it was my understanding that demons could only possess/inhabit living creatures. There is no Biblical basis for demons possessing an inanimate object.
With Suzy Doll, the family had a priest come and perform an exorcism. It failed.
What's the theology here? Is this demon stronger than God? Can an object that is possessed simply be thrown away? Can an object really be possessed? Is this family just making it all up?
If you can accept the events which surounded, e.g., the 'Dybbuk box' (as some do, & let's not forget that there is the so called 'Annabelle doll' too), then it's not exactly a leap of faith to believe that *other* inanimate objects could possibly (though extremely unlikely, of course) be possessed as well.
By the way, the family didn't give any particular tells of deception away. Albeit, there will be the usual suspects who'd say that they 'invented' the story, just to try and make money from it, given their financial situation... Hmmm. There's one curious thing though: I believe it was more likely just a production oversight that they showed their being on the street outside their house, when one of our narrators says that she "heard the rocking chair" - which is pretty unlikely - given where they were depicted to be at that moment.
Anyway, I recall that the Warrens, long before 'The Conjuring' was produced, in one of their books, wrote extensively about this case. Although, I can't from memory remember which exact book it was, as it was many years ago, when I last read it. Maybe someone else remembers which one it was?
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Sandwiched between The Principle of Mediocrity & Rare Earth Theory, you should see The Fermi Paradox