The True Story Behind The Conjuring Last Rites and the Smurl Family

Smurl Family Haunting: Fact vs Fiction in The Conjuring: Last Rites

The Smurls, Jack and Janet, lived in West Pittston, Pennsylvania, in a double-block home, along with Jack’s parents and later their four daughters.

They claimed that from the mid-1970s through the 1980s, strange phenomena escalated: weird noises, foul odours, apparitions, objects moving on their own, cold spots, and more violent and disturbing incidents.

By 1986, the Smurls had sought help from Ed and Lorraine Warren, the well-known paranormal investigators. The Warrens reportedly found evidence of multiple spirits (including a demon) and audio recordings of knocking, rapping noises, etc. 

How The Conjuring: Last Rites Uses / Alters the Story

The movie is said to be loosely adapted from the Smurl haunting case. It adds dramatic elements — characters, mirror artifacts, confrontations, exorcisms — that are either fictionalized or exaggerated for cinematic effect.

It also frames the haunting as part of the Warrens’ “final case,” which is a narrative decision; in reality, their investigations and public involvement did not end with the Smurls.

Skepticism, Church Involvement, and Aftermath

The claims made by the Smurls were met with skepticism. Critics like Paul Kurtz suggested that some of the representations could be due to psychological issues, environmental factors, or the possibility of exaggeration.

The Church was involved. Some priests visited, and there were reported exorcisms. But there is disagreement over how effective these were, and whether the Church ever officially confirmed the presence of demonic forces.

Eventually, the Smurl family left the house in the late 1980s (around 1988) after enduring years of what they believed to be paranormal activity. Later tenants, however, reportedly did not experience the same phenomena.

Impact & Legacy

The Smurl case became one of the more well-known hauntings in American paranormal lore, in part because of media coverage, the Warrens' involvement, and the book The Haunted: One Family’s Nightmare. 

The events became public property in part through the 1991 TV movie The Haunted.

Jack Smurl passed away in 2017. Members of the family, especially daughters like Carin and Shannon, have been involved to varying extents with paranormal investigation points, or at least sharing their side of the story.

Bottom Line: Is It Truly “Real”?

The Smurl haunting almost certainly has a core of factual events, the family’s history, their experiences, and their perceptions. But like many alleged hauntings, especially those involving the Warrens, there is a mixture of subjective reports, community and media interpretations, and lack of verifiable evidence in many of the more sensational claims.

The film The Conjuring: Last Rites takes those core elements and builds a narrative meant to scare, to entertain, and to provide closure in a cinematic saga. So while viewers should expect thrills, they should also understand that many of the more dramatic moments are likely enhanced or invented for the screen.