The Twisted Guide To The Paranormal, The Perron Family Haunting Edition
The Perron Family Haunting
In the rolling, wooded hills of northern Rhode Island, where stone walls trace old property lines and the wind carries the scent of pine and damp earth, stands an 18th century farmhouse on Round Top Road near Harrisville. Built around 1736, the house, known locally as the Arnold Estate, has seen generations pass through its wide plank floors and low ceilings. In January 1971, Roger and Carolyn Perron moved in with their five daughters: Andrea, the eldest, Nancy, Christine, Cindy, and April. What began as a fresh start in a spacious historic home unfolded over nearly a decade into one of the most persistently discussed family hauntings in American paranormal lore, a slow building intrusion that tested resilience, strained relationships, and left echoes that lingered long after the family departed in 1980.
The disturbances arrived almost immediately, subtle at first, the kind that could be dismissed as settling timbers or imagination in a new place. Doors opened and closed on their own. Footsteps echoed in empty rooms. Objects shifted from where they had been placed. The children reported playful interactions. Bedsheets tugged gently. Small items moved as if by unseen hands. Some presences felt benign, even protective. A spirit the girls called the lady with the long dress appeared occasionally, and apparitions of children seemed to watch over them. Andrea Perron, in her detailed trilogy House of Darkness House of Light, later described these early encounters with a mix of wonder and unease. The house felt alive, populated by remnants of lives once lived there.
As months turned to years, the atmosphere darkened. The activity grew bolder and more targeted. Carolyn Perron became the focus of a forceful presence. She experienced physical sensations such as bruises that appeared overnight, sudden weakness, and episodes where she seemed mentally distant or disoriented. Andrea later recalled her mother appearing not herself, as if displaced, competing for control in what the entity seemed to believe was its territory. Clocks in the house repeatedly stopped at 3:07 a.m., a detail that carried symbolic weight in paranormal folklore. Foul odors drifted through rooms. Furniture moved with audible force. Apparitions manifested more clearly, including a woman with a broken neck who appeared frequently, her head tilted unnaturally.
The family began researching the history of the property through local records and oral tradition. They uncovered stories of hardship connected to the land, including drownings in a nearby creek, a suicide, infant deaths, and other tragedies tied to earlier families who had lived there. One figure emerged prominently in their research: Bathsheba Sherman, a 19th century resident of the area who had been accused in local rumors of witchcraft and dark acts. Stories claimed she had sacrificed a child and cursed the land, bringing misfortune to later occupants. Carolyn became convinced this malevolent force targeted her out of territorial jealousy, and her condition appeared to worsen. The Warrens, Ed and Lorraine, well known paranormal investigators, were eventually contacted.
The Warrens visited the farmhouse and documented the claims through interviews, observations, and Lorraine’s reported psychic impressions. Lorraine stated she sensed multiple spirits in the home, including one dominant and hostile presence she associated with Bathsheba. In 1973, during a séance, not an exorcism as later dramatized in films, Carolyn reportedly entered a trance like state and began speaking in an unfamiliar voice and language. Andrea, who secretly witnessed parts of the event, later described the moment as deeply frightening. Her mother’s demeanor appeared completely altered and the atmosphere in the room became tense and oppressive. Roger Perron, alarmed by what was happening, stopped the séance and asked the Warrens to leave the house.
The disturbances did not end immediately. Activity continued in various forms, though the family remained in the house for several more years due to financial limitations and the hope that the disturbances would eventually fade. By 1980 they finally moved away, and according to their accounts the activity did not follow them.
Historical investigation later complicated the Bathsheba story. Records show that Bathsheba Sherman lived nearby rather than directly on the Perron property. She died at the age of 73 from natural causes, most likely a stroke or paralysis, and was buried in a family cemetery with no verified evidence of witchcraft or infanticide. Andrea Perron has acknowledged in later interviews that Bathsheba may have been unfairly blamed through local rumor and folklore. If a supernatural source existed, it may have been tied to other tragedies connected to the land over centuries rather than a single individual.
Skeptics offer more grounded explanations. Old houses produce strange noises as they expand and settle. Rural isolation and financial stress may intensify family tensions and perceptions. Suggestion, expectation, and the influence of local ghost stories can shape how ordinary events are interpreted. There is no definitive physical evidence such as verified recordings or photographs that conclusively prove the most dramatic claims. Even so, the Perron family has maintained a remarkably consistent account for decades. Andrea’s extensive documentation and the fact that the family lived there for ten years give the story an enduring place in paranormal discussion.
The farmhouse still stands today and has become a place of curiosity for visitors and investigators. Whether viewed as a true haunting, a complex family experience shaped by environment and belief, or something in between, the Perron family’s story continues to resonate. It speaks less about spectacle and more about endurance, about how a place can seem to absorb the emotions and histories of those who lived there, and how ordinary families sometimes find themselves confronting mysteries they never sought.
Old homes carry the weight of every life they have sheltered, and disturbances may arise not only from malice but from accumulated sorrow seeking recognition. Families facing the unexplained often describe a mixture of fear and strange companionship, the feeling that some presences linger simply because they have nowhere else to go. When walking through historic places, a quiet respect is often wise. What appears territorial may simply be something that refuses to fade, a reminder that loss can cling to a place long after the living have moved on.
Read The Full Strange & Twisted Investigation Into The Perron Haunting Here
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