Perron House (Harrisville)
A Rhode Island farmhouse where a mother's love was tested against an ancient, malevolent spirit.
The Perron House is a sprawling, colonial-style farmhouse located in Harrisville, Rhode Island, serving as the primary setting for the first film in The Conjuring universe. Instead, it became the epicenter of one of the most terrifying supernatural cases ever documented by paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren.
- Location
- Harrisville, Rhode Island
- Significance
- Site of the first major case for Ed and Lorraine Warren
- Primary Entity
- Bathsheba Sherman
- Status
- Still standing; reportedly abandoned by original family due to events
Lore & Background
Long before the Perron family arrived, the land was claimed by Bathsheba Sherman, a woman accused of witchcraft in the late 18th century. Driven to madness and murder by her own children, she made a pact with dark forces, sacrificing them to ensure her immortality within the soil. This curse bound her spirit to the property, waiting for new inhabitants to sustain her hunger. When the Perrons moved in, Bathsheba sensed the family's vitality and began a relentless campaign of psychological and physical torment, targeting the youngest daughter first.
In Their Own Story
The air in the attic was thick with the smell of damp rot and old dust. Carolyn stood at the bottom of the stairs, holding her flashlight high, but the beam seemed to be swallowed by the shadows above. A child's laugh echoed from the darkness, a sound too crisp for such an empty room. She called out for her daughter, but the silence that followed was heavier than before, pressing against her ears like deep water. Suddenly, the floorboards beneath her creaked without weight, and a cold breath brushed against her neck, whispering of things she could not see.
Reader's Guide
The Perron House is a large, two-story colonial structure with distinctive white siding and a wrap-around porch that once offered warmth but now feels like a trap. The interior features wide hallways, creaky wooden floors, and an ominous attic that serves as the spiritual epicenter of the haunting. The supernatural activity escalated from minor poltergeist phenomena to full-blown demonic possession. Objects were thrown with violent force, doors slammed shut on their own, and family members reported being physically assaulted by invisible entities. The most terrifying events included a spirit mimicking Carolyn's voice to lure her daughter into danger and the appearance of a shadowy figure in the basement. The haunting was rooted in the dark history of Bathsheba Sherman, whose malevolent presence sought to corrupt the Perron family. Ed and Lorraine Warren determined that the house was not merely haunted but possessed by a witch who had sacrificed her own children to evil forces. The case concluded with an exorcism ritual performed within the home's walls, though the lingering dread suggested that Bathsheba's influence might never fully vanish.
Did You Know?
- The house was purchased specifically because it reminded Roger Perron of a childhood vacation spot he loved.
- Bathsheba Sherman is depicted as having sacrificed her own children to a dark entity in exchange for immortality.
- The family's youngest daughter, Andrea, became the primary target of the spirits due to her perceived innocence and spiritual sensitivity.
More in Locations & Hauntings
Elsewhere in the The Conjuring universe
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