The Conjuring: Last Rites film- What was the Smurl Family Haunting case?

The first teaser for The Conjuring: Last Rites is out, and it shows Ed and Lorraine Warren tackling a case that will test their limits. The first film in the Conjuring franchise was based on the Amityville Horror, the second one followed the Enfield Poltergeist, while the third one was based on Arne Cheyenne Johnson’s murder trial. 

But what is this case that the latest movie is based on? The case was so unique that it brought Ed and Lorraine Warren as well as priests from the Roman Catholic Church to the Smurl family’s doorstep. Plus, there was a lot of media scrutiny regarding the authenticity of the case itself. In this article, we will discuss the Smurl family haunting that shook the nation in the 80s. 

What is the Smurl Family Haunting?

From the years 1974 to 1987, the Smurls claimed that they were at the ghosts’ mercy. The story began when a flood damage forced the Smurl family to move from their Wilkes-Barre home into a Chase Street duplex in West Pittson, Pennsylvania, in 1973. The home needed a bit of repairing so they put their efforts into making the house livable, and this is when the issues began. 

Initially the eerie activity was small. Janet and Jack Smurl noticed that tools were missing and old stains were seeping through fresh coats of paint (via The Line Up). Additionally, unplugged kitchen appliances caught fire and often there were awful odors. However, not everything was bad in their lives. Jack got promoted and Janet became pregnant again. 

However, their fortunes soon turned. 

Mary, Jack’s mother, suffered a heart attack and the eerie events intensified. Janet claimed that she heard Mary calling her name while Mary thought that she heard her son and daughter-in-law in the middle of a heated argument. Making matters worse, Janet was assaulted in her sleep and the family found black masses floating through the home. 

One of the major incidents that propelled the family to seek help was when a light fixture fell from the ceiling, injuring one of the kids on impact. Upon further investigation, it looked like the light had been ripped from the ceiling. Incidents escalated more, Jack and Janet claimed that they had been sexually assaulted. 

It wasn’t just the family, even the neighbors reported hearing screams and noises coming from the house even when the family wasn’t there. The Smurls contacted the Warrens and Lorraine Warren, a clairvoyant revealed something shocking. 

What did the Investigation by the Warrens Reveal?

Lorraine Warren said that four spirits were haunting the house. One was an elderly woman who was harmless, the second was a violent young girl, the third was a man who died in the house after suffering in it, and the fourth one was a demon who could control the other three entities. 

In an attempt to free the Smurls of the trauma, group prayer sessions and exorcisms were conducted. However, nothing helped. So, the Smurls went public with their story in the hopes that someone could help. The family got what they wanted but perhaps more than they had bargained for. The press lached on because the nation had got its ghostly haunting story. 

The Torment of Going Public and Finally Getting Relief

As if what was happening inside the house wasn’t enough, the Smurls were now trapped in a media circus. People and cameras camped out outside their home and cars kept passing by their street in the hopes of getting a glimpse of something otherworldly. 

The Roman Catholic Church in Scranton wer unsure of what was going on at the Smurl family’s home. Multiple priests visited the home and encountered no malevolent activity. Exhausted with no answers, in 1987, the family packed up and moved to another home. 

The paranormal activity didn’t leave the family even after they moved. The only thing that helped was a 1989 church-sanctioned exorcism that finally freed the family of the activities. 

The Skeptics 

A lot of priests, experts, television producers, and journalists have raised questions about the authenticity of the hauntings. Many believed that the family (as well as the Warrens) wanted fame and money so they created this story. In a way, they did get it. In 1991, a made-for-tv film called The Haunted was released which covered this case. 

The chairman of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal, Paul Kurtz, believed that the Smurl family haunting was a hoax. In 1986, Kurtz told local newspaper the Times Leader (via Middletown Press):

“There is no explanation for the Smurl house, but I wouldn’t simply assume it is a haunting. It seems to us that a great-to-do has been made about it, and we wonder if it is like the Amityville horror hoax, which was based on imagination rather than on actual haunting."

Allentown psychologist Dr. Robert Gordon and Mentalist George Joseph Kresge Jr. also didn’t believe in this haunting. A YouTube Channel called The Tape Library claimed that Jack Smurl had undergone brain surgery in 1983 to remove water from his brain. Some psychologists believed that this could explain what he was seeing and experiencing. 

As for the family, Jack's fears might have been fueling his family’s fears and creating a mass hysteria situation. In 1988, as per a Times Leader article, a woman called Debra Owens moved into the same house and claimed not to have experienced anything paranormal.  

The Conjuring: Last Rites will be released worldwide in theaters on Sept. 5, 2025. It is directed by Michael Chaves, with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson reprising their roles as Lorraine and Ed Warren. Check out the teaser below: