Conjuring the Enfield Poltergeist

The late psychical researcher Maurice Grosse reading reading Guy Playfair’s book which recorded the goings-on at Green Street
Four months after Sky’s mini series ‘The Enfield Haunting’ was aired in the UK, filming started in California on a feature film version of what became one of the best-ever recorded cases of poltergeist activity.
Called ‘The Conjuring 2: The Enfield Poltergeist’, the film was allegedly based on the experiences of the American ghost hunters Ed & Lorraine Warren who, I understand, turned up on the doorstep of the Enfield house in Green Street a year or so after the activity peaked.
Described as a ‘supernatural horror film’, this sequel was directed by James Wan, the man responsible for ‘The Conjuring’ which was also based in the experiences of the Warrens. It was released by Warner Brothers on 10 June 2016.
Although filming started in Los Angeles the previous September, it switched to London two months later for studio work in Watford and scenes at The Warrington pub in Maida Vale and Marylebone station. Although these locations had nothing to do with reality, they worked well as the 1970s retro material was convincing.
There were two distinct sides to the film, one of which had religious overtones. That aside, Conjuring 2 was more entertaining than the Sky version, which in TV terms rarely exceeded mediocrity. For authenticity, Janet and Margaret Hodgson, the two women who as teenagers were the focus of the poltergeist activity, were flown to California, so the actresses Madison Wolfe and Lauren Esposito could learn something about the individuals they were playing.
While the demands of TV, film and popular culture generally leave little room for truth or objectivity, time is probably the most effective destroyer of reality. And in September that reality will be 40 years old.
So what were the facts? When a reader’s repeated telephone calls resulted in Daily Mirror photographer Graham Morris and I driving to Enfield late in the summer of 1977, we had no idea what we were getting into. Neither did we think we’d both be played by actors in Sky’s 2015 mini series.
On that first visit Graham was hit by a flying Lego brick and still has the scar to prove it. We returned on the following and on subsequent nights, and because of the Daily Mirror’s understandable scepticism, took another reporter with us. This was George Fallows, who worked with me on the story and later did a lot to help the Hodgson family who were struggling to deal with the strange goings on as well as the media who descended in droves after we broke the story.
George and I talked things through and he contacted the Society for Psychical Research who summoned investigator Maurice Grosse, who was played by Timothy Spall in the Sky TV series and by Simon McBurney in the Warner Brothers film. Both George and Maurice have since passed on.
Graham took some great pictures, including the one above which shows Janet Hodgson, the younger of the two girls and the one most affected. George and I put together the story which appeared on pages one and two of the Mirror on 10 September 1977. Follow this link to see the original, but scroll down until you see the headline ‘The house of strange happenings’.
This was quite a breakthrough as our story was believed to be the first on the paranormal to appear in the paper since 1929 when the Mirror was famously duped by the charlatan psychic Harry Price at what he dubbed to be the most haunted house in England, Borley Rectory near Sudbury in Essex. I believe his story is being made into a film, too.
Neither Graham, George nor I realised that our Enfield visits were the beginning of what became one of the best documented modern instances of alleged paranormal activity. Although Janet and her sister later admitted to some fakery, there is no doubt that unexplained things happened, although not to the extent that TV mini series or feature films might have you believe.
Graham Morris may be one of the country’s best known cricket photographers, but people are still asking him about that Lego brick, and me, too.
Guy Playfair’s 1980 book ‘This House is Haunted’ was honest and objective, but contains errors. I corresponded with Guy, but never met him; he sadly died aged 83 in April 2018. There have been several TV documentaries, but as truth always gets in the way of entertainment, these have not always followed the fine ethical line between fact and fiction.
Dear Douglas:
I’m George Fallows elder daughter. Just wanted to say thank you so much for posting this. I was only eight in 1977, but still have vivid memories of this time, the story had a lasting impact on me. I still have some of my father’s notebooks, in which the Lego brick plays a starring role! Best wishes, Georgia
Hi Douglas,
I have always had a great interest in this case. I watched the Sky mini series and was very disappointed in it, as it left out so many important factors to the original case and did over dramatise other parts. The final episode for me was the biggest let down.
Thankfully there are still original witnesses like yourself to the case who can give TRUE accounts to what happened.
The write up was very interesting to read. (I have now read it five times in one day).
It is a shame a UK based company has not made a film about it and spoke directly to yourself and Graham to get true facts. Sadly now we will only have a distorted account from the Warren’s.
Shame one of the spiritualists involved did not inform you all of how big this case would become, you could have kept that piece of Lego and put it on Ebay !
Best wishes and keep up the good work
Mark
Hi Douglas,
Thanks so much for this write-up on Enfield .. such a fascinatinating case of the paranormal! I wanted to ask why there wasn’t more video/film footage recorded? Seems someone could have installed an 8 or 16mm camera in the house to get more of the activity recorded .. especially given that it went for over a year. I know that they tried to record a couple of times but, the cameras broke. Do you know if there is any video footage that exists that isn’t already on Youtube?
Thanks so much,
John
John:
In the late 1970s, the so-called Enfield Poltergeist was hailed as one of the most meticulously researched events of its kind, but it’s rather discredited now thanks to TV exposure and the fact that the two girls admitted winding up the researchers. I think they did try filming, but nothing ever came out – all the poltergeist’s fault, of course.
We stumbled over here by a different web page and thought
I might check things out. I like what I see so i am just following you.
Look forward to looking at your web page yet again.
It’s what the web is about: stumbling over things you didn’t know were there. Thanks for your interest, but I don’t update things as frequently as I should and only add a blog when something really moves me.
I have always found this such a fascinating case indeed. Very similar to my own personal experiences in Wales.
Hi Douglas,
You mentioned in the last paragraph in your write-up above that Guy Lyon Playfair’s book, This House Is Haunted, contained errors. If I may ask, what were the errors? I’m very fond of this book and would love to know.
Thanks kindly
The changes were minor and close to the beginning, when I was involved, but before Guy came along.