Most people think they know the story because they saw the movie. They didn’t. When James Wan released The Conjuring back in 2013, it sparked this massive obsession with the "true story" behind the Perron family and the Warrens. People started scouring the internet for real pictures of the Conjuring cases, hoping to find a grainy photo of a ghost or some smoking-gun evidence that Bathsheba Sherman was actually floating in the kitchen.
Reality is weirder. And, honestly, a lot darker.
If you go looking for these photos, you aren't going to find high-definition demons. You're going to find 1970s Polaroids of a family that looks absolutely exhausted. You’ll find shots of Ed and Lorraine Warren sitting in wood-paneled living rooms, surrounded by occult books and analog recording equipment. The horror wasn't a jump scare; it was a ten-year grind of living in a house that felt like it wanted them dead.
The Perron family—Roger, Carolyn, and their five daughters—moved into the Old Arnold Estate in Harrisville, Rhode Island, in 1971. They stayed until 1980. Think about that for a second. Ten years. If you’re looking at real pictures of the Conjuring house from that era, you’re looking at a decade of psychological and physical toll.
The photo that everyone talks about (and the one they don’t)
There’s a specific photo often circulated that shows the five Perron sisters—Andrea, Nancy, Christine, Cindy, and April—sitting on a split-rail fence. They look like any other kids from the seventies. Bell-bottoms. Long hair. Squinting at the sun.
But if you look at the photos taken inside the house during the Warrens' investigation, the vibe shifts. There’s a famous shot of Carolyn Perron slumped in a chair. She looks depleted. This wasn't a movie set with a makeup team. This was a woman who, according to her daughter Andrea Perron, was being targeted by an entity that was jealous of her position as the matriarch of the family.
People want to see the "levitation" photo. In the film, there’s a dramatic scene where Carolyn is hauled into the air. In real life? The "real pictures" of the actual investigation don't show a woman floating six feet off the ground. They show the aftermath. They show the tension.
Ed and Lorraine Warren weren't just characters played by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga. They were real people who took thousands of photos. Ed was a self-taught demonologist, and Lorraine was a clairvoyant. They brought cameras. They brought reel-to-reel tapes. Most of the real pictures of the Conjuring investigation stay locked away in the Warrens' Occult Museum archives (which has been closed to the public for quite some time now), but the ones that have leaked or been released by the family tell a story of a house that felt suffocating.
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Why the "Ghost" photos look like nothing at all
Skeptics love to point out that paranormal photography is basically just dust and light flares. They aren't wrong.
When you look at real pictures of the Conjuring farmhouse—the actual 18th-century structure—you see a lot of "orbs." Modern experts like Joe Nickell or Benjamin Radford would tell you those are just backscatter. It's dust reflecting the flash. Back in the seventies, film was fickle.
However, the Perrons didn't need photos to believe. They had physical contact.
Andrea Perron has been very vocal about this. She wrote a massive three-volume book called House of Darkness House of Light. She mentions that while the movie condensed everything into a few weeks, the real haunting was a slow burn. The "real pictures" of the girls often show them playing outside, far away from the house. They avoided the cellar. They avoided certain rooms.
The photos of the cellar are particularly grim. It’s a dirt floor. Low beams. In the real pictures, it looks like a place where you’d catch tetanus, let alone a haunting. The movie made it look like a sprawling dungeon, but the reality was much more cramped and claustrophobic.
The Bathsheba Sherman mystery
One of the biggest misconceptions fueled by "real pictures of the Conjuring" searches is what Bathsheba Sherman actually looked like. In the movie, she’s a grotesque, rotting witch.
In reality? There is exactly one known photograph of the real Bathsheba Sherman.
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She looks like... a normal woman from the 1800s. She’s thin. She has a somewhat stern expression, which was common because you had to hold still for a long time for those old exposures. There is no historical evidence that she was a witch. She was a real person who lived in the area, and while local legend accused her of harming a child, she was actually acquitted in a court of law.
When you compare the real pictures of the Conjuring inspiration (the real Bathsheba) to the movie monster, it’s a night and day difference. The horror of the real story isn't necessarily a "witch," but rather the accumulated energy of a house where people had lived and died for over two centuries.
