Ed and Lorraine Warren were people.
Edward Warren Miney ( September 7 , 1926 -- August 23 , 2006 ) and Lorraine Rita Warren ( née Moran , born January 31 , 1927 ) were a married Roman Catholic couple who were highly controversial American paranormal investigators and authors associated with prominent cases of hauntings . Edward was a World War II United States Navy veteran and former police officer who became a self-taught and self-professed demonologist , author , and lecturer . In 1952 , the Warrens founded the New England Society for Psychic Research , the oldest ghost hunting group in New England . They authored numerous books about the paranormal and about their private investigations into various reports of paranormal activity . They claimed to have investigated over 10,000 cases during their career .