December 28, 2024
It sounds as if people who booked a stay at the Conjuring House before its business license expired and was not renewed are
not being notified of the closure of the business, let alone refunded. This is VERY troubling. It was one thing to state
no refunds would be issued within a certain time period or not at all for something like a house tour. But this is a different
situation. The business has closed, the town of Burrillville, Rhode Island declined to renew its business license and police
in Burrillville have had to go to the property on at least two occasions due to previously booked customers showing up. Both
the owner and the general manager were cited for operating the business without a license. However, it's beginning to appear
that no one who booked a stay at the Conjuring house any time after November 30, 2024 had or has been notified of the closure
of the business.
If any of these people would be entitled to a refund, they should certainly receive one. They should be notified of the closure
of the business directly. The Conjuring House's business records should still show these transactions. If it is true that
the company the business used for bookings has all of that information that is no longer accessible to the owner, every effort
should be made to recover those records or be provided certified true copies of them. It does seem odd that these financial
records would have been kept in only one place, to be perfectly honest.
Fortunately, there might be another avenue of assistance--the Attorney General of Rhode Island. Now, I am not a lawyer (that
was the late Mr. Parlor--my dad), so I cannot say if one must be a resident of Rhode Island to file a complaint with the Attorney
General of Rhode Island, or if it's based upon the business location being Rhode Island. However, it is a very good place
to start. The Attorney General handles consumer protection matters like this. Rhode Island's Attorney General website has
a section specifically for consumer protection. From there, you can find more information on consumer complaints, and you
can file a consumer complaint there. There is also contact information for the Rhode Island Attorney General's office in
the site footer (the bottom of the page). Their office should be able to give you some guidance on whether or not you need
to file your complaint in Rhode Island or in your own state (if you are in the US), and what options might be available to
you if you are outside the US.
I sincerely hope this situation can be resolved and that consumers are protected. Also scroll down a bit where the phone
number for the police department in Burrillville, Rhode Island is provided. Here is a link to the Consumer Protection section
of the Rhode Island Attorney General's website:
An Update: December 18, 2024
A lot has happened since I first discussed the current events surrounding the Conjuring house in Burrillville, Rhode Island. The owner was arrested after leading police on a high-speed chase, during which she nearly hit another vehicle, that came to an end when she finally pulled over and was found to have been visibly intoxicated. It was obvious even from police bodycam footage of the stop and arrest. The owner's application to renew her business license for the Conjuring house was unanimously turned down on November 18, with the then-current license expiring on November 30. November 30 came, but after that date, the owner did not cease operations as was required. This has led to further legal problems, as there have been two occasions where the Conjuring house has been found to be operating still without a business license.
Unfortunately, this has led to situations where, for example, people who had booked their stay at the Conjuring house several months ago but were unaware of recent issues traveled all the way to Rhode Island, only to be turned away at the gate. The service that had handled bookings for the Conjuring house had ended that service due to the owner's erratic behavior, and the general manager has allegedly stated that because the contact information for those who had booked stays at the Conjuring house were all contained within the now ended service, they were unable to contact these people regarding cessation of business operations. That does tend to contradict what the owner had told at least one news reporter in an interview, that she wasn't going to cease operations after November 30 due to those bookings having been made months earlier.
The owner failed to appear at a recent hearing regarding the first time she and her general manager were cited for operating the Conjuring house as a business without a license, an incident that occurred in the first week of December. I've chosen to leave the names of the owner and the general manager of the Conjuring house out, but if you would like to learn more, a Google search should result in several news articles and reports local to Rhode Island on the matter. It is quite a complicated tale that gets messier by the day, it seems.
I will link here an article in the Providence Journal from December 9, 2024 that reports on the recent citations issued the Conjuring house for operating without a license:
What I would like to do here is, if you are someone who has booked a stay at the Conjuring house that is coming up, or considering doing so, I advise you to follow up, perhaps with your bank, if you are unable to contact the company that previously handled bookings for the Conjuring house. If you are in the second category, then at very least postpone any plans you might have to book a stay at the Conjuring house unless and until the matter of the business license is resolved. At this time, if you are advised that the Conjuring house is still open for business despite it not having a current business license, document when you were advised of this and who you spoke to. Then, perhaps contact police in Burrillville, Rhode Island to advise them of what you were told and by whom. Whatever you do, DO NOT pay any money for a booking unless you can first verify independently that the business has a valid business license.
