One free guide for teachers ordering classroom copies of the paperback.

The story of the most terrifying case of demonic possession in the United States. It became the basis for the hit film “The Haunting in Connecticut” starring Virginia Madsen. Shortly after moving into their new home, the Snedeker family is assaulted by a sinister presence that preys one-by-one on their family. Exhausting all other resources, they call up the world-renowned demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren—who have never encountered a case as frightening as this... No one had warned the Snedekers their new house used to be an old funeral home. Their battle with an inexplicable and savage phenomena had only just begun. What started as a simple “poltergeist” escalated into a full-scale war, an average American family battling the deepest, darkest forces of evil—a war this family could not afford to lose.

“A fascinating and frightening book” (Los Angeles Times)—the bestselling true story about a house possessed by evil spirits, haunted by psychic phenomena almost too terrible to describe. In December 1975, the Lutz family moved into their new home on suburban Long Island. George and Kathleen Lutz knew that, one year earlier, Ronald DeFeo had murdered his parents, brothers, and sisters in the house, but the property—complete with boathouse and swimming pool—and the price had been too good to pass up. Twenty-eight days later, the entire Lutz family fled in terror. This is the spellbinding, shocking true story that gripped the nation about an American dream that turned into a nightmare beyond imagining—“this book will scare the hell out of you” (Kansas City Star).

John Thew married Elsie Snedecker, daughter of Teunis Snedecker and Neeltje Polhemus, in about 1725 in New York. They had five children. Descendants and relatives lived mainly in New York and Ohio.

This work provides an accurate, in-depth examination and scientific evaluation of the most famous hauntings in American history as depicted in popular films and television programs. Neither a debunking book nor one written for the "true believer" in the paranormal, American Hauntings objectively scrutinizes the historic evidence behind such hugely popular films as The Exorcist, The Amityville Horror, An American Haunting, The Conjuring, and The Haunting in Connecticut to ascertain the accuracy of these entertainment depictions of "true life" hauntings. The authors then compare these popular culture accounts against the alleged real-life encounters and impartially weigh the evidence to assess whether each incident actually took place. Written by highly credentialed, recognized authorities on the paranormal and social psychology, this book contains meticulously documented, science-based information written for a broad audience, from middle and high school students and those taking introductory courses at a university level to general readers. There is no other work that provides as careful and unbiased an evaluation of the most famous hauntings in American history. The book also examines the reliability of popular television shows such as Unsolved Mysteries and Paranormal Witness.

Demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren, the original ghost hunters, sit down with fellow demonologist Tony Spera to discuss their most famous cases. Ed Warren began his ghost-hunting career at a young age because he lived in a real haunted house and witnessed paranormal activities firsthand. Clairvoyant and light medium Lorraine Warren discovered her psychic abilities such as reading aura, hearing spirits, detecting evil presences and/or preternatural entities with more and more exposure to the supernatural world. Lorraine appears on A&E's Paranormal State TV series. The one thing Lorraine has learned, there are no atheists in a true haunted house. The Amityville Horror, a true story, is the Warrens' most famous haunting investigation. The house at 112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville, Long Island, New York, is the subject of international newspaper articles, thousands of websites, over a dozen books and at least ten films. The alleged diabolic possession of Ronald Defeo, Jr. and the Amityville murders by an evil presence is an ongoing debate. Were there ghosts, spirits and other invading psychic entities in the house? George and Kathy Lutz claimed they fled the house from an invading entity or entities. Was it a hoax? What happened to the Amityville Horror house? The Warrens tell all. Allen and Carmen Snedeker experienced the real horror of living in a possessed house in Southington, Connecticut, when they unknowingly moved into a haunted funeral home infested with paranormal activity. Only an exorcism sanctioned by the Catholic Church brought peace to the house. The Snedekers' story was made into a horror movie titled The Haunting in Connecticut and summoned more media attention the second time around than the first. Ed referred to the Jack and Janet Smurl family as the "chosen ones." The chosen is a person or persons God chose to prove to the world he is more powerful than any demon or devil. A book and TV movie titled The Haunted was made about this case. Ed describes methods used to provoke the spirits in the house and how they responded. Lorraine and Ed were in a friend's home when Ed noticed a "Werewolf in London" movie on television. This werewolf film was featured on the TV show Sightings and real London police officers were talking about being attacked by a real werewolf with real werewolf characteristics including hands, eyes and teeth. The Warrens knew about the werewolf myth, folklore and werewolf syndrome. They knew the many names associated with the werewolf mythology such as lycanthropy, lycanthrope and lycan. Ed explains how Lorraine got him involved in this case, why Bill Ramsey turned into a werewolf and what happened during Bill's exorcism. The Brookfield Demon murder trial is the first known court case in the United States alleging innocence due to demonic possession. The Warrens alleged David Glatzel, a boy at the time, was possessed by many devils. When Arne Cheyenne Johnson challenged the devil to possess him the devil took him up on his offer. Ed Warren shares why he thinks the courts were wrong not to allow "the devil in Connecticut made me do it" defense. Taking psychic photographs comes naturally to some people but others need a little guidance. Lorraine and Ed discuss the art of psychic photography and how to get psychic images with any camera. Ed shares a story about a psychic photo of a couple whose love survived beyond the grave. The conversations with the Ed and Lorraine are not limited to famous cases. They share stories about the mysterious places they have visited such as Borley Rectory, Cross Keys Hotel and Pub, Stonehenge, Whitby Abbey, the Fairy Glenn, haunted castles, the grave of Merlin the Wizard, Loch Ness, Transylvania and St. Joseph's Oratory. They also share stories of miraculous miracles and discuss human vampires and sorcerers.