To explore the origins of The Ferryman trapped inside of the Warren’s room of cursed artifacts,
we can look to the case files that the paranormal couple has documented on each of their encounters
with the supernatural.
This one is titled “The Ferryman” with the words “Charon’s Coins” written below,
above a case number.
This is the only direct reference to the entity’s true name: Charon, which comes from Greek
mythology.
He represents the first example of Greek mythos in the Conjuring franchise, which is known
to explore Middle-Eastern, American and even Mexican-Central American mythos.
Charon is the son of Erebus (air-a-biss), deity of darkness, and Nyx, the Goddess of
night.
According to worldhistory.org, the first known depiction of Charon dates back to 500 BCE
on ancient Greek pottery, so I will assume that he was born sometime around then.
The name Charon has been translated by several sources to “fierce brightness”, which
is certainly interesting as the offspring of night and darkness.
It may in fact be a euphemism for death, with Charon potentially being named after the bright
light that many people report seeing before death or during a near death experience.
Charon is an example of psychopomp, a deity responsible for transporting the souls of
the dead into the afterlife.
His role was to charter souls across a body of water, depending on which legend you’re
reading, a river or lake, to drop them off in the underworld realm of Hades:, a damp,
gloomy and lifeless domain where all mortals are sent upon death.
Referred to as the “Realm of the Dead”, it is said that very few mortals could ever
leave Hades once they entered.
It became tradition for humans to place coins in the mouth of, or in some cases, like the
depiction seen in Annabelle Comes Home, over the eyes of the dead, in order to pay the
toll to cross the river.
– [Girl's Voice] If you don't pay his toll, he'll take your soul.
(tape rewind)
If you don't pay his toll, he'll take your soul.
— [Zac] Those who paid the fee would be loaded into Charon’s Ferry and taken across to the realm
of Hades.
Thus explaining where he got his nickname: The Ferryman.
If a mortal did not pay the fee, it is said that their soul would be left to wander the
shores for 100 years before being allowed to cross.
In some stories, Charon would take and keep the soul, while in others, they would haunt
the world as ghosts.
To learn the full history of The Ferryman, including details of his story from ancient
Greek texts, how demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren captured this entity in the 1900s,
and his resurgence in tandem with the demon Malthus in the 1970s, stick around to the
end of this video.
This video is sponsored by Audible.
(metal music)
Welcome to another episode of Horror History.
Today, I continue my series on the villains of the Conjurverse, albeit, with much shorter
hair because some of those videos were filmed during the no-haircut era of the pandemic.
You couldn’t even call me “Shaggy” in this, it’s way longer than his.
The Ferryman we are talking about today is the Conjuring universe version seen in the
2019 film Annabelle Comes Home mixed with some of the mythos that he is based on in
that movie.
Charon has appeared many other times in popular culture though, from being a boss fight in
God of War: Chains of Olympus, to being a silent rower in Disney’s Hercules and even
getting his own movie in the 2007 film: The Ferryman.
To fully understand The Ferryman’s journey, let’s take it back about 2500 years into
the stories of Euripides, Aeschylus, and many other tragedians of Ancient Greece.
(harp music)
As I mentioned, the earliest Charon depiction was on a vase, where he appears as a bearded
man carrying a punt pole.
These poles would be used to move boats in shallow water by the user planting one end
of the pole at the bottom of the river and using it to propel forward.
The most common channel cited as the river that Charon spends his time on would be the
River Styx.
If only Charon had operated a sailboat as he does in some later depictions, it would have been the perfect setup for some
kind of joke!
The coins left for The Ferryman were known as Charon’s obol, based on the ancient Greek
coin, the obol.
It equates to about $16 or $17 USD in 2022.
Different cultures have adapted the story to fit their own coins, as we see in Annabelle
Comes Home, where Daniela comes across a pouch of coins of various types.
But don’t try to pay The Ferryman using your debit card or bitcoin wallet.
He has no use for monetary value; what he’s interested in is the silver.
The obol was perfect for him, because the coins were worth their weight in silver. The
obol was also used as a measurement of weight.
Although most of the ancient Greek tragedies depicted the version of Charon who accepts
payments as coins placed in the corpse's mouth, director Gary Dauberman was inspired by the
images of coins placed over the victims’ eyes that he’d seen on the internet.
