Who Is Ed and Lorraine Warren's Daughter Judy Spera? How She's Continued Their Paranormal Legacy (and Her Honest Thoughts on “The Conjuring)”

From fearing the supernatural to running her own paranormal organization, here’s everything to know about Ed and Lorraine Warren’s daughter Judy Spera

<p>Latour/Variety/Penske Media/Getty Images</p> Judy Spera and Tony Spera

Latour/Variety/Penske Media/Getty Images

Judy Spera and Tony Spera

Judy Spera, sometimes referred to as Judy Warren, is the daughter of famed paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, who became famous after The Conjuring film franchise chronicled their life’s work.

Judy spent much of her life away from the spotlight, and even away from the paranormal world of her parents, but in recent years she’s come around to embrace her family’s legacy.

In a 2020 interview with Den of Geek, Judy said that she spent most of her childhood living with her grandparents because of how much Ed and Lorraine traveled for their job. For a brief period, she did live with her parents, but Judy said it was difficult to feel comfortable in their house. “I was terrified there, in their house, so I just didn’t sleep there. I couldn’t sleep in a room by myself," she said.

Judy was scared of the paranormal for most of her life and still feels some trepidation about it, saying in the same interview, “I don’t pursue it. I back away from it.” But as she got older, she also realized the importance of continuing her parents' legacy and protecting their reputation. “I still get discouraged reading negative articles about my parents,” she told USA Today in 2019.

Nowadays, Judy helps run a paranormal investigation organization with her husband and is continuing the Warrens' reputation with the strange, spooky and unexplained.

Here's everything to know about Judy Spera and where she is today.

Judy is married Tony Spera

<p>JC Olivera/WireImage/Getty Images</p> Judy Spera and Tony Spera attending the premiere of Annabelle Comes Home.

JC Olivera/WireImage/Getty Images

Judy Spera and Tony Spera attending the premiere of Annabelle Comes Home.

In the late '70s, Judy met police officer Tony Spera. In a self-published essay on his website, Spera says that Judy drove by him one day while he was on duty and he was instantly taken back by her beauty. “I sat in my police car, writing a report,” Tony said, “and glanced up from my note pad, only to see a beautiful, young woman passing by. She gave a wave and a big smile, then drove quickly by and out of sight.”

For Tony, it was love at first sight, and thanks to a mutual friend he was able to connect with Judy later that evening and asked her out on a date. She said yes and they spent their first night together eating fried chicken and french fries. “And now, 40 years hence, she is somehow still saying 'yes,' ” he wrote.

Judy and Tony run a paranormal agency together, like her parents

<p>Russell McPhedran/Fairfax Media/Getty Images</p> American ghost hunters Lorraine and Ed Warren. April 30, 1980.

Russell McPhedran/Fairfax Media/Getty Images

American ghost hunters Lorraine and Ed Warren. April 30, 1980.

Together, Judy and Tony run the New England Society for Psychic Research (NESPR). The organization conducts paranormal investigations and holds interviews and panels at conventions.

NESPR’s website also serves as a hub for Warren fans, complete with archival footage of the Warrens’ interviews and case files for their most famous investigations like the Annabelle doll, the Amityville house, the Perron family and more.

According to NESPR's website, the team “are continuing the legacy and work of the Warrens through their passionate involvement in paranormal phenomena and desire to help families afflicted by haunting phenomena.”

She was a central figure in the documentary Devil’s Road: The True Story of Ed and Lorraine Warren

<p>Eric Charbonneau/Getty Images</p> Patrick Wilson, Tony Spera, Judy Spera, and Vera Farmiga at the world premiere of “Annabelle Comes Home” by Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema.

Eric Charbonneau/Getty Images

Patrick Wilson, Tony Spera, Judy Spera, and Vera Farmiga at the world premiere of “Annabelle Comes Home” by Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema.

Though Judy stayed away from the spotlight for most of her life, she ended up becoming heavily involved in Travel Channel’s 2020 documentary Devil’s Road: The True Story of Ed and Lorraine Warren.

The doc showed a real account of the Warrens’ life and career, removing the Hollywood filter of The Conjuring films and instead revealing the actual couple behind the cultural phenomenon.

Judy told Den of Geek that she was inspired to get involved with the documentary because she wanted to provide a first-hand account of her parents that hadn’t been given before, especially for her mother.

When asked why she agreed to the documentary, Judy said, “Because it involved my mother, and I felt I owed it to her to get on there and speak because I never do this.”

She continued, “They were interviewing people that I didn’t know or I hadn’t met. I thought, 'Well, who knew her better than I did?' "

Judy was interviewed extensively for the documentary and became a central figure in the film, sharing her experience of growing up as a Warren.

Judy says she has some supernatural abilities like her mother

<p>AP Photo/Wilkes-Barre Times Leader/Carolyn Bauman</p> Lorraine and Ed Warren, demonologists from the New England Society for Psychic Research, held a press conference at the home of Jack and Janet Smurl in West Pittston, Pa. on August 25, 1986. The couple stated that the Smurls’ home is infested with demons, and the Smurls claim they have been experiencing supernatural attacks for the past 18 months.

Lorraine was known to be a clairvoyant and used her abilities amid investigations. During an interview with Warner Bros., Lorraine said, “From the time that I was about seven years old, I remember seeing lights around people. I realized that I was communicating.”

Judy told Den of Geek that she’s picked up a few abilities of her own. “I had things happen that I’ll say, 'Oh, my gosh. How did that happen?' I don’t know if you want to attribute it to being anything to do with my mother’s gifts, but I have had some things happen. It’s a lot of dreams that are very strange, and warnings – from my father," she said.

She thinks The Conjuring franchise has kept her parents’ spirit alive

<p>Michael Buckner/Variety/Penske Media/Getty Images</p> Lorraine Warren and Vera Farmiga

Michael Buckner/Variety/Penske Media/Getty Images

Lorraine Warren and Vera Farmiga

On top of spawning eight films (so far) and becoming one of the highest-grossing horror franchises ever, Judy also thinks The Conjuring has helped keep her parents’ spirits alive.

“I just read a quote, and I'm not going to have it exact, but it was so perfect about 'a person is not really dead until the ripples in the stream stop,' to that effect," she told ComicBook.com. "And I thought, 'Well, that's actually how their after-life is.' They're still here because of that, because people are still interested in everything they're doing, and they'll quote them and read about them.”

Judy and Tony no longer run the Warren Occult Museum

<p>Bettmann/Getty Images</p> Ed and Lorraine Warren arrived at Danbury Superior Court on March 19, 1981, where a grand jury indicted Arne Cheyenne Johnson for the slaying of Alan Bono on February 16, 1981, in Brookfield, Connecticut. Lorraine Warren spoke with the 19-year-old man after the killing, which his attorney claimed was the work of the devil.

The Conjuring films turned the Warren Occult Museum — which was filled with all of the Warrens' haunted memorabilia — into a massive tourist attraction. But it was located in their old house in a residential neighborhood, and because of the number of visitors, litter, noise and property destruction that was happening, the museum was closed in 2019 and there are currently no reports of it reopening.

Since its closure, Judy and Tony still own many of the haunted items, including the infamous Annabelle doll, and they sometimes bring the objects with them to paranormal conventions.

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