Haunted: The Hodgson Family from The Conjuring 2

The glaring lights shine down, and the dark red couch only seemed to swallow them as they stared down the lenses of video cameras, lenses that seemingly stared right back, seeing into their souls. The two girls occasionally shared side glances with each other as a awkwardly look to the man that's going to interview them about the strange presence that has been tormenting their family. Janet Hudson and her older sister Margaret had been dealing with something malicious in their home for the past month. Started with Janet sleepwalking and talking in her sleep. She would seemingly teleport around the house, going to sleep in her bed, and all of a sudden, waking up in the living room chair, which honestly wouldn't have been that weird had she not have been tied by the wrists to her bedpost. Soon things began to escalate when one night, Margaret and Janet awoke to their beds shaking. Alarmed by their screaming their mud, Peggy ran into the room, protectiveness racing through her veins, expecting the worst. Annoyance quickly settled in when she found nothing but the girl screaming and a homemade Wiji board under Janet's bed. After scolding her daughters, Peggy went to leave the room when the wardrobe suddenly slid across the room, blocking the door, attempting to trap them inside. Ever since that night, things only seemed to get worse. Janet would occasionally speak in a man's voice out of the blue. But what garnered this uncomfortable attention from the media was a testimony of two police officers. Two of them were called to the hauts and residence after the encounter with the wardrobe, when they witness a chair moved seemingly on its own from the hallway to the kitchen table. The man behind the camera signaled to the girls that he was about to start filming, and all Janet could feel was her stomach, as if bile was rising up her throat alarm. She tried her best to hide her feeling of uneasiness and just let her sister do most of the talking, but that was no longer an option when the man asking the question suddenly looked at her and said, Janet, are you all right? Apparently her attempts at masking the discomfort had failed, because now every single pair of eyes in the room were on her. Concern masked the faces of her sister and mother as they both looked at Janet, and it was then she noticed why her breathing had gone from nervous to severely labored, as if she was an elderly man struggling to breathe. Panic gripped her and she slowly felt the lump that she was holding in her throat rise and her vision started to fade. Janet, Janet, are you still there? That was the last thing she heard, so everything went black. What happened to Janet was a scene from one of the most famous horror movies to ever grace the screen, The Conjuring Too. After the success of the first film of The Conjuring, which we discussed in a previous episode, James Juan decided to grace us with yet another installment of the franchise. This time, instead of staying in America, he focused on an investigation that took the Warrants, famous paranormal investigators overseas to Enfield, England. When both the interview aired and the news spread from the Warrens investigating the Hawton residents, the family was flung into the eye of the public. Many believed the family was suffering and wanted to help, while many others believed that it was a hoax to achieve more government funding. Either way, the events that unfolded led the family to live through, as they describe, the most horrifying period of their lives, and gave the rest of the world an entertaining story to watch years later and back upon request, we have another episode about The Conjuring. My name is Edwin and here is a Dark Memory. This episode contains spoilers for the movie The Conjuring Two, so please remember that listener discretion is advised. On May thirteenth, two thousand and six, director James Wand released a second installment of the trilogy, The Conjuring Two. Much like the first film, it's centered around an investigation conducted by famed paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. However, there were a few important details that differed about this film. The first is the year it takes place. Unlike the first one being set in the late sixties to early seventies, the sequel takes place in the late seventies. The second major difference is the location. Instead of taking place in America, the second movie took place internationally. In this case the London borough of Enfield in England. The final major difference between the two is the fact that this one faced a lot more controversy than the original. Sure, there were a few people who claimed that Ed and Lorraine Warren exaggerated what the Prones were going through in the original film, but the overall backlash at the family and the Warrens received when detailing their stories was much greater. Here. People all over the world claimed that the family was just making everything up in order to obtain more government funding. But the picture that James Want paints in this movie tells us otherwise, I said earlier. Taking place in the seventies in England, the film circles around the Hodson family, which is made up of the mother Peggy, the two daughters Margaret and Janet, and the two sons, Billy and Johnny. The movie starts off