Lorraine died quietly and peacefully earlier this week, according to her grandson, Chris McKinnell. He said, "Last night my grandmother, Lorraine Warren, quietly and peacefully left us to join her beloved Ed. She was happy and laughing until the very end."

Lorraine and her husband, Ed, who died in 2006, were world-renowned paranormal investigators whose casework sparked James Wan's horror film franchise. Lorraine's character was played by Vera Farmiga.

Lorraine -- born on January 31, 1927 -- and Ed investigated scores of paranormal cases, but none more famous than what went down in Amityville, NY. That creepy case inspired the 1977 book, "The Amityville Horror" ... as well as the 1979 horror flick and the 2005 remake.

In "The Conjuring," Lorraine's character investigates a haunted Rhode Island farmhouse, but not before the film introduces the audience to the infamous Annabelle doll in the opening scene -- showing 2 roommates getting tortured by the doll with creepy messages on the walls.

Years later, Lorraine and Ed would go on to create a museum featuring the haunted objects they had kept from their investigations ... including the real Annabelle doll.