Enfield Haunting house where ghost made global headlines still eerie 40 years on

The Enfield haunting remains one of the most extraordinary and investigated paranormal cases of all time – and Daily Star Online visited the spooky area 40 years on.

For two years so-called poltergeist activity made global headlines as it ripped apart the lives of the inhabitants of an ordinary terraced house in North London.

Pictures, audio and video recordings were made of a "malevolent spirit" sending furniture, objects and even children flying – like something from a horror film until the activity suddenly came to a halt in 1979.

The creepy events still continue to inspire and plague anyone who comes in contact with Britain's most haunted home.

When the Daily Star Online visited the street to mark the 40-year anniversary of the chilling phenomenon we weren't able to stay for long.

Today the home is occupied by a young family, who have placed a vinyl sign in the window of the living room, which reads "Jesus House".

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While still parked up outside, before taking a look around, the car alarm inexplicably went off – sending chills down our spine.

The keys were still in the ignition.

We got off lightly compared to one true account Daily Mirror photographer Graham Morris, who was hit in the face by a piece of Lego which flew across the room “like a cricket ball”, according to a colleague.

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Morris was sent to the home to capture the activity and was responsible for the iconic shot of Janet levitating.

He was joined by Mirror reporter Doug Bence who thought they were being hoaxed – but then as they were pulling away a neighbour ran out and stopped them.

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Doug told The Mirror in 2015: “He was shouting 'it's happening again'.

“Inside the house the children's Lego bricks were flying all over the place, going so fast you almost couldn't see them.

“It was like when you are in the Grandstand at Lord's cricket ground and you watch a fast ball coming down.

“The kids were screaming and one of the bricks hit the photographer in the face.”

It was said 11-year-old Janet was possessed by the ghost of previous resident Bill Wilkins, who died of a brain haemorrhage in the Green Street house, and whose voice would emerge from Janet as she fell into trance-like states.

Londoner Peggy Hodgson, a single mum, lived a very ordinary life with her four children – Margaret, 12, Janet, 11, Johnny, 10, and Billy, seven – at 284 Green Street, until one night.

On August 30, 1977, Janet called her mum in fright, claiming her brothers' beds were shaking as they turned off the light and tired to settle to sleep.

As Peggy went to check on her children a chest of drawers then "shuffled" across the room of its own accord, blocking the doorway of Janet's bedroom.

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After calling the police, WPC Carolyn Heeps went on record to swear she saw an armchair move across the room on its own – and a Mirror photographer later caught snaps of Janet being 'thrown' across the room.

And so began two year's of unexplained activity culminating with the possession of young Janet herself, who went into trances and was said to channel the ghost of deceased resident who spoke with a deep gravely voice.

Speaking to Channel 4 in a documentary, Janet said: "I felt used by a force that nobody understands. I really don’t like to think about it too much. I’m not sure the poltergeist was truly 'evil'. It was almost as if it wanted to be part of our family.

"It didn’t want to hurt us. It had died there and wanted to be at rest. The only way it could communicate was through me and my sister."

Society for Psychical Research members Maurice Grosse and Guy Lyon Playfair witnessed the terrifying paranormal activity in the house, and although Janet and her siblings admitted to faking some incidents, the men were convinced the haunting was real.

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Grosse collected 120 hours of audio evidence in which he claimed to have capture the voice of the spirit.

Paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren also flew in from America to investigate, with the couple determining that the Hodgson kids were the subject of a demonic possession.

Despite the passage of time the incident continues capture the imagination, inspiring countless movies and a 2016 Sky drama series The Enfield Hauntings.

The sisters returned in 2016 ahead of the release of The Conjuring 2.

Janet said: “It is very strange being back, it brings back a lot of memories.

“There was levitation, there was the voices and then there was incidents that happened to me, like the curtain which wrapped itself around my neck, which was quite life-threatening. It brought it home to me that this could kill you.

"I feel it came to use me maybe because it was drawing off my energy. Why me? To sum it all up I was used and abused."

As for those who say the children made it all up, Janet said: "I don't care what they say it wasn't them, it was me.

"I know what happened and I know it was real. How would they like it if this happened to them and they were called a fake."

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