You may contact the police department in Burrillville, Rhode Island at (401) 568-6255.
Previously...
Originally, I was going to avoid any mention of this for fear that mention would encourage people to...how do I say this...go into a situation that could prove dangerous in any way. After just a few more recent events, I changed my mind.
This page of the Parlor discusses real life locations in both Rhode Island and Massachusetts that either did or likely did inspire locations in a pair of fiction novels by C.J. Fisher, Afterimages and Afterimages II: The Legend of Diadamia. Another page of the Parlor, Vampires and the Ocean State, discusses both a series of vampire novels by Jennifer Geoghan set in Rhode Island, and the very real "vampire panic" that ended in 1892 with Mercy Brown. Coincidentally, one thing these two authors apparently have in common with your Parlor hostess here is Rhode Island ancestry. And when you have that combined with an interest in the paranormal, for me, there is something that might seem inevitable.
The Conjuring house.
I had not planned on discussing the Conjuring house yet. However, since it would seem inevitable that I might someday discuss it, I've decided to go ahead and address this now. Or first.
Let me start by saying that this has nothing to do with anything paranormal. What is happening is not about Bathsheba Sherman or John Arnold or any other since passed on former occupant/owner. It is about what has been happening NOW. This is strictly about the living.
As you might or might not be aware, several people, including former employees and Jason Hawes, who hosted the show, Ghost Hunters, have been receiving messages from the current owner of the Conjuring house on a regular basis, despite repeated instructions to stop. They continue despite repeated No Contact orders. These messages are, I understand, in the form of texts and emails. Attempts at contact aren't restricted to electronic means, however, and it has all of these people afraid for their safety.
Some of the contents of these messages have been shared by recipients, and they are... Perhaps it's best to hear it straight from Jason Hawes. Below, the YouTube video he made on October 19, 2024 gives an overview of what has been happening and shares one of the most recent communications received from the owner of the Conjuring house. It's a bit unsettling, the content of the communication he received, so please be prepared...
When I first heard this, no one needed to tell me that this is not a paranormal communication or disturbance causing the owner to behave this way. This is an individual who needs help. It's my understanding that this lady does suffer from mental illness. What she needs is medical assistance to treat her illness. However, a dangerous situation is unfolding, here. I understand that she is operating a business in the Conjuring house. BUT. If patrons are endangered simply because they are there, it is an unacceptable situation. If former employees or other members of the community are endangered, in some cases due simply to past association or less, that is unacceptable.
I don't know what laws Rhode Island has in place when it comes to protective orders, but it sounds like No Contact orders already issued have been disregarded. Now, words on a piece of paper don't necessarily stop a person from doing what those words tell them not to. Words on paper coming from a court can, however, result in legal consequences if the person refuses to obey the order. Every state/commonwealth in the Union has their own rules, so what we have here in Oregon might not be the same as what Rhode Island has. Whatever protections the town of Burrillville or the state of Rhode Island can provide, I'm not sure. Hopefully, attorneys in Rhode Island will be able to advise these people on what options, if any, are available to them if they haven't already done that.
Again, I understand this lady is running a business. However, that does not entitle her to stalk, harass or endanger people. It does not entitle her to terrorize patrons to the point of having to leave for their own safety, only to not receive refunds they ought to be entitled to. It does not entitle her to refuse to pay wages owed to employees, current or former, when she is required to. It does not entitle her to make defamatory accusations and statements against anyone. It does not entitle her to put anyone in harm's way, or threaten to, period. This is why I, too, urge anyone planning on visiting or staying at the Conjuring house to postpone, change or cancel their plans until this situation is completely under control.
Whether anyone says this or not, though, here is a fact. If she continues this behavior, she will destroy her own business in time. That's a fact. The concern, here, is that if people do not take precautions now, it's going to get a lot worse. People are going to get hurt. THAT is the concern.
So please, if you are planning to take a trip to Rhode Island for paranormal research, I urge you to avoid the Conjuring house at this time for your own safety and well-being. There are a lot of well-known haunted places in Rhode Island, yes. But how about places that are not so well known? Maybe fit one or two in as a sort of side trip if you are taking a trip to a well known haunted place? If you do, be sure that wherever you go is a safe place for you to be. ~The Parlor