exploring the involvement that the Warrens had in the haunting of the Amityville House. It is here that it becomes clear to Lorraine that a demon is not the only source of the problems in this but it is also after the soul of her husband Ed. Then it cuts to Enfield and the focus shifts from the hot Scent a struggling family where Peggy supports her four children while living in government funded housing. But they seem to live a relatively normal life until the second oldest child, Janet, begins to act strangely. Starts off with her sleepwalking and talking in her sleep. She even starts telling her family that the spirit of an old man is appearing and tormenting her, but none of them seeing it. It's hard for anyone to believe her. This changed once Janet showed the symptoms of being possessed by something. All signs pointed to the old man. The reason for this is because of the famous documentary that aired on BBC. In it, Janet and her sister were interviewed much like the scene described in the beginning of this episode. But what happened after Janet seemingly lost control of her body disturbed viewers and ultimately led Ed and Lorraine being sent by a priest. You see, Janet was unaware of what was coming out of her mouth and didn't even remember that she had claimed to be the spirit of a seventy two year old man named Bill Wilkins. The documentary also contained interviews with Peggy and their neighbors who described the wardrobe incident discussed earlier, as well as interviews with two police officers that witnessed a chair incident also mentioned before. Because of all the media attention that the Hodson case was receiving, the church decided to make sure that they weren't involved in a hoax, especially after the Amityville incident, one that the warrants swear was true. To ensure this, the church sent the warrants to England to stay with the Hodson family in order to collect evidence that something supernatural was really happening. While staying at the home, Warrens conducted a seance with Janet in order to contact the spirit of Bill Wilkins. Both were convinced the family wasn't faking anything, so they agreed to allow video cameras to be set up inside and outside the house. One night, a camera caught Janet bending spoons and faking an incident, so the Warrens were forced to pack everything up and leave. Unfortunately, it wasn't until after they left that Lorraine was able to have a vision that showed her just what was really happening at the Hawson residence. The spirits of an old man was just being used as a tool to torment the family, when in reality, he was just being used by a demon who wanted a soul, And much to our surprise, the demon turned out to be the same one from the Amityville House. Luckily, in the end, the Warrens were able to save the family and banish the demon back to Hell. But what about the real Hodgsons. Were they as lucky as a movie's ending sh or were they really as tormented as the film made them out to be. Let's deep dive into this and find out what actually happened to the family. According to the mother, Peggy, everything really started on the night of August thirtieth, nineteen seventy seven. She said that Janet came into her room and told her that her brother's beds were shaking. Thinking it to be silly child's play, she never put much stock into it until the next night, and she wished she had listened. While downstairs, Peggy heard a loud noise coming from upstairs. Tracing it back to the daughter's bedroom, she burst in to find her daughter's screaming. Unable to get a clear explanation out of them, she turned to leave the room, and after leaving with her daughters, Peggy turned around for one final inspection, but she was terrified by what she saw. A large oak chest moved across her room and slid it against the door. With the thought that it was trying to trap them in there, her mindset quickly switched to the mother mode. She grabbed her daughters and sons and they all ran across the street to their neighbors. The Nottinghams, of course worried for their neighbors, who seemed to be in a great deal of distress, and Nottingham's called the police to come and inspect the huts and residence. The first logical explanation that they could think of was someone playing a prank on the family. Who knows, Maybe they snuck into the house to try and get a good scare out of them. This is what the two police officers were expecting when they inspected the house with the family and neighbors, but that was not what they got. The officers entered the house slightly weary, but mainly with one gold in mind to find the prankster and ensure this family never has to call them again. But the Spirits had other plans. In mind, they slowly walked through the house and checked every possible hiding place an intruder could be. Just when they thought that everything was fine and they were about to leave, they all witnessed what the officers described as large armchair moved unassisted four feet across the floor. What followed were the most terrifying and excruciating eighteen months of their lives. At least that's how the Hodson described it. During this time, a number of occurrences plagued their family. Furniture would constantly overturn, toys were thrown by an unseen force, Banging could be heard from inside the walls, and writing would also appear on