The Amityville Horror

The Amityville Horror was a best-selling 1977 novel by Jay Anson, and a 1979 film , about a family that moves into a house in the New York village of Amityville, on the south shore of Long Island where a murder was committed, and finds that the house exerts a paranormal influence on them.

Related Topics:
1977 - Novel - Jay Anson - 1979 - Film - House - New York - Village - Amityville - Long Island - Murder - Paranormal

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The story about the house having supernatural aspects was started by Ron DeFeo who claimed that he heard demonic voices telling him to kill.

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The house described in The Amityville Horror and portrayed on the book's cover is a real home on Ocean Avenue in an upscale neighborhood in Amityville, New York. Some sources claim that after the Lutz family moved out, a second family bought the house and also claimed paranormal events, but others dispute that there was any such family between the Lutzes and the family that currently owns the house. The family that currently owns the house have never reported experiencing any paranormal phenomena at all and have lived there quietly without any complaints from them or their neighbors except for tourists parking to view the house. The new family made modifications to the house, especially by changing the distinctive quarter-round windows that made it recognizable from other nearby homes, after which the tourism problem declined. The house's original address was also changed.

Related Topics:
Neighborhood - Tourists - Window

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Left to right: 112 Ocean as owned by the DeFeo & Lutz familiy, 112 Ocean in 1978, House in Toms River, New Jersey remodeled to look like 112 Ocean (was used for filming first three Amityville Horror movies), 112 Ocean as remodeled in the 1990s - note the replacement of quarter-moon window as well as the alteration of porch balustrade and the removal of latticework around porch columns.

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A recent view of 112 Ocean.

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The home was the scene of the murder of six members of the DeFeo family by Ronald DeFeo, Jr., who is still imprisoned for the crime.

Related Topics:
Ronald DeFeo, Jr. - Imprisoned - Crime

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Part of the appeal of the story was that the book was subtitled "a true story," and the movie also claimed to be the true story of the Lutz family's experiences in the Amityville house.

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However, it is not widely known by the public that many, if not all, of the paranormal claims were discovered to be false.

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• William Weber, lawyer for Ronald DeFeo, Jr., admitted in 1979 that he and the Lutzes had concocted the whole story of the haunting. The story was related to Weber's defense in court.
• Doors and windows show none of the claimed damage.
• Police records show that they were never called by the Lutzes.
• Descriptions of alleged psychic events did not match either the method or details of the actual murders.
• Father Pecoraro, who supposedly fled the place, later stated that he never saw anything in the house.
• Weather records show that there was no snow for the claimed hoofprints to be in.

The movie had no fewer than seven sequels and a remake of the original movie was released in 2005.

Related Topics:
Sequel - Remake of the original movie - 2005

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