Fans of horror films should be familiar with James Wan, the Chinese-Australian director behind the famous "The Conjuring" and "Insidious" series. His creation, "The Conjuring" universe, not only has a wide audience in Europe but also a large following in Asia.

It's well-known that James Wan's films are almost all based on real paranormal events. The film "Verónica" we're introducing today is adapted from a sensational real-life haunting in Spanish history, known domestically as "El Caso Vallecas."

This case is the only one in Spanish history recorded by the police and classified as an unexplained supernatural phenomenon.

Estefanía

In the movie, the protagonist Verónica and her friends play a Ouija board game to summon her father. However, the true story is that a girl named Estefanía played the game at school with friends to contact a classmate's deceased boyfriend, who died in a motorcycle accident.

The session was interrupted by a teacher, and the medium used for the séance was broken, causing everyone to see Estefanía inhale some mysterious smoke. From that day on, Estefanía's parents noticed she began to experience convulsions and hallucinations, and she would scream at home.

Her family took her to many doctors, but none could find a cause for her symptoms, and her health appeared normal upon examination.

Later, in August 1991, after suffering from long-term illness, Estefanía's condition worsened, and she had to seek medical attention. Despite various treatments, her condition did not improve, and she soon passed away.

In the film, after playing the Ouija game at school, Verónica starts experiencing strange paranormal events at home. In reality, inexplicable phenomena began occurring in Estefanía's home the winter after her death, a year later.

In the early hours of November 1992, a police station received an emergency call about unexplained banging noises and disturbances at a residence. Police Chief José Pedro Negrí and four officers responded to the scene.

Police Chief José Pedro Negrí

Upon arrival, Negrí was surprised to find the family trembling on the street, with the mother clutching a child.

The family of Estefanía Gutiérrez Lázaro reported strange occurrences at home: crosses moving on their own and a large, unfamiliar face appearing in the hallway, seemingly watching them.

The situation grew more unsettling when, as officers began taking statements, a firmly shut wardrobe door inexplicably opened. Later, Officer José reported that within two minutes of turning off the lights, a door violently opened and closed on its own, followed by a loud noise from an empty balcony.

Further reports mentioned a loud bang from the deceased Estefanía's room, with a piercing sound of an object striking behind the closed bedroom door.

The inexplicably shattered picture frame at home

Officer José ordered his subordinates to check all doors and windows in the bedroom. They were all locked, with no access to the bedroom. Another loud noise was heard in the girl's room. Everyone noticed their daughter's portrait falling from a table and spontaneously catching fire. The portrait's face was burned, even though the wooden frame and glass were intact.

The mysterious burning of Estefanía's portrait

This incident caused a stir in Madrid, attracting media attention. However, the truth remains elusive, with no explanation for the events. Eventually, the Gutiérrez Lázaro family moved out, and the disturbances slowly ceased.

The Estefanía family

The Madrid Police Department's investigation report