The petrifying story behind The Enfield Poltergeist is set to be explored in a new series following some of the world’s biggest unsolved paranormal activities, Hauntings.
For the uninitiated, The Enfield Poltergeist (one of the real life mysteries which inspired The Conjuring) has never yet been explained, although witnesses have claimed they actually saw the teenager involved possessed, and one incident was even caught on camera.
In September 1977, police were called to a house in Enfield, North London, to investigate a reported home invasion, in which loud knocking on the wall had been heard and furniture had moved.
What really seemed to have happened was much more chilling…
The two officers could find no evidence of a break in, but they did hear the rapping on the walls, witness furniture tilt about independently and even saw a chair slide several meters across the room on its own.
As reporters and other witnesses became involved in the mystery, the paranormal activity became even harder to explain.
Several extraordinary events that were recorded on film and audio tape showed disembodied voices and levitation.
In one clip of the first episode of the new series, photographer Graeme Morris recounts how he photographed Janet (the teenager being possessed by the poltergeist, for want of a better word) as she was being flung from her bed by the Poltergeist.
This resulted of what appeared to be Janet levitating.
‘Janet who was just completely mystified, wanted it to go away,’ Graeme began, recalling the 12-year-old girl ‘being possessed by a 72-year-old man who died in a chair downstairs year before.’
‘Suddenly one night, there was this enormous scream and a crash, and everybody rushed upstairs to see what had happened, and found Janet lying face down on the floor in a bit of a heap,’ Graeme recalled.
The scene was described as: ‘She just said that there was someone there who just grabbed her and threw her out of bed and had thrown her across the room.’
They then sent to work trying to photograph the mysterious activity.
And they caught it, it was believed, as a shot showing Janet being flung from her bed was snapped.
The episode goes on to hear from sceptics and believers about whether Janet really had been possessed and levitating, or whether she was pretending and it was all a hoax.
Neighbours and people from the street also witnessed Janet’s body in mid-air.
In one chilling scene, witnesses describe hearing Bill’s disembodied voice coming out of Janet.
In another, witnesses recalled furniture moving around, turning sideways.
A paranormal expert describes beds being flipped and items flying across the room by the poltergeist, saying in one clip: ‘We got upstairs to find this bed had turned itself sideways when it was stood up against the wall, and we couldn’t have done that between alone, let alone children.
‘Heavy chests of drawers, and big pieces of furniture were moved. Chairs would slide across floors, staying upright.’
He continues: ‘Everywhere Janet went, it seemed to follow her around. That was quite frightening for her – she hated that.’
Hauntings drops on Paramount+ on Friday, October 28.