them. The next occurrence that terrified Janet especially it's still rumor to be fake. It happened late at night when she was trying to sleep. Janet told interviewers that while she was lying in bed, she felt like she was being watched. After what seemed like hours of trying to fall asleep, she must have because she awoke on the floor. Assuming she had a sleepwalking episode again, Janet went to get up. We need to discover that she couldn't move. Suddenly, she could feel it around her neck her bedroom curtains were rapped tightly, as if they were trying to choke her. For Peggy, that was the last straw. Without knowing how to find someone that could help them, Peggy turned to the press in order to get their story out into the world, being that someone, anyone, would come and end their nightmare. The press company she contacted was a Daily Mirror, and they were very intrigued by her story. Obviously, it is unknown whether or not they actually believed her, but a story was still a story. Along with their own employees, a photographer named Graham Morris and an independent paranormal investigator Maurice Gross, all showed up to investigate the huts and residents. It was then that things seemed to get worse. According to to a twenty twelve interview with Janet, she told reporters that cups would fill with water, things would burst into flames, and disembodied voices would speak to her. That was not the only problem, you see. After all the reporters and investigators filled the house, things changed. According to them, nothing happened at first, but after a while they then began to witness lego pieces flying across rooms. Maurice said that when he went to pick one up one time after it was thrown, it was hot to the touch. At one point, they even claimed that a t shirt flew off the kitchen table all the way across the room. Out of everything listed so far, the following occurrence is probably the one that's most hard to believe. That and more coming off right after this. According to the girls and Maurice Gross, they were conducting an interview in the daughter's room when Janet started to levitate. She apparently levitated off of her bed and onto the floor, and to prove their claims, he had captured photographs of the supposed incident. But if there were photographs, why does it seem so hard to believe? Well, the reason can be found on the photographs themselves. Ironically, if you look carefully enough, the stands of Janet's body and legs appear as if she was only jumping off the bed. Not only that, but if you compare the three photographs of the incident in a row, she then creates an arch through the room like someone jumping. Another one of the most famous parts of the investigation was a documentary aired on the BBC that was produced by The Daily Mirror. If you look up the Conjuring Two Real interview, you will be able to find the video yourself. It's relatively similar to how it played out in the movie, just much less dramatic. However, a little chill ran through me when Janet started speaking in a different voice. It's really quite remarkable to watch. And as she sits there on the couch next to her sister, you can see her mouth barely moving as a deep and withered man's voice comes out of it, as if it was speaking through her. The spirit said that his name was Bill Wilkins, that he had died from a hemorrhage in the living room. While the whole ordeal is a little hard to believe, after all, a child could always be just playing games, investigators later confirmed that a man by that same name had died in their house, but the people had the right to be suspicious, as Janet later told the interviewers that some of the occurrences were faked just to see if investigators would catch them, such as the girls would bend spoons or be caught banging on the walls with Brouin. Now, when it comes to Ed and Lorraine Warren their part in the Enfield haunting was much smaller than the movie leads you to believe. In fact, Maurice said that they just showed up at the house uninvited and later left that same day, But whatever data they collected had them convinced that the Hodson's were not lying. Unlike the movie, Ed and Lorraine never stayed to exercise Janet or anything like that. In fact, a priest had visited the home in the fall of nineteen seventy eight. That is when Janet said that things began to quiet down, but they never stopped completely. In order to get away from the strange activity and their past that haunted them. They eventually had to leave the home behind them after Peggy died in the same chair as Bill Wilkins in the living room. Based on reports from the family that moved in after the Hodgsons left, things never really stopped. The family said that they would hear voices and occasionally see a man walking into rooms on the first floor. Obviously, they were not prepared for what the house came with and ended up moving out after only two months. According to reports from after the investigations officially closed, Peggy had a nervous breakdown, but she wasn't the only person who suffered. Janet said that the house was a very traumatizing experience, and she even spent time at a psychiatric hospital afterwards because people at school would also bully her and call her a ghostgirl. Now that the full story has been laid out, let's go back and take a look at specific aspects of the