Because real life is sometimes stranger than a horror movie, recently a couple, Cory and Jennifer Heinzen, snagged up the house that inspired James Wan's original The Conjuring movie - and to the surprise of precisely no living human, they claim that it is still haunted. But that's not all folks. It turns out that Cory and Jennifer Heinzen plan to fix up the Harrisville house in Rhode Island and open it up to visitors and investigators later this year.
To give a bit of history on this whole story, this Cory Heinzen fellow has been a paranormal investigator for about ten years, and a few months ago, when he saw the infamous Rhode Island farmhouse for sale in an online forum, he snatched it up as quick as he could. Heinzen says this.
"I've always been fascinated with the Warrens. It's just like a piece of paranormal history, this house. We had doors opening, footsteps, and knocks. I've had a hard time staying there by myself. I don't have the feeling of anything evil, (but) it's very busy. You can tell there's a lot of things going on in the house."
He and his wife closed the sale back in June, with Heinzen saying this.
"We immediately fell in love with it. Eight-and-a-half acres, a river in the back and a pond, it's so serene down there, never mind the story behind the house, it's a beautiful home. (Jennifer) honestly was more excited than I was, I think."
Jennifer Heinzen adds.
"This whole journey has been both scary - for many reasons other than paranormal - and exciting all at once. I love that we have the opportunity to share the home with others."
I don't know about you, but I think this Heinzen couple snatching up the Harrisville house, and opening it to tourists and fellow paranormal investigators, is really the smart play. After all, the location has been an unofficial attraction for years now. In fact, the woman the couple bought the house from, Norma Sutcliff, sued Warner Bros. back in 2015 because of all the trespassing after the movie's release.
And in an ironic turn of events, it turns out Cory Heinzen was one of those unwanted guests who visited the site a few years before. Go figure. But that's not all, Heinzen even met with Andrea Perron before buying the house.
Who's Andrea Perron, you might ask? Well, she was a member of the original Perron family who moved into the Harrisville house in Rhode Island back in the '70s and eventually became the basis for director James Wan's 2013 haunted house film. Yes, for the few people out there that somehow might not know, James Wan's The Conjuring is based on real-life events. Shocking, I know. Anyhow, Heinzen, who retired from the military, plans to regularly travel to the house and stay to oversee an extensive restoration throughout the next few months.
While there isn't currently a plan in place for just when the hell Cory and Jennifer Heinzen will open the infamous haunted house to the public, stick with us, and we will make sure to pass along further information as we hear it. Meanwhile, this story comes to us from the Press Herald.