Ed and Lorraine Warren were ghost hunters.
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 . In 1952 , the Warrens founded the New England Society for Psychic Research , the oldest ghost hunting group in New England . The Warrens were among the very first investigators in the controversial Amityville haunting .