The Enfield Poltergeist: Inside the Real
1977 when Peggy Hodgson, a single mother of four children,
Story that Inspired The Conjuring 2
Janet Hodgson by Graham Morris
It was once known as the "house of strange happenings" and
now, it's coming to the big screen.
The Conjuring 2 focuses on one of the most famous
supernatural cases in history The Enfield Poltergeist. The
story, of a young girl thought to be possessed by a demon
inside her London home, mystified a nation.
The case involved strange voices, levitation, flying objects,
furniture being moved through the air, cold breezes and more
and while some called it a hoax, others considered it to be
one of the most witnessed cases of supernatural activity to
date.
So what really happened during the case of the Enfield
Poltergeist? Here's an inside look at the real-story
inspiring The Conjuring 2.
Margaret Nadeen, Director James Wan and Janet Winter
ERIC CHARBONNEAU / INVISION FOR WARNER
BROS. / AP
It all started in a quaint little home in Enfield, London, in
heard loud noises coming from her daughter's bedroom.
When she went to tell her daughter's Margaret, 12 and Janet,
11, to settle down and go to sleep, instead of rough-housing,
she found them huddled in the corner with terrified
expressions on their faces.
"We [told our mom] the chest of drawers was moving toward
the bedroom door," Janet recalled while speaking on iTV in
2012. "She said 'Oh don't be silly.'"
But Peggy then witnessed the drawers moving herself, in the
direction of the door by a seemingly invisible force, almost
as if some supernatural presence was trying to trap the girls
in the room. And when she went to try and push back against
the dresser, it wouldn't budge.
Terrified, the Hodgson family ran across the street to ask for
help from the neighbors, Vic and Peggy Nottingham. When
Vic went into the house to investigate, he too said he heard
strange noises coming from around the home. The Hodgsons
called the police, and even though one officer claimed to
have seen a chair move clear across the room, they deduced
that it was not a police matter.
According to the family, that was just the beginning of what
would become their nearly 18-month haunting.
"We didn't understand what was happening," Margaret told
PEOPLE at The Conjuring 2 premiere in Los Angeles. "We
went through periods where we just couldn't believe what
happened really. It's frightening. We didn't like to be on your
own in the house or anything."
When the strange incidents continued, Peggy decided to call
a popular U.K. publication, the Daily Mirror, to come and
investigate the supposed supernatural occurrences. But when
the reporter arrived, the house sat silent for hours. It wasn't
until the reporter was about to leave that something
happened.
"The photographer came back and a Lego brick hit him
above the eye. He still had the mark a few days later. And
then Maurice Grosse came in on the case," Janet said,
according to the Daily Mail.
The Daily Mirror called the Society for Psychical Research
(SPR), who sent Grosse to investigate the case. During his
stay at the house, Grosse has said he witnessed more than
2,000 different incidents of supernatural activity.
"Furniture turning over, cups filled with water, fires igniting,
voices, levitation," Janet recalled of the time while speaking
to iTV. "The most frightening [encounter] was when a
curtain wrapped itself around my neck next to my bed."
It was during his time in the house that the supposed
poltergeist started speaking through Janet.
The young girl would often go into a trance-like state where
she would speak in deep, scratchy voice, claiming to be the
ghost of a man named Bill Wilkens, who had died in the
house years before. (It was later proven that a man by that
name was once a resident of the home and did in fact die of a
hemorrhage while sitting in the living room.) The ghost
would reportedly "talk" through Janet for hours at a time.

Throughout the 18-month period, a number of additional

paranormal researchers visited the house including famed
demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren. Though the film
takes liberties with time and the extent to which the Warren's
were involved with the case, they publicly stated that they
were convinced that the supernatural were responsible for
the strange happenings inside the house.

"Those who deal with the supernatural day in and day out
know the phenomena are there there's no doubt about it,"
Ed said, according to Fangoria. James Wan, Madison Wolfe, Janet Winter, Lauren Esposito,
Margaret Nadeen and Rob Cowan
Of course many cast their doubts on the events, claiming the
children were behind the elaborate hoax and were faking MATT KENNEDY
their demonic symptoms. Two SPR experts adamantly
questioned Janet's gruff voice and later caught the children
bending spoons themselves.
Nearly 40 years later, Janet and Margaret say that while
In fact, Janet admitted that she and her siblings fabricated a
they've managed to move on from the traumatic time in their
few events. "Oh yeah, once or twice [we faked it] just to see
life, the haunting "stays with you."
if Mr. Grosse and Mr. Playfair would catch us. They always
did," she said, according to the DM.
"It stays with you. Every step of the way," Margaret told
Later she said about "two percent" of the events in the house
PEOPLE. "It's just like a death really, it gets a little bit easier
were faked.
as time goes on. But the fear and the memories of it and
what happened never leaves you."

Starring Madison Wolfe as Janet and Vera

Farmiga and Patrick Wilson as the Warren's, The Conjuring
2 is now in theaters.