Apple TV+ has released a new four-part docuseries just in time for Halloween, and we’re ready to be scared silly! The Enfield Poltergeist looks at one of the most famous hauntings in history by using recordings from a real-life story about a haunted house - and those impacted by the disturbing events that took place there. So how much of it is real? Here’s what we know…
Is the Enfield Poltergeist a true story?
Whether there really was a spirit haunting home in London, it is undeniable that the alleged poltergeist did indeed dominate headlines back in 1977 after the Hodgson family, who lived in the house at the time, claimed that there was a spirit in the house who was particularly focused on their two children, sisters Janet and Margaret.
Maurice Grosse was a paranormal investigator who captured recordings of the house, which are set to be used in the show, and claimed that he believed the hauntings to be real, despite his peers being incredulous at the time."
Daily Mirror photographer Graham Morris also believed in the entity after photographing the property during the media storm, telling Sky News: "Up to 18 months I spent on and off in that house and saw so, so much happen, from the first night being hit by that Lego brick."
He added: "So, so much happened. It would have been impossible for the girls or any member of the family to have done it. It's just too much. It was constant, it was relentless."
Apple TV’s synopsis reads: "The mysterious case forever changed ideas about the supernatural, and showed that it wasn’t just restricted to castles and stately homes but could be experienced by anyone, anywhere." The historical tale has also inspired a TV show, two plays and The Conjuring 2.
Is The Enfield Poltergeist a fictionalised documentary?
The documentary will showcase a combination of over 250 hours of real audio footage while recreating the home and the family, reconstructing the true testimonies from those involved in the case with actors for a unique spin on a documentary. As such, production built a replica of the hour, while performers reenacted what is heard on the tapes. Freaky!
Where are Janet and Margaret Hodgson now?
The two sisters who were at the centre of the paranormal mystery have been working with Apple TV+ on the docuseries, and director Jerry Rothwell opened up about involving them in the process, telling RadioTimes.com: "I think there are sort of two centres to this story. One is our way into the series, which is through Maurice Grosse and through the outsider coming into the house, and the other is what's happening for that family.
"These were like a set of really traumatic events that happened, particularly to Janet and Margaret at the centre of the story as teenagers. Those events will certainly have shaped aspects of their lives ever since, particularly because of the media interest in it …it felt important to work really closely with them, and towards the end of the series, they come into the series as adults, and we learn about the legacy and their sense of those events now."
Janet and Margaret previously returned to the house in 2016 when The Conjuring 2 was being released, with Janet saying: "It is very strange being back, it brings back a lot of memories. I can recall the chest of drawers starting shuffling and it moved towards the door. One particular day I was seen levitating."
