I just finished watching a horror movie called The Conjuring. It's actually not really that scary, compared to Asian horror movies. But it got scary after I googled the movie out of curiosity over its 1970s setting because the story is real! So, to me, the scary factor is not the movie itself, but the real event.
THE REAL HAUNTING
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In
December 1970 Roger and Carolyn Perron purchased a farmhouse in
Harrisville, Rhode Island. Following events at their previous address,
Carolyn decided she did not want to rear her children there and felt a
house in the country would be a more suitable location for her 5 young
girls to grow up. What Carolyn thought would be her dream home turned into a living nightmare.
The
house they purchased was the old Arnold farm which was over two
centuries old. Eight generations of families had lived and died in that
house and some of these spirits never left. Previous residents of the
farmhouse included Mrs John Arnold who at the age of 93 hung herself in
the barn and Bathsheba Sherman who had an extremely hard life. She lost
all of her children before the age of four. When she was a young woman,
Bathsheba had a young child in her care (it is uncertain if this was her
child or if she was caring for the child for a friend) that died. Upon
examination of the baby’s body it was found that a needle had been
impaled into its skull and the baby had died from convulsions. Bathsheba
was charged with manslaughter but due to lack of evidence the case was
dropped. However, in the court of public opinion she was found guilty.
She was a very beautiful woman whom men loved and women envied.
Following the death of the baby rumours began to swirl that Bathsheba
had sacrificed this baby as an offering to the devil for eternal beauty.
Due to the belief of the locals that she was a witch she lived a life
of solitude. Eventually she married and it is unsure if she lived all
her days at the Arnold farm or the adjacent Sherman farm. She died in
1885 and the coroner made a note in his report stating that he had never
seen anything like it that it was like her body had turned to stone.
The Perron family spoke to a man who knew Bathsheba and he said she was a
very angry and bitter woman who would beat and starve her farmhands.
