Lorraine
Warren
Part of the Paranormal research team that started it all.
NESPR is a theological society founded by Ed and Lorraine Warren in
1952. The Warrens have investigated almost 10,000 hauntings and
paranormal phenomena in the United States and Europe over the last
fifty years.
NESPR contains members throughout the United States and various other
locations all over the world. Current members who are actively involved
with helping the Warrens on a multitude of paranormal investigations
come from all walks of life. They treat every case in a highly
professional manner and are sought after as the leading paranormal
investigative team. Like the Warrens, active members are involved for
one major reason, to help those in need.
This society endeavors to create communication and understanding among
researchers in the field, through the publication of The Journal and
web pages.
Lorraine has become an Icon for researchers in the paranormal research
field. Regardless of their beliefs, most people in the field say that
the reason that they entered the filed of paranormal research was
influenced by the Warrens.
Ed Warren (September 7, 1926 - August 23, 2006) was a demonologist,
paranormal investigator, author and lecturer.
Ed and Lorraine founded the New England Society for Psychic Research in
1952 and later opened the Occult Museum.
They are the authors of numerous books about the paranormal and their
own private investigations into various hauntings. (They
have investigated over 10,000 hauntings during their career). The
Warrens were among the very first investigators in the world known
Amityville haunting.
Ed Warren passed away on Wednesday, August 23, 2006,at his home in
Monroe, Connecticut, with his wife by his side..
The Rocky Mountain Paranormal Research Society talked to Lorriane on
October 30, 2006 about her life, her & Ed's books (including the
new Ghost Tracks), her perspective on the new generation of Ghost
Hunters and the future of the NESPR.
How has the Halloween season been for
you?
You know when you have had a partner for so many years, it has been
difficult. My son in law Tony, has worked with us for 25 years
and he is helping me continue with the work. Without him I would be
lost. When Ed passed, he worked with the media to help them with the
stories. Every aspect of this is so hard to do on your own. It is so
great to have someone so knowledgeable right in the family to help.
There is a full-page story about me in the paper today and it seems
like just as I put the phone down, it rings again. It is nice, lots of
people didn't know that I have been able to go back and do my work,
since Ed passed away. So its kind of nice, that people are concerned
and when they call you can talk to them about how you make decisions
like that. It is really good to get the positive support.
Everybody was concerned that you would
not continue with the investigations.
That is what everyone was concerned with, and it was really Ed himself
that let me know that he wanted m e to do this, so I will say that I am
doing it for him. I am doing it to honor my husband. The work meant a
great deal to him, so that is why I want to carry on his legacy.
It seems that no matter what
“researchers” theories or beliefs are, they always refer back to you
and Ed as the people that started the field.
We are glad to hear that, we do hear that all the time too.
How many books have you published on
the subject?
We have done 10 books,
Which do you consider to be you
favorite book in the series?
It would have to be The Demonologist. It is used as a textbook in
several Catholic Universities. My husband was extremely knowledgeable
in the field of Religious Demonology, and the clergy found it
fascinating. We work with people of all religious beliefs and they all
loved to have Ed lecture for them, especially the Catholic Priests. Ed
was so giving with his time when it came to things like that, and I am
trying to be that way.
That is one thing that most people in
the filed don't do often. People don't seem to offer time to people for
lectures, investigations or just to listen to people that needs help.
Its not just all the scary things, its not all just the Demonic
things. You have to reach out, because some people are very ignorant of
what is and what is not something paranormal, whether it is human or in
human they are not knowledgeable in that area. I got a call just today.
This woman is very fearful, but she has so many underlying problems,
and you have to address these before you can move on to address what's
in her house.
Sometimes we have people that have
obvious psychological issues, but we do our best to help them as well.
We want to be able to offer help to anyone that contacts us.
You need to be able to tell people nicely that they need to seek
counseling as well. It needs to be said in a very gentle way. You need
to tell them that its customary and that you aren't Pigeon holing
them, and from there they are more open to doing it. Then they can
begin to realize that there are other problems other than the ones that
they are trying to address to us.
Have you ever charged for any of your
investigations?
We have never charged. We have always made a living through other
sources. In the beginning we made our money through our art, we were
both artists. Then the Universities came into play, we no longer had to
worry about where we were finding our funding. We are the longest
running speakers on the College/University lecture circuit and have
been nominated 3 times for speakers of the year.
We have told people that if they feel
that they have to offer money, that they can take us to dinner or
coffee.
That is great, or if you have major expenses like air travel they can
pay for that if they can afford it.
What was the last book that you
published?
That book is Ghost Tracks, and we were working with Cheryl Wicks who is
the editor of our journals. We were compiling all of the journals and
were at the end when Ed collapsed in 2001soon after we came home from
Japan. We had that thought that we would get back to it but we weren't
sure when. So finally what we decided was to do it in Ed's voice. So
that's Ghost Tracks. The Demonologist & The Devil In Connecticut
have both come back into print from what Amazon.com calls books on
demand. In other words, books that are selling for a very high price.
On Ebay The Demonologist got as high as $600.00 for a hardcover
book, and The Devil In Connecticut was running a close second. So as a
result of that they republished both books. The Demonologist made the
New York Times best seller list in about 7 weeks. Before the book was
republished it had been stolen out of almost every library in the
country. I love when the Libraries contact us and ask if we will
replace them.
What do you think of the “new” ghost
hunting that is happening now?
I'm certainly not too tolerant, of how they are handling things. They
all dress in black suits, I just don't get it. There's no closure, and
with Ed and I that was our goal with every family. Doing it that way
takes a very professional and knowledgeable approach, and these young
people who are referring to themselves as Religious Demonologists, they
are not. I don't know if they think that by giving themselves the tile
they will have a handle on this, but my husband was so learned in the
filed but it wasn't a showmanship thing. Ed was knowledgeable in all
religions and people using this title now are not educated in the field
of Religious Demonology. In most cases they are not bringing closure to
the cases. They just go in there and take their recordings and
photographs, walk around with their group and then they may hand in a
copy of a report. What good is that? What good is that to a
family? It is the in thing to do now, but its not being done in
the proper way.
What would your recommendation be for
someone who is look for help with a situation, and how would you
qualify someone that you were contacting?
The first thing that they should do is to approach their clergy. They
can try to get someone that has some affiliation with some religious
group. When we are contacted we were initially listed in the Governors
Library and that was a great source. Don't just look at Television
shows and just invite them in. you have to ask yourself, who are these
people. I am concerned that these types of people are going to get hurt
because they don't understand the spiritual side, they could bring
something home with them and not understand why they have a non-human
entity with them.
We would like to be able to recommend
people in different locations that contact us for help. Is there a way
that people in different areas can seek assistance in areas that you
don't have the opportunity to get to?
We do offer people contacts in their area so they can get help when
they need it. We have groups that go in and do the initial interviews,
photos, background checks and then get back to us so we can work with
them on the case.
What do you see as the future for your
organization?
That is so hard to say, I do imagine that a new book will come out, and
we are here to help people. I miss my husband and am still grieving, we
were married for 62 years and I lost him at such a bad time. The
Universities were just contacting us for the first semester, and that
was difficult. We did a dinner to honor Ed on our first college visit
and it was a wonderful event.
What would you say to people wanting
to become involved in Paranormal Research?
Each group works in their own way, but the only way to help is to stop
the phenomena. The first step is to have people checked by the medical
community and then their clergy. This is something that I don't see
being done. You cannot document the case if there is no closure.
Check out the Warrens site here