Fans of the horror movie genre may recognize the name, Andrea Perron. She is a daughter of Roger and Carolyn Perron. The 2013 movie “The Conjuring” (http://www.warnerbros.com/conjuring) is based on the paranormal experiences of the Perron family while they resided on a farm in Harrisville, Rhode Island in 1971. Andrea Perron has written three books disclosing incidents that were not scripted in the movie: House of Darkness: House of Light- The True Story, Vol. I – III.
On October 10th, Andrea Perron visited Hernando County’s own ‘haunted house’ the May-Stringer house in Brooksville. She was attended a meet, greet and book signing event presented by El Con Society of the Paranormal a scientifically based paranormal research team and Dead Air’s “A World Awakening” radio show. The event was followed by a four team paranormal investigation inside the historical Victorian home. “We are all volunteers and for us to sponsor this event is huge,” said Bonnie Letourneau, Secretary of the Hernando Historical Museum Association. VIP participants had the opportunity to be a part of this investigation and see how high tech equipment is used by trained paranormal investigators and possibly have a paranormal experience.
The May-Stringer House is located on four corners in Brooksville; May Ave, Museum Court, East Fort Dade Ave and North Saxon Ave. On March 8, 1997 it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. Bonnie LeTourneau has been a part of the May Stringer house for over ten years and has a deep connection and protective relationship with this Victorian house. “It was wonderful having Andrea (Perron) here,” LeTourneau said. “We are so involved with the paranormal, from night investigations and with our two hour tours every Friday and Saturday night, everyone is going to take note that Andrea Perron investigated this house,” LeTourneau said.
In 1856, John May built the May Stringer home which consisted of four rooms. May was a contractor who built many of the homes in the area. He died of consumption a year later at the age of 25, leaving his wife of the same age to care for their children and the property. His wife Marena remarried Frank Saxon, Confederate hero, following the Civil War. Frank and Marena had two children together that died at young ages and sadly Marena passed away from childbirth fever following the birth of her second child, Jesse May.
Frank Saxon remarried and built the prominent Saxon House for his new wife Tululu Hope. The home was sold several times following the departure of Frank Saxon. In 1903 it was sold to Dr. Shelton Stringer for $2600 who added 10 more rooms. Stringer was a relative of the Lykes family. Three generations of the Stringer family lived there before Dr. Earl Hensley and his wife Helen bought the house in 1980. They sold it to the Hernando County Historical Museum Association in 1981 to become the May-Stringer House Museum.
There are at least 4 unmarked graves on the property- John May, Marena May Saxon and the two young children of Marena and Frank Saxon (Frankland and Jesse May). Many who visit the home have reported the presence of apparitions: the voice of a young child crying out for her mother, the appearance of a soldier staring out of an upstairs window.
Andrea Perron and her family are quite experienced with forms of paranormal occurrences, from witnessing full body apparitions to actual contact. “There is something that is beyond our mortal existence,” Andrea Perron said. “We just still don’t know exactly what it is.” As Perron shares her experiences, her father Roger Perron listens and shows subtle expressions of recollection with each story told.
Roger Perron had experiences, but with more of personal connection; he states that one particular spirit was more connected to him during the time that he and his family resided in the house in Huntsville, Rhode Island. “They (spirits) are here because they have unfinished business,” Roger Perron said.
With the encouragement from her father and gathered memories from her siblings, The House of Darkness: House of Light was put in motion in August 2007. Seven years later the completion all three books were published. “He (Roger Perron) knew and I knew and even my mother knew, that I would eventually tell the world what happened in that house,” Andrea Perron said. “I approached it (the telling of our story) as what it was, an intimate family memoir. It’s an extensive, expansive view and look at what it’s like to live in a supremely haunted house.”
Roger Perron sits in one of the white rocking chairs that line the front porch of the May Stringer House, looking over the banister at the crowd while his daughter conducts her lecture about the family’s experiences, her knowledge and research. With an hour till dark, a highly anticipated investigation will take place with EL Con Society of the Paranormal along with Andrea Perron and VIP participants that seek to have a paranormal encounter.
“Every time I come here, I’ve always got (experienced) something,” Claire Castillo said. Claire Castillo along with Casey McCarthey came from Tampa, Florida for this event at the May Stringer house. Castillo and McCarthey were involved in a paranormal group back in 2006. She now revisits this historical home. “It’s always fun to walk through here, because you never know what you are going to find,” McCarthey said. Tyler Eilert, Castillo’s grandson, holds a pair of dowsing rods which are sometimes used during paranormal investigations to locate spirits. “I am trying to be best friends with the little girl,” Eilert said.
The May Stringer house has another event, the annual Halloween Festival & Haunted House on October 23-24 and the 30th. “What better place to have a haunted house than in a certified Haunted House,” LeTourneau said.
For more information about the May Stringer house visit their website at http://hernandohistoricalmuseumassoc.com/ and information about Andrea Perron, visit her website athttp://www.houseofdarknesshouseoflight.com/
