The Enfield Ghost: the real story behind the Hollywood film (12 photos + 1 video)

TV series and films about ghosts and poltergeists are one of the most common and sought-after themes in the horror film genre. And they are especially interesting and excite the imagination if they are based on real events.





When the Hodgson family sat down to play with a Ouija board in August 1977, they could not have imagined what awaited them. A funny game caused a poltergeist that threatened the lives of the whole family.



Still from the series “Ghosts of Enfield”

In a world where most people doubt the presence and reality of spirits and ghosts, the Enfield ghost story stands out. If the supernatural doesn't exist, then what did this family go through?



Hodgson family

The paranormal events were so unusual that they became the plot of the 2016 Hollywood film The Conjuring 2. The film attracted the attention of audiences around the world and became the most successful horror film of the year. A year earlier, the series “Ghosts of Enfield” was released, which was also quite warmly received by fans of the genre.

But what really happened in the quiet family home in north London? To what extent is this story true, and to what extent, like many other Hollywood films, is it fiction?

The beginning of the story



The same house

In 1977, the Hodgson family, consisting of mother Peggy Hodgson, two sons and two daughters, moved to a house in Enfield, north London. They only lived there for a short time before strange events began to occur in the house.

Although there is some doubt about the exact date of the ghosts' appearance, Peggy Hodgson states that they became active on August 30, 1977.

That night, Janet and Margaret, Peggy's daughters, came to her room to tell her that their brothers' beds were moving on their own.

Margaret Hodgson was 13 years old at the time, and Janet was 10 years old. They complained not only about the furniture moving on its own, but also about knocking noises coming from the bedroom walls.

The next night, Peggy heard loud noises coming from the top floor of the house. The sounds came from a large oak chest that was somehow moving on its own. When the woman tried to stop the movement, she was unable to stop his progress towards the door. It seemed as if the chest wanted to lure them into a trap.

From that moment on, strange phenomena began to happen more and more often, and mainly to children. Margaret and especially Janet seemed to be a particular target for the poltergeist. Janet later admitted that she tried to summon the spirit, and it seemed to respond.

But this was not just a child's fantasy. Other adult witnesses saw unexplained paranormal activity in the house, including a policewoman who filed a written report.

She saw the chair levitate almost three centimeters from the floor and float towards the corner, moving a total of more than a meter. However, despite eyewitness accounts, the police never intervened to help the family.

Paranormal Investigators



It quickly became clear that there was indeed a poltergeist in the house. Its manifestations began to become more frequent day by day.

The knocking usually waxed and waned, as if someone was knocking on the other side of the walls, moving up and down, seemingly through the walls and floor. This scared the family to such an extent that they decided to sleep in the same room.

Peggy turned to her neighbors, the Nottingham family, for help. The Nottinghams also confirmed that they heard knocking noises coming from the walls and ceiling, which was enough to make them terrified. Some of the sounds were even recorded on tape.

Strange events became known, and the house was visited by police, psychics, paranormal investigators, journalists, charlatans and onlookers who tried to understand what was happening. Among other things, this provided many witnesses to paranormal activity in the house.

But the worst thing was when the ghost began to attack the children themselves. Janet Hodgson was picked up by the ghost several times, levitating in the air. It was even captured in photographs by a Daily Mirror journalist named Graham Morris.

The photographs defy interpretation and skeptics may argue that they only show Janet jumping out of bed. However, witnesses claim that they have repeatedly seen Janet levitating in the air.



Guy Lyon Playfair and Maurice Grosset

The first paranormal investigators in Enfield were Maurice Grosset and Guy Lyon Playfair, sent by the Society for Psychical Research. The couple confirmed that the house was indeed haunted and that they had personally seen toys and furniture move on their own.

After Maurice Grosse even witnessed how the ghost possessed Janet, famous American paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren joined the investigation of the case, who spent the whole day in the house and became the main characters of the film. Although their involvement was not as extensive as depicted in the film, the Warrens also confirmed that there was an extreme level of paranormal - non-human activity - at the Enfield house.

The Ghost of Bill Wilkins



Guy Lyon Playfair and Janet's levitation

One of the important evidence of the existence of possession and paranormal activity is a tape recording in which Janet speaks in a hoarse male voice. The voice doesn't sound like something a young girl could imitate.

On the recording, Janet talks about the circumstances surrounding the death of an old man named Bill Wilkins. Speaking in Bill's voice, Janet reveals details about his death that she could not have known, which adds authenticity to the experience.



Janet

According to her, he went blind moments before his death, suffering from a cerebral hemorrhage. Bill actually fell asleep and died in a chair placed in one of the corners of the room in the same house where the family settled.

These and other details about Bill Wilkins were presented to his son. He was able to confirm that the words spoken through Janet were correct in almost every detail.

Ghost or...?



Janet and Margaret

Paranormal activity in the house continued for some time. According to Janet Hodgson, the poltergeist only died down after a priest was invited to the house to bless it.

Over time, the activity died down, but the family continued to hear occasional noises in the house. The family even said that they felt as if someone was silently watching them, although there were no other physical manifestations.



Ed and Lorraine Warren

Janet often said that the poltergeist never harmed the family and that, in her opinion, he simply wanted to make sure that he was felt and that his existence was acknowledged. However, due in part to the sensational media attention the case received, many believed that most of the cases were a hoax.



Adult Janet

Janet Hodgson later admitted that they had staged a small number (she estimates about 2%) of the events in the house, which she said was done to test the researchers. However, she was adamant that the vast majority of incidents, including all those the family experienced, were of supernatural origin.



Still from the movie "The Conjuring 2"

Admitting falsification will always entail questions about all the events in the house. Whether this is true or not, the Enfield Ghost certainly proves that the presence of paranormal entities is still of interest to the general public.

For now the ghost is silent. But this does not mean that one day he will not want communication and recognition again.