’t the children’s fault. Bottles would rise and dance and levitate. A phonograph threw itself into the air and glass bottles smashed without being touched.
The police were called to the property to investigate. An officer stayed in the Hermanns home for many nights and saw some of what the family was talking about. One night a large desk fell over on its own. The officer concluded that the cause for the activity had to be a large magnetic field.
Priests and ministers were called to help the family. Rituals were performed in the front yard, but the paranormal activity persisted. The house was examined for foundation and electrical issues. The house was completely sound and there was no reasonable explanation for what the family was experiencing.
The activity always seemed to happen in front of one of the children. Psychologists were called to talk to the children but that didn’t do anything. Just as suddenly as it started, the activity was gone. The end of the activity seemed to coincide with the attention the Hermanns was getting from the public.
References: https://entertainment.ie/cinema/movie-news/the-terrifying-true-story-of-poltergeist-238312/
The Possession
The Possession—directed by Ole Bornedal, follows a family as they deal with a malicious spirit threatening to take over their daughter. Clyde and Stephanie Brenek divorce and share custody of their two daughters. Why Clyde has his daughters for the weekend, he stops at a garage sale and his daughter Emily buys an antique box. In this box, rest a malevolent spirit looking for a host. Emily becomes more and more fixated on the box and starts exhibiting bizarre behavior. When Clyde learns that the spirit in this box is causing the change in behavior, he fights to free her from the grip of the malevolent spirit.
The Story of The Cursed Dybbuk Box Behind The Possession
The Possession is loosely based on the true story of a dybbuk box. The box was up for auction on eBay. The seller said it was a haunted box that plagued other owners. There are many stories about the dybbuk box. The owner got it from a garage sale.
The homeowner that was selling it told him the story behind the box and how long it hade been in her family. Because it seemed to have sentimental value, he offered to give it back, but she vehemently refused to take it back. Owning a furniture store he took it there first and put it in his workshop. While running errands he gets a call from his salesperson and she is screaming hysterically about glass breaking and being locked in. He races over to find her huddled in a corner, light bulbs broken and the smell of cat urine. The salesperson left and never came back nor would she speak about what happened.
He tried to give it away but somehow it was always returned to him. When he decided to keep it strange things started happening to him. Strange smells, nightmares, and shadows. He finally sold it on eBay.
Veronica – 2017
In the Spanish film Veronica, a teenage girl lives with her mother and siblings in 1990’s Madrid. One day in school, her teacher tells the class about how ancient cultures would practice dark magic during solar eclipses to connect with spirits, and she and her friends take this opportunity to conduct a séance using a Ouija board. Hoping to connect with her recently deceased father, Veronica gets more than she was expecting when she experiences paranormal occurrences and is stalked by an evil entity. Worried about the safety of her younger siblings, she attempts to defeat the demon to protect herself and her family.
The Real Life Horror Behind Veronica
The film has received significant media attention since premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2017. It has a nearly 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes and has gained a reputation as one of the scariest movies on Netflix. But what makes it even scarier is that it’s loosely based on a true story.
Veronica is based off the “Vallecas Case,” named for the Madrid neighborhood where young Estefania Gutierrez Lazaro lived with her mother and younger siblings in 1991, much like the film’s protagonist. She and two classmates used an Ouija board at school, only to be caught by a nun… who then tore the board apart. The girls all claimed to have seen smoke radiate from the board as it was being destroyed, which was inhaled by Estefania.
The teenager experienced months of terrifying seizures and hallucinations, and made claims of paranormal figures visiting or attacking her. In July 1991, she was taken to a hospital after violently attacking her younger sister, where she went into a coma and died shortly afterwards. However, the paranormal activity in the household only intensified after Estefania’s death.
The Gutierrez family claimed to experience screaming voices throughout the home, objects moving without explanation, doors opening and closing on their own and waking up in the middle of the night after hearing and seeing mysterious figures. Terrified and fearing for their safety, they called the police in November 1992.
The cop notes have become iconic among ghost enthusiasts in Spain, as the Vallecas case is one of the only cases of paranormal phenomena to be documented in an official police report. It describes the door of a wardrobe that violently opened by itself, loud noises from the balcony, and a crucifix torn down from the wall – all witnessed by the officers. Crime scene photos from the Vallecas case even appear at the end credits of Veronica, making the film that much more frightening.
Winchester
Winchester was directed by the Spierig Brothers and is about Sarah Winchester and her mysterious home. Sarah Winchester believed the souls of the people killed by the Winchester rifle are hunting her. Convinced that she is cursed, Sarah Winchester seeks a medium that tells her she needs to build on to her home to appease the spirits. She brings Dr. Eric Price to the Winchester home to determine if she is crazy or the paranormal activity in her home is really happening. But where it seems like she is trying to please the spirits by adding rooms to her home, she may be trying to trap them instead.
The Horror Based On The Life of Sarah Winchester
This horror based on the real-life of h the heiress to the Winchester fortune, Sarah Winchester felt like she was cursed. After the untimely deaths of her daughter and her husband, Sarah goes into prolonged mourning. She mourns for them for years, wearing black until her death. Believing she was cursed, Sarah sought out a medium.
The medium told her the spirits that had been killed by the Winchester rifle were unhappy. The medium told her that in order to get away from them she would have to move. She moves to California and finds a home. To further evade the spirits she has to add on to the home and not stop.
The Winchester home was in a constant state of construction and is filled with twists and turns. Staircases lead to walls. Doors that lead to nowhere. It’s almost like a maze designed to trick the spirits. The house was under construction until she died in 1922. Some of the rooms were left unfinished. It is believed that the spirits who cursed Sarah Winchester inhabit the house and can still be felt to this day. These days tours are held were people can pay to walk through the house and learn about its history.
The Winchester house tale is also referenced in Stephen King’s “Rose Red” mini series.
The Curse of Buckout RD
A group of college students travel to upstate NY to investigate an Urban Legend as part of a college class project on creation and destruction of modern myth. After arriving they find that perhaps the legends are true.
The Urban Legends behind Buckout RD
Quite a bit has happened on this shady road in New York. To begin, there was a large event where many slaves were illegally released. This established the first free black community in New York. It’s been rumored to have been a checkpoint in the Underground Railway as well. There was a clash between Native Americans and white settlers which ended in mass murder, with some victims even being scalped. One of the more well-known incidents there included the murder of a family member that lived in a mansion on Buckout Road. This was the Buckhout family, they had initially lived in Sleepy Hollow, which you likely have heard of from the story of The Headless Horseman. The road was named after this once prominent and landholding family. On the road stands one lone headstone that belongs to John and Charlotte Buckhout. John and Charlotte had not been the murder victims in their family though, it was actually the wife of Isaac V. Buckhout, whose name was Louise. Isaac had discovered that Louise was having an affair with a man named Alfred Randall, and he viciously murdered the two lovers. Issac was eventually hanged for his actions on New Years day in 1872. He was later buried in Sleepy Hollow.
Honorable Mentions
Scream – which might be based on the serial killer Danny Harold Rolling aka the Gainesville Ripper.
Halloween – Michael Meyers was based on a real patient at a mental institution John Carpenter met.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre – Is loosely based on the Serial Killer Ed Gein.
Jeepers Creepers clearly has some inspiration from two tragic events that inspired the movie.
