What It's Like Spending 2 Weeks in the Real-Life 'Conjuring' House

Documentary filmmakers Kendall Whelpton and Vera Whelpton lived in the house that inspired The [...]

By Daniel S. Levine

Documentary filmmakers Kendall Whelpton and Vera Whelpton lived in the house that inspired The Conjuring for two weeks to film their latest project, The Sleepless Unrest. The directors admitted the experience "really messed up" their team's psyche. The Conjuring was inspired by seemingly paranormal events at a Rhode Island farmhouse in 1971, with Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga as paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. The Sleepless Unrest will be released in theaters and VOD on July 16.

"Being in the house for two weeks really messed up the whole team's psyche," the Whelptons told CinemaBlend. "Day three we start getting worn down, day four you can't sleep because things are happening, there's a lot of activity in the house." Even after they left the home, the directors said they could not stop thinking about the house and being "attached" to it. "You have an overwhelming sense to go back to the house," the directors said. "It's a different beast than I'm used to. I've done over 500 locations and I've only stayed at about 4 of them and doing a long amount of time like this is a different experience."

The Whelptons did not go into the home aloe. They were joined by investigators Richel Straton and Brian Murray, who also wanted to know if the house was still haunted. The directors said their experience in the Conjuring house was unlike anything they had ever experienced.

"This is totally different than what we've done in the past," they told CinemaBlend. "It's exciting and adventurous. It has scares, little horror elements, a few jump scares." Although the film is a documentary with some aspects that are completely real, the directors believe it is scarier than some fictional horror films. "So, when you see stuff happening in the film, you gotta just ask yourself 'Wait, this is real? This isn't a Hollywood script?' and I think that's the scariest thing of all," the directors said.

The first The Conjuring film hit theaters in 2013 and was inspired by the real-life Ed and Lorraine Warren, a married couple who investigated alleged paranormal events. The film was a surprise box office hit, inspiring several more films from Warner Bros. The latest in the franchise, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, hit theaters in June.

The farmhouse that inspired the film was owned by Roger and Carolyn Perron when the real-life Warrens investigated the property. It is now owned by Carey and Jennifer Heinzen, who are also paranormal investigators, reports Page Six. They believe the house is still haunted. Their daughter Madison Heinzen even amassed a following on TikTok because she shares videos from inside the home.

Madison told Page Six she once saw a ghost in the house. "This happened last year when I was in the kitchen," Madison explained. "I was eating dinner by myself and I saw someone run by me. I caught it by the left corner of my eye, and all I saw was a veil and a skirt and it just vanished into thin air. This had all happened in a span of three seconds, and I just sat there in complete disbelief not knowing what to do afterwards." Her parents claimed other people have seen a spirit of a woman in a wedding dress at the house.

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