When people on New York TV or radio talk about events taking place in "the tri-state area", they're most often referring to New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. During my two weeks of vacation, I was pleased to have spent some time in each of these three states - but the road trip to Connecticut was arugably the most thought-provoking adventure of them all.
I've been through Connecticut by road and rail a couple of times, but until my recent visit I'd only ever stopped there once. You can get from Manhattan to Connecticut in less than 2 hours, and the fact that it's also the 3rd smallest state in the country means that Connecticut is an ideal destination for weekend road trips.
Even before you reach Connecticut's bigger cities, or the quaint little towns on the lakefronts or backroads, you have to drive along freeways bordered by dense, green forests. You pass underneath the most charming stone bridges that provide pedestrians with safe passage above the busy traffic lanes. And all the while, you can see the sky, and the air is fresh and clear. The whole effect is instantly calming. Back in the 1630s when the English first settled here from Massachusetts, it must have seemed a home away from home, so it's easy to see why Connecticut makes up part of the country known as "New England".
But you have probably guessed that I didn't come to Connecticut to appreciate the nature. I actually came here to indulge a rather unusual interest of mine - the supernatural. I know, but bear with me.
Located in the tiny town of Monroe, Connecticut you'll find Ed and Lorraine Warren's Occult Museum. If you haven't heard of Ed and Lorraine Warren, you're probably not much of a horror movie fan. But if you've ever seen The Amityville Horror and/or The Conjuring, you'll know that Ed and Lorraine Warren are perhaps the most famous paranormal investigators in the world. The Warrens were high school sweethearts and life-long colleagues. To ghost hunters and paranormal investigators around the world, they are absolute legends.
Ed Warren passed away in 2006 but now Lorraine manages the Occult Museum with some help from her son-in-law, Tony. The Museum itself is located in the basement of the Warren home, and it contains hundreds of artefacts taken from the investigations, research work, and even exorcisms that the Warrens have engaged in or observed over the years. Lorraine Warren is often quoted as saying to visitors that her house, and the Occult Museum in particular, is the most haunted place in the United States.
"Warrenology" tours are conducted in relatively small groups (of about 25 people) and tickets cost $129. That may sound steep but the evening is pretty comprehensive.
When our ticket purchase was confirmed we were told to arrive no earlier than 6pm, and our punctuality was very important. As close to the start time as possible, we drove up and parked behind other waiting guests. I recall being struck by just how unassuming Lorraine's house is. There aren't any signs or posters to advertise the Museum - it's just an ordinary house on a beautiful, quiet street. We were allowed to get out of the car, so I took some photos in Lorraine's beautiful garden and generally just poked around as unobtrusively as possible. When Lorraine's family said it was okay, we all filed inside and took our seats - on the family sofa, in my case. Allergic as I am, I tried to ignore the cat and rooster that also live inside the house. The dog was a welcome sight.
Tony started the evening by giving us a bit of a lecture about Ed and Lorraine's career, and invited Lorraine to input some observations too. Lorraine is in her late 80s now but she is quick to smile when she reminisces about her life with Ed, and the adventures they had together. Even if you don't swallow the paranormal activity 'thing' hook, line, and sinker, it is clear that Lorraine loved Ed and she misses him terribly. I warmed to her immediately.
Perhaps I shouldn't have been, but I was rather surprised to learn just how many fellow tour guests identified themselves as "ghost hunters" - and an almost equal number of people confirmed they had experienced some sort of paranormal activity in their lives. My hands stayed in my lap. Was anyone else in the room just curious, like me?
Tony then played us a couple of short videos, including an excerpt from an actual exorcism, and then led us downstairs to tour the Occult Museum. The smell of incense is strong down there, and the old house lends just the right about of ambiance. When you enter the Museum, there is "stuff" everywhere you look. None of the exhibits are labelled either, so without Tony's lecture beforehand you wouldn't have much of a clue what you were looking at. Some of the demoniacal souvenirs from previous investigations look pretty creepy (Ouija boards, pentagrams, books of spells), but other items look almost gimmicky - the sort of thing you'd find in a costume shop. They're only creepy because of the backstory that Tony told us upstairs.While Ed & Lorraine's careers took them around the world and introduced them to people of all ages and faiths, the majority of items in the Museum have been salvaged from cases across New England. There is a lot of spirit activity going on in this part of the world. Ghosts and demons seem to like hanging out here just as much as the living do. Again, creepy.
Of course, the one item that most of us were there to see is the famous Annabelle doll, the story of which had a cameo in The Conjuring movie, and which is now the subject of a new film coming out soon (though this is a dramatised tale, and not based on what really happened). During our earlier lecture, Tony had told us horror stories of previous visitors who had provoked Annabelle in the Museum and they had suffered awfully for it. When I finally got to see the Raggedy Ann doll for myself, she didn't seem all that scary but whether it was the power of suggestion, or something else entirely, I'll admit I didn't feel like lingering in front of her display case for too long.
Once everyone had toured the Museum, we got back in our cars and drove (convoy-style) to the Stepney Cemetery in town, where Ed Warren's grave is located. At the graveside - as macabre as that sounds - Tony gave another brief lecture about how ghosts manifest, and touched on the differences between ghosts and demons. Tony then gave a lesson on "Psychic Photgraphy 101" and explained the most effective ways to capture spirit activity on film. It was a shame that we didn't get time to practice our photography, but we had to get back in the car and move to the last phase of the evening.
Our Warrenology experience concluded with a delicious, 4-course meal at the nearby Italian restaurant called Roberto's. Lorraine joined us for the dinner and from time to time I looked up to see her chatting amiably with the other guests, as well as the priest who lives at her house, and who rarely leaves her side.
After the meal, I asked Lorraine if she would autograph my copy of The Demonologist, which I had purchased a few days earlier and had only just begun to read. Lorraine enjoyed my story about the bookstore salespeople who had misunderstood my pronunciation of "Lorraine Warren", and instead searched for a book about "Rainbow Bomb". Good grief, good help is hard to find.
We drove back to New York the next day, via brunch at the charming Old Schoolhouse at Cannondale. There was so much to talk about on that journey home - the visit to the Occult Museum had raised more questions than it had answered for us. But however we felt about the Warrens and their life's work, we all agreed that Ed & Lorraine Warren's Occult Museum has to be one of Connecticut's more unusual charms.
I did take a couple of photos of my Connecticut adventure (sadly no psychic ones). You can view the photo album by clicking here.
