Is The Haunting in Connecticut based on real-life events? Explained

Peter Cornwell's supernatural horror film, The Haunting in Connecticut, turns 15 this year, but it's still one of the most haunting horror movies. It's especially true because of its origin story.

The Haunting in Connecticut follows the Campbell family who, after their son received the news that he has cancer, decided that relocating to Connecticut would be a grand idea so they could be closer to his doctors. But, unknown to them, their new home has a sinister history. It will soon plague the entire family with paranormal horror activities and will endanger their lives.

The Haunting in Connecticut is rooted in real-life events. However, some parts of its "origin story" are made up.

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Is The Haunting in Connecticut based on real-life events?

The movie starts with a series of old black-and-white photographs of what looks like family photos before jumping into pictures during a family member's death. The sequence continues in The Haunting in Connecticut with another set of family photos and another death before the words "based on the true story" appear on the screen.

It naturally piques the viewers' interest in the authenticity of the film. And in the case of the film, much of it is truthful but others are made up for entertainment purposes. Its origin story is based on real-life events, more specifically, the Snedeker family.

The film is based on the 1992 Ray Garton novel, titled In a Dark Place: The Story of a True Haunting. The Snedekers supposedly hired ghost hunters and demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren after experiencing paranormal activities in their home. Then, the Warrens hired Garton to write their family story. Garton revealed in a March 2009 interview with Damned Connecticut:

"I went to Connecticut and spent time with the Warrans and the Snedekers. When I found that the Snedekers couldn't keep their individual stories straight, I went to Ed Warren and explained the problem."

He mentioned that Ed told him that they [the Snedekers] are crazy, adding:

"[He said], 'All the people who come to us are crazy, that's why they come to us. Just use what you can and make the rest up. You write scary books, right? Well, make it up and make it scary. That's why we hired you.'"

Garton also noted in the interview that he never met Philip and was only allowed to talk to him briefly, which only happened once, saying:

"As soon as he [Philip] started telling me the things he "saw" in the house went away after he'd been medicated, Carmen abruptly ended the conversation."

He added that the Warrens told home that they had a videotape of an "actual supernatural activity" in the house, but never did show it to him even after they said they were going to.

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What is the true story that inspired The Haunting in Connecticut?

Carmen Snedeker and her family moved to their Connecticut home in 1986 so they could be closer to their son Philip's cancer treatment. However, before their home became a residential place, it was first a funeral parlor as depicted in the movie. Shortly after they moved in, the entire family experienced paranormal events, although it was Philip who got the brunt of the disturbed events in their new home.

Philip started seeing ghosts and other terrifying visions, while both his parents said that they were s*xually assaulted and sodomized by demons.

Carmen Snedeker, who went by her maiden name, Reed, at the time, mentioned some visions and events that happened in their home during a 2009 CNN interview, saying:

"Mattresses would breathe. They had a pulse. There was the normal banging on walls, but it always came in threes."

She also mentioned hearing a "deep, gravelly voice" and recalled her son "got darker and darker," that at one time, he attacked her niece. They had to call an ambulance to get him to a mental hospital, she said. She also added that at the time, he was telling her not to leave him because "it's going to come after you now."

Talking about the horror film, she gave a few details about what is true in the movie and what is made up during a 2009 interview with Critical Blast, saying:

"A lot of things you saw, for example, the shower curtain scene, definitely happened to me. It didn't happen to my niece. And there were apparitions in the house. My son did have cancer. As far as bodies in the wall, all of that is fictionalized."

She also noted that some of the characters in The Haunting in Connecticut are made up, like the Aickermans.

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Catch The Haunting in Connecticut now streaming on Netflix, with rent and purchase options on Prime Video and Apple TV.