Just as the mythos evolved to include other coins, the description of Charon has also
changed over the years.
In 438 BCE, in Euripides play Alcestis, Charon has evolved to use an oar, because the body
of water being crossed is now an “enormous lake of fathomless depth”.
In 19 BCE, Virgil’s Aeneid describes him as “appalling filthy… with
a bush of unkempt white beard upon his chin, with eyes like jets of fire; and a dirty cloak
(which) draggles down, knotted about his shoulders.
Around 100 CE, Seneca’s Hercules details an old man “clad in foul garb” which is
described as an “abhorrent sight.”
His beard is unkempt and his cheeks are haggard and sunken in.
Roman poetry of the 2nd century paints an even grimmer picture.
Apuleius’s 1566 novel The Golden Ass… shame we didn’t cover
that one in middle school language arts… depicts an old dead man with decaying hands
and arms.
A derivative version of the character can also be found in Etruscan mythology, where
he is known as Charun, a demon of death armed with a hammer.
There seems to be a gradual transformation as we move closer to present day towards a
more Grim Reaper like appearance, which was consciously made a part of his design in his
Conjurverse incarnation.
Many of the tales seem to be about heroes who crossed the river to retrieve someone
or complete a challenge.
In some mythos, The Ferryman will help the hero, in others he needs to be convinced.
In Hercules, the titular hero was tasked to retrieve the three-headed dog who guarded
the gates of Hades, and The Ferryman was punished severely for escorting a living being into
the realm of the dead.
Pinpointing when The Warrens had their encounter with The Ferryman is a little bit tricky.
They keep a file in their office on the case, and it contains clues that we can use to further
determine the history of this mysterious river captain of the underworld.
I am about to dig into one of the many case files of the demonologists Ed and Lorraine
Warren.
This one is probably movie-only, but they do have some stories that they’ve published,
meaning you can dig into them yourself.
They explore paranormal phenomena like haunted houses, graveyards and even a werewolf.
There is only one place you can get these audiobooks, and that is Audible.
Audible offers an incredible selection of audiobooks across every genre — including
lots of horror.
You’ll also discover exclusive Audible Originals from top celebrities, renowned experts, and
exciting new voices in audio.
Members get a free title every month, for keeps.
Plus, there's a great selection of free podcasts.
If you’re new here, we have a little audio book club here on the channel.
I tell you guys about what I’m reading, and you tell me about what Audible titles
you’ve been listening to in the comments.
This month I’m veering off into non-fiction with Atomic Habits by James Clear.
It explores the science behind forming and keeping good habits that lead to success,
and since my goal is to sustain success with my channel, I figured it would be an excellent
title to check out.
To try out Audible Premium Plus free for 30 days visit audible.com/czsworld
or text czsworld to 500-500.
You'll find that link in the description.
audible.com/czsworld
(creepy music)
The case file on The Ferryman shows many old photos, but I think these are photos that
Ed and Lorraine collected, not necessarily snapshots that they took themselves.
If you look at the clothes these people are wearing, this guy has a big old Victorian
bow-tie, and this lady, whose full portrait we see in the behind-the-scenes content, similarly
has a dress that matches what you might see in Victorian times.
The bodies are not yet decomposed, so these pictures were probably taken well before Ed
and Lorraine were born.
Another photo, of a candle in the grass next to some runes and what looks like a witch
totem is labeled March 1921, again, a good five years before Ed was even born, it’s
also not clear how this ties into the Ferryman.
So I think the most relevant parts of the file are this hand drawn map, which is probably
a map of the catacombs that we see The Ferryman transform the Warrens’ laundry room and
office closet into.
I don’t necessarily think these catacombs are supposed to represent a location from
the real world; I was not able to find an example of a catacomb or crypt that has this
mineshaft look.
But if we want to use a real location just for comparison’s sake, I think the catacombs
in Milos, Greece, which were said to have been built during the first century of the
common era, makes sense.
According to the travel guide website Greeka, “The catacombs are full of labyrinths so
that the Romans could get lost in them.
This was a way to protect the bodies from their enemies.”
This site makes sense as a destination associated with Charon, because people would want their
loved ones to be buried in a place where graverobbers would not be able to easily steal the Ferryman’s
toll.
But I think the image most relevant to the Warrens’ investigation is hidden behind
the photo of this man with the horseshoe mustache.
There’s a photo of two little girls with their eyes closed.
I think these girls may be the younger sisters of the girl who was taken by The Ferryman,
as explained by the character, Daniela.
– It's this case the Warrens investigated about this girl who was terrorized by something
called the Ferryman.
Here's a picture of the girl he killed.
– [Zac] One of these girls could be the voice on this audiotape in which Ed Warren interviews a
young girl about the disappearance of her sister.
We hear this tape randomly start playing as Judy Warren’s babysitter Mary-Ellen is trying
to study.
– [female voice] …he had silver coins for his eyes.
She said his light shows you the way to the land of the dead.
I just wanna find my sister.
– [Ed] And when did she first see him?
– [female voice] Not long before he took her.
She said she'd wake up, and he'd be in her room… watching her sleep.
The night she went missing, we both woke up to a noise.
It sounded like a coin falling on the floor.
She told me to wait in her room.
So I did.
She never came back.
I went to look for her and ended up in a long hallway.
Filled with coffins.
Last night…
I woke up to a noise.
Another coin being dropped.
It was like he was…
Like he was calling me.
– [Ed] Have you ever seen the Ferryman?
– [female voice] If you don't pay his toll, he'll take your soul.
It sounds as if The Ferryman broke one of his rules and came after a girl who was still
alive.
We never really get enough info to make a definitive conclusion about why he does this,
but I came prepared with a theory.
When I explained the history of The Ferryman’s various depictions in culture across time,
we saw the deity becoming more and more Grim Reaper like, with the Annabelle Comes Home
version sporting a nose indent like you would see on a skull and wearing something similar
to the reaper’s cloak.
If we look at versions of a Grim Reaper in other cultures, a common theme is that interfering
with death’s design can result in death.
The big one to come to mind is Final Destination, where certain characters have clairvoyant
visions, allowing them to escape their death, but death continues to come for them in other
ways until they succumb.
I actually did a Horror History episode on Death in Final Destination, if you are interested.
In Japanese culture, Gods of death are known as Shinigami, and there’s a fantastic series
about them known as Death Note.
In Death Note, if one Shinigami tries to extend the life of a human whose lifespan has expired,
that Shinigami will die.
This is the only known way to kill a Shinigami.
Perhaps one of these sisters somehow saved the life of their older sister, who was supposed
to die, and is now being punished.
There’s nothing in the movie to back up this theory, but it seems like this may have
been the original idea based on the content of this deleted scene.
In it, Mary-Ellen explains that when she was five years old, she got really sick and almost
died.
– I came so close to dying, I didn’t feel anything.
– And she is actually the only character in the movie that The Ferryman goes after.
I think he’s targeted her because she was supposed to die when she was five years old,
but perhaps because the Warrens had already captured the Ferryman inside this coin pouch,
he was not able to take her from the land of the living.
Until… he was released.
It all started in 1968.
The Warrens had just investigated the case of a supposedly possessed doll named Annabelle,
and they decided to take the doll and keep it in their cursed artifact room for safe
keeping.
On the way home, their car broke down outside of a cemetery and they discovered that other
spirits were drawn to Malthus, the demon bound to this doll.
– [Lorraine] It’s the doll, Ed.
It’s a beacon for other spirits.
– [Zac] The doll sat in this case until 1972, when the Warrens were away for an evening and Mary-Ellen
was babysitting for Judy.
Her friend Daniela came over and snuck into the locked room, hoping to find a way to contact
her father on the other side.
In doing so, she touches everything, including the coin pouch that The Ferryman was bound in.
Malthus tricks Daniela into opening the Annabelle case and she leaves without properly locking
it, so the demon simply leans the doll forward against the glass in order to escape.
Because the doll is a beacon for other spirits, every spirit locked in that room is drawn
to Malthus, who presumably, provides them with the power to get out out of the room
and terrorize the house.
The Ferryman lures Mary-Ellen into The Warrens’ office using the sound of the interview tape
from their investigation on him.
She hears a coin drop, as one of the coin-eyed spirits she has seen in the photograph appears
in the room behind her.
She goes back to the hall where another coin rolls down the stairs and lands at her feet.
She picks it up and examines it to find several slashes across the surface, as if something
very powerful had scratched at it repeatedly, hard enough to do physical damage.
