I lived in the “possessed” house that was the inspiration for “The Conjuring” – it’s full of ghosts… I never go into the basement alone
A WOMAN who lived in one of the world’s most haunted houses has shared her scariest moments – but she still sleeps there regularly.
Madison Heinzen is now the caretaker of the Rhode Island farmhouse that was the inspiration for the movie The Conjuring — and it’s just as spooky as you’d expect.
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From watching Slenderman to hearing strange growls, 23-year-old Madison is no stranger to things that happen in the night.
The property used to belong to her family – and she was just 13 years old when she saw “The Conjuring” in the cinema for the first time.
Madison, who now hosts farmhouse ghost tours, shared some of her most terrifying encounters – and revealed she never goes into the basement alone.
Madison told The Sun: “The most scared I ever was was in the earlier days.”
“I remember the first day I walked in the house, I was excited, everyone was excited and so we all split up into different groups.
“It was me, my mother, my now husband and my brother.
“We were examining different parts of the house and I heard what sounded like a growl to me, it was over my head and I was looking through the things the owner had left behind.”
“It freaked me out because I thought, maybe I’m not meant to touch this stuff, maybe they don’t like this.”
“That was one of the most frightening experiences just because I heard it and no one else heard it.”
Madison said another “profound” encounter occurred during an interview – but this time she wasn’t the only witness.
She was sitting at the kitchen table conducting an interview when it was interrupted by an unsettling sharp noise.
“Suddenly, loud and clear, you hear these two claps,” she said.
“We all looked at each other because we were all standing still, and I said, ‘Oh my God,’ because that’s what happened in the movies where they were playing hide-and-seek.”
To this day, she has “no idea” where the noise came from, as the entire house is monitored by surveillance cameras.
“Hide and Slap” is an important part of the first scary “Conjuring” movie, as the characters wear a blindfold and try to find the other players by listening for a clap.
The film takes a dark turn when the characters start hearing the clapping in unusual places – like the basement.
This is a real feature of the house and Madison “hates being down there alone” because “it’s pretty scary” and she’s afraid of seeing anything.
We were looking at different parts of the house and I heard what sounded to me like a growl, it was over my head
Madison Heinzen
She talked about the time she was doing a livestream from the cold room and a ball “rolled completely by itself.”
Madison has also seen “shadow figures” in the house, which she reported were “like a black mask, the best way to describe it as a slim man – no face, no.” characteristicsno light”.
“But you could see it on the walls and other places, and when you’re all alone and you see it, you’re like, ‘Oh my God’.”
Although she seems unfazed by the ghostly encounters, the brave girl admits that it “scares” her but tries to focus more on how “unbelievable” the experiences are.
Guests on the frightening house tours are rarely disappointed by the performances, and Madison will use a range of specialized equipment to detect paranormal activity.
She primarily uses dowsing rods – copper rods that are said to move with supernatural energy – and spirit boxes – which use channels to create static white noise.
Ghosts can supposedly use this noise to communicate and produce letters and sounds.
“I heard ghosts saying my name, I heard them asking and answering questions, and we heard children laughing,” Madison said.
Another spooky encounter occurred when all the guests were gathered but “small footsteps” could be heard upstairs.
She explained that most haunted houses have a historical murder that can be linked to the spooky activity.
But in the Conjuring House, the cause of the haunting is unclear.
“We were told that it could be Native American lands because of the many wars fought, like King Philip’s War in the 17th century, but it’s really hard to say,” Madison said.
“We believe there are many factors that contribute to why it is this way today.”
There were always scary episodes in the various properties in the house.
One of the previous residents even warned against leaving the lights on at night as he sensed something unusual was happening on the property.
The house is equipped with incense plants that hang in the kitchen to ward off evil spirits – although they occasionally rotate on their own.
Madison’s first frightening experience came when she was a child.
She had an unusual upbringing – with paranormal investigators as parents.
While most of her friends spent family time going to the movies or taking a trip to the beach, Madison’s parents took her ghost hunting.
Madison said people should be very careful when trying to contact the dead, especially deceased relatives.
I heard a voice say my name loudly and it drove me crazy
Madison Heinzen
She warned that ghosts could “play tricks” and that contact with them could become “dangerous” without professional guidance.
The Maine resident gave an example of this, sharing how she once heard her mother “nagging” her.
But when she went to check, she was shocked to find her mother wasn’t around.
“I heard a voice say my name out loud and it freaked me out,” she said.
“I thought it was my mother, it sounded distant, like your mother was nagging you, it was ‘Madison, Madison’ over and over again, so I’m wondering what my mother needs?”
“So I went out to talk to her and she said, ‘I wasn’t on this side of the house, I was on the complete other side,’ so there’s no way I would have heard it.”
“It was really scary because it sounded like she was yelling at me because we were the only two in the house.”
Despite her strange hobby, this hasn’t gotten in the way of her love for Madison – as she recently tied the knot with her partner Jacob.
Read more on the Irish Sun
“My husband already knew my dad was a ghost hunter, so we started taking him along and he was like, ‘Woah, that’s so cool,'” she said.
“So he’s always been very supportive of me, but I don’t think he would necessarily go out on his own, I think he would take me or one other person with him.”
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