The 1974 Seance: What wasn't captured on film
The most famous "real" event was the seance in 1974. This is where things went sideways. Ed and Lorraine brought a medium. They sat in the parlor.
There are no photos of Carolyn Perron flying through the air during this seance, despite what the Hollywood version depicts. But there are accounts. Roger Perron was so terrified and angry by what was happening to his wife—who was reportedly speaking in a voice that wasn't hers and exhibiting strange physical strength—that he punched Ed Warren in the face and kicked the Warrens out of the house.
If you look at the real pictures of the Conjuring house today, it looks peaceful. It’s a beautiful, historic home in the Rhode Island countryside. It has been sold several times recently. The previous owners, the Henzens, even started livestreaming from inside the house.
The photos from these modern investigations show a lot of "equipment." Rem-pods. SLS cameras. It’s a different kind of photography than what the Warrens used. But the core of the house remains. The original wood, the stone foundation. It’s a place that holds onto its history.
Seeing through the Hollywood lens
You have to be careful with "real" photos online. A lot of what you see tagged as real pictures of the Conjuring are actually:
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- Behind-the-scenes stills from the movie set (designed to look old).
- Photos from the Enfield Poltergeist case (which was The Conjuring 2).
- Random "creepy" stock photos used by paranormal blogs.
- Photos of the Warrens' museum props, like the Annabelle doll (which is actually a Raggedy Ann doll, not the porcelain nightmare from the movies).
The actual Annabelle doll is a great example of the gap between reality and film. The real doll looks harmless. It’s floppy. It has a red yarn wig and a printed smile. But Lorraine Warren used to say that the "real" photos of the doll weren't as scary as the "vibe" it gave off.
That’s the thing about the Harrisville case. The pictures don't show the smell of rotting flesh that the family reported. They don't show the freezing cold spots. They don't show the beds shaking at 5:15 in the morning.
What the Perron girls say today
If you want the realest "pictures" of this case, you have to look at the people who survived it. Andrea Perron still does talks. She has photos of her family from that time that show the physical toll. They look thin. They look like they aren't sleeping.
She often talks about "the spirit of the house" as something that was multi-layered. It wasn't just one ghost. It was many. The photos of the property show a vast, beautiful landscape that felt like a sanctuary during the day and a prison at night.
Honestly, the most chilling "real pictures" are the ones where nothing is happening. A photo of an empty hallway in a house where you know a family was terrified for a decade is more unsettling than a blurry "ghost" shape.
How to research this yourself (Safely)
If you're looking to dive deeper into the archives without getting lost in the "fake news" of paranormal Pinterest, you need to go to the sources.
- Check the Warrens' official archives. While the museum is physically closed, many of Ed’s original photographs and Lorraine’s journals have been digitized or featured in documentaries like The Devil Made Me Do It (the documentary, not the movie).
- Read the local newspapers. The Providence Journal has archives from the 1970s. You won't see "ghosts," but you will see the reports of police visits and the Warrens' arrivals.
- Look at the deeds. The history of the Arnold Estate is public record. You can see the long list of deaths associated with the property, which is what Ed Warren used to build his case.
- Follow the current owners. The house is often used for paranormal research now. They post "real pictures" almost daily. Most of it is boring—just rooms at night—but every now and then, they catch something that makes you wonder.
The reality of the Harrisville haunting is a story of a family that was broke, stuck, and scared. They couldn't just leave. They had to endure. When you look at real pictures of the Conjuring case, try to see the people in the photos. See the five little girls who had to grow up way too fast in a house that didn't want them there.
That's the real horror. Not a jump scare, but the ten years of wondering what was behind the basement door.
Next Steps for the Paranormal Researcher:
- Verify the source: Before sharing a photo, use a reverse image search to see if it’s a movie still or a legitimate 1970s photograph from the Perron collection.
- Read the primary accounts: Pick up Andrea Perron’s House of Darkness House of Light for a non-Hollywood perspective on what those photos actually represent.
- Investigate the history: Research the Blackwood family and the real history of the Old Arnold Estate to separate the Bathsheba myth from the actual residents of Harrisville.