Lions Gate Publicity

The Lions Gate trailer goes something like this:

“When the Campbell family moves to upstate Connecticut, they soon learn that their charming Victorian home has a disturbing history: not only was the house a transformed funeral parlor where inconceivable acts occurred, but the owner’s clairvoyant son Jonah served as a demonic messenger, providing a gateway for spiritual entities to crossover. Now unspeakable terror awaits, when Jonah, the boy who communicated with the powerful dark forces of the supernatural, returns to unleash a new kind of horror on the innocent and unsuspecting family.”

But Lorraine remembers the account much differently. “It’s a case that was much, much scarier than any movie could ever be,” Lorraine said. She also said that in typical Hollywood fashion, the movie is about as far fetched from the actual case as it could be. “The movie is very, very loosely based on the actual investigation,” she said.

“It was back in the ‘80’s. We were called, it was very late at night, by a woman” Lorraine said.

That family was the Snedekers.  In the movie, they’re known as the Campbells.

She said the family had moved into a house at 208 Meriden Avenue in Southington while their son was being treated for cancer at UConn. They wanted to find something close to the hospital so they could take him as an outpatient. What they found – and bought – was a big and seemingly welcoming home.

“All they could see when they were going to rent this property was a big, airy place. That’s what it looked like. But what they didn’t know was that it’s a former funeral home,” Lorraine said. What used to be the show room for the coffins was now the kids room. Just down the hall? The place where the bodies were prepared for viewing.

“The boys were the first to start talking about things they had seen and experienced, saying they were terrified,” Lorraine said. “The parents were kind of chastising the kids – they thought it was all crazy. But the kids were so scared they started sleeping on the floor in the living room.”
“The night that the woman called, they were really terrified,” said Lorraine. “Her niece was in a small bedroom in the back and the covers on her bed were levitating around her like there was a fan blowing them around.”

Lorraine said while the mother was on the phone with her, even more bizarre events started happening.
“The mother had rosary beads in her hand. They were in the kitchen talking to us and the beads were actually being pulled apart in her hand and falling to the floor.”

Lorraine and Ed went over the next morning with the family’s parish priest. Lorraine said even HE was scared. A blessing of the house seemed to do nothing to calm things down, she said.

“You really felt for this family. We tried everything to keep them comfortable. You can’t say to a family that has a sick son in the house that you have to just move on,” she said.

“It finally got to the point where we contacted the bishop’s office in Hartford. Thank God he was very open to our work and what was going on. She said the church sent an exorcist.

“When the exorcism happened, a crazy thing also happened that we still don’t really understand,” she said. “There was a huge tree in front of the house – and half of the tree, with no wind, broke off and fell on the property.”

The family moved a short time later.
Story Source: NBC Connecticut