Halloween auction of a real-life ‘conjuring’ house has been canceled – marking the latest twist in real estate’s spooky history
A planned Halloween auction of the Rhode Island home that inspired the terrifying “Conjuring” film franchise has been canceled — weeks after comedian and paranormal fanatic Matt Rife revealed his desire to buy it.
The daunting 2.5-acre estate in Harrisville was set to go under the hammer at a mortgage holder’s foreclosure sale at 11 a.m. on October 31.
However, auctioneer Justin Manningalong with JJ Manning Auctioneers, revealed on Wednesday that the sale will no longer take place – after the property’s mortgage holder, Needham Bank, ‘concluded a sale on the underlying mortgage loan’, leaving ‘no interest’ in auctioning the house.
It is currently unclear who purchased the home – or how much they offered to prevent the house from being flipped.
Rife and YouTuber Elton Casteefans and entertainers alike in the paranormal space, had previously expressed interest in purchasing the “Conjuring House” earlier this year, having already purchased a Connecticut home once owned by paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren.
The Warrens have close ties to the house and have investigated claims of creepy activity taking place inside.
Over the years, the property has become a hotspot for tourists seeking the truth about the alleged ghostly events that inspired the wildly popular “Conjuring” franchise, which has spawned nine different films since 2013, including the recently released “The Conjuring: Last Rites.”
While accounts of the events leading up to the first film vary, the house’s sinister reputation is all but written in stone, so much so that Manning previously admitted he was reluctant to set foot inside the front door.
“I don’t even know if I want to go into the house,” he admitted. But “at the end of the day, this is business before it’s a show. This is a forced sale and a distress sale.”
The house’s grisly history began in 1971, when the Platform The family moved into the 19th century house, where they reportedly experienced a number of terrifying encounters with ghosts. These were recorded by one of the daughters, Andrea Perronin the 2011 book ‘House of Darkness: House of Light’.
“We have all experienced encounters with spirits,” Andrea told Global News in 2021. “Some were unpleasant, others were sweet, warm-hearted and communicative. From good-natured to benevolent, oblivious to mean-spirited, the spirits were just like us, a wide variety of personalities.”
It was during this time that the Warrens were called in to investigate – and it is believed that they arranged a séance with the family in an attempt to help them get rid of the ghosts’ belongings.
“My mother began to speak a language that was not of this world, in a voice that was not hers,” Andrea recalled in a 2013 interview about the séance. “Her chair floated and she was thrown across the room.”
Ultimately, the Perron family decided to leave the building in 1980. (The film, which was inspired by their experiences, depicted the events as if they took place over a much shorter period of time.)
According to Andrea, the step was taken in 2021 after her mother reached her breaking point: “My mother told my father that she would not survive another winter in the house, she had been attacked in that house for ten years.”
While the events that took place in the house were wildly dramatized to ensure a Hollywood hit, the first ‘Conjuring’ film, released in 2013, thrust the Perrons’ former home into the paranormal spotlight. It soon became known as ‘The Conjuring House’.
Cory and Jennifer Heinzen took advantage of that fame when they bought the house in 2019 for $439,000. The couple hosted events at the location and rented out rooms to people who wanted to experience the haunted property.
The business continued after the property changed hands in 2022 Jaqueline Nuñez bought it for a whopping $1.5 million. However, controversy soon arose.
In 2023 it was widely reported that a worker in the house, Brian Dansereauwas fired by Nuñez, who claimed the ghost of the 19th century owner told her he had stolen from the company. Speaking to WRPI, Dansereau denied any wrongdoing.
The incident sparked a series of accusations from staff about mistreatment by Nuñez, and criticism from paranormal fans. In 2024, the Burrillville City Council opted not to renew Nuñez’s entertainment license, citing her strained relations with neighbors, former employees and the police department.
In the summer of this year, Nuñez defaulted on her mortgage payments on the property, prompting the decision to put it up for auction.
News of the cancellation will undoubtedly cause heartbreak for the many interested parties who had already contacted Manning to express their desire to purchase the home, with the auctioneer previously revealing to Realtor.com that he had received “hundreds, if not thousands, of inquiries.”
“They will fall into three categories: builders, investors and fans of the property’s supernatural history,” he said of the interested parties.
Manning added that he had made some spooky preparations of his own to mark the auspicious occasion, revealing: ‘I joked with the lawyer that instead of wearing a suit I might dress up as Count Dracula. But I want to keep it professional. [so] I’ll probably just stick with the suit.”
