Built in 1736, the Arnold family farmhouse claimed to have a paranormal presence, based on which the famous film “The Conjuring” was made. Four paranormal researchers along with YouTubers visit the Harrisville Farmhouse (Arnold family farmhouse) to dig deeper into the incidents and to ascertain whether the place is really haunted or not.
The documentary begins with a car moving towards the Harrisville Farmhouse while a dead coyote is seen lying in the road. From the very beginning, a sense of foreboding is there. The introduction of Matt Benton occurs, who has been investigating paranormal activities for a decade and is also the documentary’s director. It all started for him when he was just 16 and found evidence of the presence of a paranormal entity at the Old Washoe Club. Like many other paranormal researchers, Matt was also inspired by Ed and Lorraine Warren, who investigated the Harrisville Farmhouse and concluded the presence of negative entities that could not be driven out of that home. Matt wanted to investigate the Harrisville Farmhouse back in 2013, but he was not allowed. He then found out in 2019 that the Harrisville Farmhouse had been purchased by paranormal investigators Cory and Jennifer Heinzen. Matt and his friend Joe Vitale, who is also an experienced paranormal researcher, decided to investigate the place together and got permission from the Heinzens. Matt and Joe would be further assisted by Bill Cook and Eric Connor. The date is March 16, 2020, and the four of them meet in the Harrisville Farmhouse to uncover the real mystery.
The team, before starting their investigations, interviewed several people, including the owner and other paranormal investigators. The first on the list is Keith Johnson, who investigated the house in 1973 at the invitation of Mrs. Carolyn Perron, who was the owner of the house. The second is Carl Johnson, who says that Carolyn Perron was the one who was most affected by this negative spirit. The next is Andrea Perron, daughter of Carolyn Perron, who gives a detailed picture of the paranormal activities that her mother faced in the Harrisville Farmhouse. Cory then tells them that they have met the Perrons except for Carolyn, who has refused to come into this house again. Keith then tells about Bathsheba Thayer Sherman Greene, who was a resident of Harrisville, and how people accused her of being a satanic witch who killed her own baby. The four-member group contacts Kenny Biddle, a researcher, and writer, to follow up on the authenticity of this story, which is common knowledge from “The Conjuring” movie and many books. But both Keith and Kenny say there is no evidence of such a thing. There is no evidence of unnatural death in this farmhouse, but before it was built, King Philip’s War took place in the land where it stands. Several deaths from that battle may have cursed the land. Ed and Lorraine Warren did a seance with Carolyn in the Harrisville Farmhouse, and the result was absolutely horrific, almost leading to Carolyn’s death. John Huntington then tells about the paranormal activities he faced in the Harrisville Farmhouse; he stayed there for nine months, and some scary recorded footage of Huntington is shown. We see all four members, along with Keith, praying for their safety, and their first night of investigation begins.
At 8 p.m., the investigation begins, and the members are in the basement. They find a well, and Matt wants to get down, and a paranormal voice utters the word “the torch.” After some time, they move to the second floor, and while Matt is recording solo, he feels a bit dizzy, a similar occurrence to what he faced in the basement. He finds a playing cube for kids with the number 7 on it and calls the other members. Now it could be the “7,” a paranormal entity that follows Matt, the seven soldiers who are buried according to Andrea Perron, or just a coincidence. When Bill Cook then tries to get on a rocking chair, it suddenly moves on its own, and they capture this on camera. They are coming downstairs, and Matt’s walkie-talkie suddenly experiences electrical interference on its own in a certain room. When he comes out of there, it suddenly stops, and this happens several times as they experiment. The four members are performing a seance with an Ouija board on the first night, and Matt again had an unexplainable experience. The next morning, Cory arrives, and the four members want to review certain clippings with him, to which he agrees. First, they view the rocking chair clipping, and in the next clipping, they cannot see anything as the camera seems to have stopped working at that moment. Instances of mimicking have already occurred a few times, and they are confident it is a sign of the presence of a spirit.
The investigation for the second night begins, and the four members decide to perform 30-minute solo investigation sessions. First, Eric takes the turn and records a mumbling voice in his recorder, which sounded just like Joe’s, and faces an unusual experience in the basement. Next, they decide that Matt and Eric are going to perform a seance on the second floor while Joe and Bill will conduct EVP sessions in the basement. Matt and Eric, while performing the seance session, get reciprocation from the entity with tapping sounds. Later, Joe and Bill leave the basement, and Joe joins Matt and Eric upstairs. “Leave Now” and “The Deal” are the two things that are said by the spirits and are recorded at this time in Eric’s recorder. When Matt visits the room alone with the rocking chair, he somehow feels dizzy and is forced to sit down on the floor. Later, Matt again falls down on the floor and feels like something has him in its grasp. When the other three members come in and find him in this condition, Matt says he wants to get some fresh air outside. Eric finds him outside, and Matt says he got zoned out in a trance and felt a sense of suffering for the Perrons. Matt says that he was satisfied with the investigation, as he wants this to happen more so in all of his investigations, and they returned home.
After returning home, Joe and Matt reviewed the tapes and again went back to the farmhouse on February 19, 2021. First, they try to recreate the radio incident, which they fail to do, and Cory confirms that nothing electrical has been changed here. Then they try to debunk the rocking chair, which they are unable to do, and Matt confirms it as classic evidence of the presence of the paranormal. Matt later talks with Andrea about mimicking, and she confirms that she has faced that too. Footage of objects moving on their own is shown, and Andrea tells us that investigators like Matt help validate the story of the Perrons.
‘The Harrisville Haunting: The Real Conjuring House’ Ending
“The Harrisville Haunting: The Real Conjuring House” documentary echoes the quote from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, “There are more things on heaven and earth than one can only dream of.” The pieces of evidence and facts that are put on the table are really fascinating and raise a series of questions about the presence of paranormal activities in this farmhouse.