The Dybbuk Box gained attention in the early 2000s when an eBay listing described a wine cabinet said to contain a malicious spirit known as a dybbuk from Jewish folklore. Media coverage amplified the story, with a Los Angeles Times article fueling its spread and additional accounts circulating online. While the “possession” was later revealed to be an elaborate hoax by the seller, the story had already become a modern urban legend.

Loosely inspired by the Dybbuk Box case, The Possession (2012) centers on a young girl whose obsession with the box leads to increasingly erratic behavior. The film expands scattered real-world accounts into a possession narrative, constructing a clear antagonist and narrative from a fabricated story. This places the film at the conceptual end of the interpretive spectrum.

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In 1971, Roger and Carolyn Perron moved their five daughters into a Rhode Island farmhouse. What followed was a decade of reported disturbances ranging from unexplained sounds and apparitions to increasingly focused activity centered on Carolyn. The case gained wider attention when demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren arrived to investigate, documenting a séance where Carolyn reportedly spoke in tongues and levitated.

Based on the Perron family case, The Conjuring (2013) retains the setting, family structure, and involvement of Ed and Lorraine Warren, but condenses ten years of activity into a structured story. It introduces a central demonic antagonist not present in the family’s original accounts. These changes place the film on the looser end of the interpretive spectrum.

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In 1977, a council house in London became one of the most widely documented paranormal cases in British history. A single mother and her children reported furniture sliding across floors, objects flying through the air, and a raspy, elderly voice speaking through 11-year-old Janet Hodgson. Journalists and investigators captured hours of audio recordings and photographs that continue to fuel debate.

Building on the Enfield case, The Conjuring 2 (2016) retains the core family, location, and many of the reported incidents. It reshapes these accounts by expanding Ed and Lorraine Warren’s roles and introducing a more defined supernatural conflict through the addition of Valak (The Nun). These changes place the film closer to its source than the previous entry, while still taking creative liberties with the documented events.

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In 1991 Madrid, a teenage girl named Estefanía Gutiérrez Lázaro performed a séance with friends at school using a Ouija board. Shortly after, her condition worsened, with reports of seizures and hallucinations that could not be explained. Following her death, her family described escalating disturbances in their apartment. The incident attracted further attention when a police report documented unusual events in the home after her passing, making it one of the few possession cases with official documentation.

Grounded in the Vallecas Case, Veronica (2017) retains the setting, central character, and séance as the inciting event. It shapes these reported elements into a structured progression of possession, focusing on the confined setting of the family’s apartment and the increasing pressure on the central character. By using the documented police report as a key reference point, the film stays closer to its source than earlier entries.

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In 1949, a young boy in Maryland (given the pseudonym Roland Doe) became the subject of a series of exorcisms after his family sought help for unexplained behavior. Priests documented scratches appearing on the boy’s skin, furniture overturning, and the boy’s bed shaking during episodes. The rituals continued for months, involving multiple members of the clergy and producing journals and eyewitness accounts. The case entered public awareness through published retellings, making it one of the most well-known exorcism cases in the United States.

The Exorcist (1973) adapts the Roland Doe case, changing the protagonist to a girl and relocating the story to Georgetown, while retaining many of the reported elements. From the bed-shaking to words appearing on the skin, several of the film’s most iconic moments reflect details recorded in the priests’ journals. By preserving documented elements while organizing them into a cinematic narrative, the film sits closer to its source than earlier entries while remaining clearly fictionalized.

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In 1976, Anneliese Michel, a young German woman, underwent a series of exorcism rites after experiencing severe physical and psychological symptoms that her family attributed to possession. Over ten months, she underwent 67 exorcism sessions as her condition worsened. Many were recorded on audio tape, documenting episodes of distress, intense behavior, and physical deterioration, including reports that she refused food and exhibited extreme reactions during the rites.

Anneliese died of malnutrition and dehydration after nearly a year of exorcisms. The subsequent trial and conviction of her parents and the clergy for negligent homicide brought the case widespread attention, placing testimony, written records, and audio from the exorcisms into the public record.

The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005) draws directly from the Anneliese Michel case, structuring its story around the trial that followed her death. By framing the story this way, it is able to include authentic audio recordings from the case while retaining the core events, including the prolonged exorcisms, her deterioration, and the legal aftermath. The film sits at the closest end of the interpretive spectrum.

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