If you haven't heard the buzz yet, there's a new horror movie out on Netflix called Veronica.
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It follows a teenage girl, Veronica, who attempts to use a Ouija board to contact her dead father.
Of course, things go terribly awry. A scary nun breaks the board, there are demons, and it's two hours of nope.
BUT, it's getting a lot of praise from horror fans.
I watch a lot of horror movies. @paco_plaza's #Verónica is the first time in a while that I have had to take a mental breather halfway through. Truly terrifying and deeply human. A gorgeous and twisted possession story about innocence lost. Highly recommended! https://t.co/0PaTiZX5wg
What's scarier than the movie is the real case it was based off of.
It's known as the Vallecas case, and it attempts to explain Estefanía Gutiérrez Lázaro's strange and sudden death. Newsweek took a deeper look into the facts and fictions Veronica was based off of.
Estefanía and her friends were playing on a Ouija board, but got interupted when a teacher found them and put an end to their game.
After the game, Estefanía complained to her parents about hearing strange voices, hallucinating, and convulsing. Estefanía was taken to several doctors, but nobody could figure out what was wrong.
Her health spiraled downward until August 1991, where she was admitted to the Gregorio Marañón Hospital and died. ABC Spain says the medical report cited "sudden and suspicious death" as the cause.
It gets creepier: Estefanía's parents claimed to have been victims of paranormal activity for over a year after their daughter's death, where they said they saw giant looming shadows in their home, and doors open and slam on their own.
When they finally contacted police, five officers investigated the call and found no evidence of breaking and entering.
The director of the movie, Paco Plaza, said at the Toronto Film Festival that Veronica is not a documentary of any sorts, but it was "the only time a police officer has said he has witnessed something paranormal, and it’s written in a report with an official police stamp..."
So, while Veronica is only loosely based on the Vallecas case, and whether you believe in ghost stories or not, I think we can all agree this is nightmare fuel.
I'm going to go turn all of my lights on.