movie that were fabricated for dramatic effect. The first is a scene where Janet is in her bedroom and all the crosses on the wall turned upside down. They made it clear that this never happened in real life. The next is a crooked man. While the crooked man itself is a real nursery rhyme, he did not play a part whatsoever in the real story. As it was made clear earlier, the Warrens actually played a much smaller role than the ones given to them in the movie, and the occurrence has never completely ended, according to Peggy, who continued to live there with her son Billy until she died, so that she still heard noises every now and then, and Billy also stated that he had always felt like he was being watched. But none are as greatly exaggerated as a demon was, or more commonly known as Valek, the Defiler, the Profane, the Marquis of snakes. Now, while there was no such evidence of this demon having any part in the real Enfield haunting, the demon itself is a real demon. Mantions of this demon stretched back as far as centuries, but it doesn't appear like a nun in the movie. Instead, it's just depicted as a child with horns and wings writing on a two headed dragon. In fact, James Juan said that he only depicted it as a nun in the movie because he wanted something that would mock Lorraine's faith, therefore make it more personal for her. But back in the seventeenth century, Volac instilled fear in many citizens that believed in God. He was first mentioned in the seventeenth century grimoire titled Clavicula Soelimonis Regis, or the Key of Solomon. According to the text, he got his name because of his ability was finding snakes and hidden treasures, all while leading an army of thirty demons. While the Bible never referenced him, Solomon was actually listed in the Vatican's Index Liberum Prohibitorum or List of prohibited books. This list was surprisingly updated continuously by the Church until they decided to scrap it altogether in nineteen sixty six. But the Grimaire itself has supposed to been found in the possession of many Catholic priests. Due to all of these aspects that were fabricated for the movie, it made the film itself an incredible piece of art, as almost any person who appreciates a good story would agree. But when it comes to believing if the Hodson family was lying or not, the audience seems to be divided. The believers out there often give the family the benefit of the doubt, especially fans of the warrants, while others who believed that this case was a hoax further used it as an evidence that the Warrens were con artists. The Warrens had a long list of sinister cases throughout their career, three of which we have now covered on this podcast, and if you would like to learn more about the cases they investigated over the years, stay tuned to a Dark Memory for future episodes. Out of all of these cases in the careers, the Enfield Haunting was probably the most controversial one the Warrens investigated. In fact, to this day, people still say that it was a hoax, says otherwise we weren't the ones who lived through it. The trauma that they sustained there continues to haunt the surviving members of the hats And family. Despite what you may think. Just try to put yourself in their shoes. A child never forget something that scares them to their core. So imagine you are an eleven year old child. You lay in bed. The only source of light is a small night light plugged into your wall. The night seems to go on forever. As you hear a tree branch start to bang on your window, You try to ignore it until you remember that there is no tree near your window. The sound is closer to your head than you thought. The sound above your headboard startles you out of your sense of security, and you sit up in bed. You look around, trying to find the source of the noise. You hear a creak of the hardwood floor from outside your room, and you try to peer past your sister's bed in through the crack in your door. Before you hear it again. Goosebumps appear on your skin as terror overtakes you. You quickly lay back down and fling the covers over your head and try to slow your breathing to be as quiet as possible. And it's then that you notice that you can see your breath. Your stomach clenches and your breath fastens again as you realize you're now sweating despite the cold. You wait for the banking noise again, but it never comes. You start to calm down, relaxing all the muscles in your body. Perhaps you imagined it all your parents always did say you had a very imaginative mind. After a few minutes, you feel someone breathing on the back of your neck. Annoyed yell stop, that's not even funny to your younger sister. But wait, didn't she move into her own room already. This episode of A Dark Memory was researched and written by Medel Inguera and produced by me Edwinko Arugas. Make sure to tap follow so you stay up to date with new episodes that are also available at free and with early release by going to scaryplus dot com. And if you have an idea for an episode of A Dark Memory, make sure to visit a Dark Memory dot com or send us an email. It'll be in the description of this episode up next. Be sure to check out my other show called True Scary Story, which our story is told directly from those who experience them. Just don't listen alone. Thank you very much for listening. You Soonhm,