One guy's experiences with The Warren's (of Amityville infamy)
Haunter
From: ray...@my-dejanews.com
Subject: Re: The Warrens
Date: 27 Apr 1999 00:00:00 GMT
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I've posted about the Warrens in another thread, XXXX, but at the risk
of
repeating myself, I felt the urge to do it again here, with more
details.
You
asked for Warren stories ... well, I've got one. Please don't take
this as
a
personal attack, because it's not, really. Neither is it an opinion.
This
really happened. I'm going to tell you what I *think* of the Warrens,
but
first I'm going to tell you what I *know* of the Warrens.
I wrote IN A DARK PLACE: THE STORY OF A TRUE HAUNTING, in which a
family had
lived in a house that used to be a mortuary (allegedly...I never saw
the
inside of the house myself), which was, according to the Warrens,
infested
with demons. But the family involved, which was going through some
serious
problems like alcoholism and drug addiction, could *not* keep their
story
straight, and I became very frustrated; it's hard writing a
non-fiction book
when all the people involved are telling you different stories. So I
went
to
Ed Warren and told him my problem. He told me not to worry, that the
family
was "crazy". I was shocked. He said, "All the people who come to us
are
crazy. You think *sane* people would come to us?" He knew I'd
written a
lot
of horror novels prior to that, so he told me to just make the story
up
using
whatever details I could incorporate into the book, and make it scary.
Because I couldn't afford the attorney fees it would take to get out
of the
contract, I had to go through with the book, but I didn't like it.
Since
then, other writers who have worked with the Warrens have told me the
EXACT
SAME STORY, but they've done so quietly because they don't want to
make any
waves with publishers.
I spent several days with the Warrens during that time. I spent time
with
them in their home and ate with them and went on long drives with
them. Of
the two, Lorraine is the sanest. She's an "enabler". Years ago,
before
their career in the "supernatural" began, Ed suffered from mental
illness.
It was bad enough to keep him from working, and the only way he could
make
money was to hand paint haunted houses on dinnerplates and sell them
door to
door. Once Ed decided that Lorraine was "psychic", selling the
haunted
house
plates eventually led to "investigating" haunted houses. At first,
they
found "ghosts". But after the tremendous success of THE EXORCIST --
both
the
novel and the movie -- ghosts suddenly became demons. If you go back
and
trace their career, you can see the sudden change. Almost overnight,
all
ghosts were really demons trying to possess residents, and sooner or
later,
the demons anally raped someone. It never fails, every damned time,
the
Warrens' demons bend somebody over a bed or a sink and beat down the
back
door, if you know what I mean. From my time spent with the Warrens, I
learned from Ed that their job is not really to "investigate" so much
as it
is to take the stories told by these families -- most of whom are
dealing
with REAL problems like alcoholism, drug addiction, mental illness,
and/or
domestic abuse, problems that are buried by their supernatural
fantasies,
which are supported and made tangible by the very eager Warrens -- and
arrange them into a saleable package that will make a good book, and
hopefully a movie.
Not only are the Warrens frauds, not only do they give a bad name to
people
who are SERIOUSLY investigating paranormal phenomena, I think they're
EVIL
because of the way they exploit families already deep in despair and
ready
to
shatter. I can ignore a simple con job ... but the Warrens are
actually
damaging people who are already damaged, who are desperate and
vulnerable,
using them for the sake of a book, maybe a lucrative movie sale, or
another
story to add to their traveling dog and pony show. Before I worked on
that
book, I'd followed the adventures of Ed and Lorraine Warren faithfully
since
I was a little boy. I was excited to work with them. Boy, was that a
big
disappointment. It's nice to believe there's a smiling, grandparently
couple
out there chasing demons ... but not when you know they're hurting
people
for
the sake of publicity and the almighty dollar.
Ray Garton
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