The Ferryman continues to roll his precious coins in her direction, sending her on a path
to the source.
When she reaches the kitchen, an almost insectile hissing sound directs her attention to the
laundry room.
(hissing sound)
That’s when she first lays eyes on what to this point has only been a figure of Greek
legend to her.
She locks eyes with two coins, floating near the ceiling in the dark.
(coin dropping)
(suspenseful music)
The positioning of The Ferryman, seemingly perched on the ceiling, is something that
we’ve seen before in the Annabelle spin-off movies.
On multiple occasions, Malthus has climbed around on a ceiling before pouncing down on
his prey.
For this reason, I would assume that The Ferryman seemingly performing the same ceiling hang
trick here is a result of influence by Malthus, whether Malthus simply taught him how to do
it, or took hold of him in the same fashion that we saw the demon Valak take hold of the
the old man Bill Wilkins in the Conjuring 2.
In any event, Mary Ellen is able to defend herself by shining her flashlight at the coins,
causing The Ferryman to disappear and the coins to fall to the ground.
Her flashlight dies, and she picks up one of the coins to examine it, but as she does
so, The Ferryman rushes forward, right in front of her.
Coins once again cover his eyes, and we get a good look at his dark, dry looking face.
Mary-Ellen screams and tries to run for it, but she’s knocked to the ground by a supernatural
force, then air yeeted back into the darkness.
She’s only able to stop herself by grabbing onto a door frame for dear life.
At this point, The Ferryman’s powers seem to be the standard set of abilities seen on
most paranormal entities in the Conjurverse: ability to move around quickly, climb on walls
and ceilings, interact with technology, become invisible and of course, yeet people and objects,
seemingly out of thin air while invisible.
But his next move is not something we’ve really seen from other creatures.
The Warrens’ laundry room is instantly transformed into the catacombs and spirits with token
eyes appear in coffins on each side of him as he raises a warm, dim lantern up around
his face.
Like the illusion Daniela experiences, where she appears to be stabbed by a knife, this
room transformation is only visual, and the house would return to normal after Mary-Ellen’s
flashlight comes back to life and she shines it in Charon’s direction.
The Ferryman retreats to the closet in Ed and Lorraine’s office, but not before retrieving
the Annabelle doll, which the girls would need to return to it’s case to have any
hope of stopping the horrors wrecking havoc around the house.
– Annabelle.
The doll.
She’s the one who’s doing all of this.
– When they arrive, The Ferryman creaks open the closet door to give them a peak and reveal
Annabelle, then slam it shut before they can get to it.
They’re able to locate the key, but when Mary-Ellen reopens the door, the closet has
transformed into the catacombs of the Ferryman.
At the end of the corridor, Mary-Ellen sees the girl that the Ferryman killed, the one
that looks just like her, eyes covered and holding the Annabelle doll.
It was a trap to coax her further into the crypt, but she had no choice but to venture
forward to retrieve the doll.
Her lamp goes out.
This is the second time Mary-Ellen’s source of light was extinguished in The Ferryman’s
presence, and it makes me wonder if the infernal deity named for intense light, as the son
of night and darkness has some ability to manipulate light sources.
She is unable at first to pry the doll from her doppelganger’s grasp.
The girl comes to life and Screams.
(scream)
Although we don’t see exactly how Mary-Ellen gets ahold of the doll, she is able to grab
it and throw it forward to Judy, and she’s only able to scream for her to go.
After Judy and Mary-Ellen try to return the doll, Malthus uses its power to prevent them
from closing the encasing, and The Ferryman, along with the other spirits released into
the house close in on them.
But with Daniela’s help, they’re able to close the door, and The Ferryman and all
the other threats that Malthus released that evening are contained once more.
– The evil is contained.
– Could we see the Ferryman return in another Conjurverse movie?
I mean maybe, he’s technically, like, still there.
If Malthus gets out again, anything could happen.
But no, let’s be real that’s not gonna happen.
To fully understand the lore behind Malthus and the rest of of the evil deities in the
Conjurverse, you need to click that playlist on the left.
But first, remember to subscribe to CZsWorld for new horrors every week, ring the deathbell
and select all notifications and I will see you in the next video.
Assuming we both survive.
(somber music)