When Northeastern PA ghosts were hotter than a Pittston tomato festival: The Smurls and the haunting that inspired the CONJURING LAST RITES

THE CONJURING 4 LAST RITES releasing on September 5 is playing up its ‘based on true events’ subtitle..

The devil came to Pennsylvania in 1986..

West Pittston ..famous for its Tomato festival, fine Northeastern PA accents.. and ghost encounters on Chase Street…

Smurl is the word

People along Chase St in West Pittston were living a nice peaceful 1980s life.. Until 332 Chase St became the home of what people said were other worldly demons and eventually a media feeding frenzy, along with famed paranormal hunters Ed and Lorraine Warren..

Stories were telling of a demon filled home. Along with the attention of demons came the attention and national spotlight and a media sensation.. According to news reports during the time, there were people cruising by the house beeping horns, pointing and laughing.. a motorcycle gang wearing devil insignias that roared up and down the street… and limos and buses brought drinking party goers from Scranton to Chase Street to buy pizza and hoagies that vendors were selling on the street.. It was beyond a sensation..

Jason Miller, the famous priest from THE EXORCIST, was on the yard with a crowd watching the sights and sounds of the haunting insanity..

The Devil of Chase St

CNN, Philadelphia Channel 10, local news sources, and word of mouth all created a ‘viral’ rage to the story–viral long before the Internet. The Smurls went public about what they said were astouding demon attacks.. Jack Smurl and family moved into this new aging duplex in 1973 after Hurricane Agnes destroyed their home..

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1NnN4ECRHB

Jack Smurl was 44 in 1986 when the family went public about 17 year old daughter Dawn being attacked by demons. They spoke of rotting flesh smells and sounds of howls and screams … it was the whole gamut of the paranormal.. slaps, dark shapes.. lights flickering, and even a dog being slammed against the wall and Jack being dragged from his bed.

The Smurls said it only got worse from there..

Janet gave birth to twins. The family said that the supernatural abuse culminated in the sexual assault of both Jack and Janet Smurl by what was later explained to be a succubus…

Reaction at the Time

As mentioned before, it was a media firestorm.. There was a LOT of attention.

The attention was from media, and eventually it became a bit of a sideshow..

There were some attempts at exorcism.. according to reports, the Scranton Diocese did not authorize priests to perform the ritual, but one tried.. it was reportedly unsuccessful .. eventually other priests from the Diocese visited the home but did not experience supernatural activity..

Phyllis Watson, a neighbor, told the Scranton TRIBUNE that her husband heard things hitting the window of the Smurl house — when they were aware on vacation. She also said that put up a secured light fixture in the home but it fell and broke..

In August 1986, the “amazing Kreskin,” a well known mentalist in the 20th century, said he did not believe in ghosts offered to help the Warrens.. they did not like him saying it was the power of suggestion, and not ghosts, that were plaguing their residence..

An article in the 1986 in the CITIZENS VOICE written by Bill O’Boyle said that the Smurl family deserved people’s prayers, and were not “a bunch of wackos” but instead coherent and sincere about demons..

A local pastor, Reverend Joseph Adonizio, said that after intense prayers from the congregation and the family, the activity reduced..

Eventually, the Smurls moved to nearby Wilkes Barre and they said the entities followed them.. Eventually ending with a final exorcism….thanks to the Warrens..

ENTER… THE WARRENS

The paranormal and the 80s always equal… the Warrens. Ed and Lorraine, the famed paranormal investigators, were highly involved with the Smurl haunting.

A local professor told the Smurls to contact the Warrens, who were already busy chasing down famed entities throughout the late 20th century..

Eventually they showed up.

The Smurls were told by the Warrens that the they did not do anything that caused the haunting–but instead the Smurls were chosen by the supernatural entities that selected them for whatever reason. The Warrens then identified four distinct entities that shared the house with the family. Three of these were human spirits, and the last one was a purely demonic force that fed on its victims’ fear. Over the course of several months, Ed and Lorraine reportedly accumulated several hours worth of audio recordings containing noise that they said was caused by the demon, as well as a collection of notes and photographs.

Ed Warren added more intrigue when he claimed to find a message from a demon on a mirror demanding that he and Lorraine leave the home.

The haunting activity continued even after the Smurls left Chase St in Pittston and moved to Wilkes Barre. According to their account, the Warrens even witnessed the new home being hit with paranormal activity.. But, Lorraine Warren said that the Vatican and that the chancellery had been notified, and that is when someone with apparent super holy powers came to the new Smurl home and the exorcism worked..

Case closed.. Done..

Done to a degree..

See, the Warrens are not without controversy.. The CONJURING films utilize the hauntings that their involvement made famous, but there have been stories regarding the Warrens that have caused critics to second and third guess all of their stories..

In 2017, a woman claimed that she had a 40-year sexual relationship with Ed who was 27 at the time, starting when she was 15. According to Penney, when she became pregnant, Lorraine persuaded her to have an abortion because the birth of a child would become a public scandal and could ruin the Warrens’ business…

There has been debate in paranormal and horror circles for years.. This REDDIT thread showcases various opinions on whether the Warrens were fraud..

Some horror sites have turned on the Warrens in recent years despite the success of the CONJURING films..

That controversy and debate will continue to play out, but in 1986 the Warrens were on top of their game riding high–and their street cred in the paranormal world was enough to compel a larger than life story to gain notoriety..

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From Haunting to Film

And despite some saying the Smurls didn’t want the fame, they eventually were the subject of a movie in 1991.. The film called THE HAUNTED was a TV movie that was written by Jack Smurl, Janet Smurl, and Robert Curran. Curran was actually a news reporter for the Scranton Tribune who wrote about the Smurl haunting and eventually assisted in writing the movie. (His 2017 obituary goes into some detail about his involvement) The movie started Jeffrey DeMunn as Jack and Sally Kirkland as Janet.. Diane Baker played Lorraine Warren and Stephen Markle was Ed..

While it may not be a James Wan CONJURING movie, you can watch the HAUNTED for free.. here’s the movie if you care to view..

In 1991, gossip columnist Liz Smith actually wrote up something interesting that appeared in national papers in the runup to the debut of THE HAUNTED.. She said there were a large and odd number of vehicle accidents of people who were working on the movie..