The Conjuring House.
The car ride to the haunted house has got to be the worst part of ghost hunting. The car ride is where the nerves build up, where the creepy ghost stories are resurfacing, and where the adrenaline rush begins.
James is probably the one who believes in ghosts the most, and therefore he has the worst time in the car. He can barely sit still. One second he’s leaning out of the car, the next he’s annoying the poor person who’s sitting next to him.
“James. I get you’re scared. But we’ve got another 30 minutes in this car, and I don’t think I’m going to be able to finish my book in that time.” Remus said, not looking up from his book.
“Sorry, sorry.” James replied, sighing heavily and turning away to look out of the window.
Sirius was very similar to James, however, he was a little less jumpy. Sirius was able to sit still in the car rides but the only way he could calm his nerves was through telling scary stories about the place they were about to go into.
“So,” Sirius said, scrolling on his phone, “According to this website, the Conjuring House, the place we’re going to, is where the Perron Family was terrorised by demons. That doesn’t sound great.” He read from his phone; “Some believe it was the spirit of Bathsheba, who was born in 1812 and would later marry a farmer named Judson Sherman, and the couple had a baby boy, Herbert. It was claimed that she was later caught sacrificing her son to Satan with a sewing needle and cursed all who would dare live on her land, before climbing a tree on the property and hanging herself. No historical records have been found to support this though.”
“Shiiiit. And we’re spending the night there?” Remus asked, finally looking up from the book he was reading.
“Yeah.. and that’s not even the worst part. Here take my phone, you should read this.” Sirius said and handed his phone to Remus.
On the website that was opened up, it had written:
When Andrea (one of the Perron Family’s children) returned to the home in 2021 for a live stream investigation event, she recalled that when the family moved in, “things happened right away”
She recounted seeing a full-bodied apparition almost immediately after moving in.
“I always got along with the spirits right from the start,” she said. “I had moments of fear because I saw what was happening to my mom and to my family.”
As Carolyn (another child from the Perron Family) once explained, “We left the farm, but the farm never left us,” and it seems this is still true for the remaining Perron family members today.
The hundreds of people who visit the house every year must think there’s something to her story too, or why bother to make the journey? It’s not like it’s in a major tourist area, and paranormal investigations and day tour usually sell out months in advance.
Remus handed the phone back to Sirius. They sat in a comfortable silence for the rest of the trip.
****
Peter was the last one to get out of the car, because his phone had lost all the battery it had. The others had gone outside of the house so they could get their YouTube introduction out of the way.
James gave the camera to Remus, then he stood right outside the Conjuring House’s door and said, “Welcome back to the Marauders Ghost Hunting. Today we’re going to be investigating the infamous Conjuring House. I’ll let Sirius tell you the rest.”
Sirius smiled and said, “this house is where the films The Conjuring were based off of. Apparently there’s demons inside the house or something. So that should be so much fun!”
Remus flipped the camera onto himself and said, “they’re going to get so scared, I can’t wait to laugh at their faces.” James feigned shock and Remus laughed, then switched the camera off.
They went back to the car to retrieve Peter and their equipment. Peter’s phone was still dead and he shrugged it off just saying the car charger wasn’t working.
The tour guides for today were called Barty and Evan. Remus immediately became friends with them.
Peter suggested that they do an interview with the caretakers before they go into the house. Everyone agreed, so Peter stood back and directed everyone so that they were in the frame.
“So, everyone, this is Barty,” Barty waved, “and Evan,” Evan waved, “they are our tour guides for today.” Sirius was saying, “I’m hoping that they can answer some of our questions.”
James looked at the camera before saying, “okay. What’s the worst injury that’s happened here, to you guys specifically?”
Barty thought for a moment. “Oh! Definitely the red scratches down Evan’s back. We’ve got pictures of it.” He pulled out his phone and found the pictures. Evan’s back had three angry red marks that went from his right shoulder down to the left side of his waist.
“All I remember was feeling really sore on my back, like something was ripping it off, and when Barty checked it, this was what he saw,” Evan grinned.
James paled slightly. “That sounds great!” The words came out strained.
“Don’t worry, James, I don’t think you’ll get these. I kinda want you to be thrown across the room.” Sirius joked.
“THROWN ACROSS THE ROOM?” James repeated.
“Yeah like the movie, idiot,” Sirius said, trying to contain the smile that was growing on his face.
Barty laughed, “that’s only happened once here. I haven’t seen it since.”
“Once?!” James shrieked.
“Once,” Evan repeated, smiling broadly. As if remembering the ‘good ol’ days’
“Okay, back to business. What’s the most haunted room in the house?” Remus said, “And if you say the basement, I’ll-”
“Basement,” Barty interrupted. James and Sirius groaned.
“It’s always the basement. I swear.” Sirius said, running a hand through his hair.
They continued the interview, making jokes and actually getting information which was a lot more helpful.
“Alright. That’s it for our questions, should we go into the house now?” Remus asked.
Peter stopped and looked at the camera for a minute. “Guys, hang on, the camera turned itself off. I didn’t touch it. I swear.”
“Yeah, that happens here, I’m afraid,” Evan said, and began walking to the entrance of the house.
The house felt haunted. It was a strange feeling. The air felt thicker, like it was trying to suffocate you. The light felt like it was coming in from weird angles. Although this could be chalked up to the fact that it’s literally extremely dusty inside the house. Remus was a firm believer that everything could be explained, with reasons that actually make sense. However, there were some things that could never be explained. The house was undoubtedly creepy. The old dolls placed in the bedrooms and the dusty, old fashioned furniture was just perfect. As they were walking, some of the floorboards creaked and made James jump.
The tour concluded with nothing of interest happening. Unless you count James jumping at every single little doll he saw, thinking they were real, or ghosts of some sort.
“Alright and that’s the entire house,” Evan was saying to the group.
“What about the basement?” Sirius asked.
“Um.. since the incident, I don’t go down there. However, you’re free to go down there to investigate. I’m sure you’ll find some incredible things.” He said, and walked to the exit of the house. “Now, I’ll leave you guys to go investigate.”
“Marauders, let’s investigate,” said James, winking at the camera.