Perhaps nothing gets audience interest piqued quite like The Amityville Horror. This story is a murder investigation, the gallons of blood that seeped through the tongue-and-groove planks and between bricks and mortar-much of that blood forever staining the walls, taking sanctuary within them.
So many books movies and documentaries have come out since – exacerbating one aspect or another of that grisly tale which began Dec. 18, 1975, to Jan. 14, 1976, at 112 Ocean Ave., a ramshackle former Dutch Colonial home not far from the waterway separating Long Island’s South Shore from its sinister oceanic-self; making each iteration almost exactly like the last – but somehow brand new commemoratively regarding the so-called “Amityville Horror,” it donned as the Auschwitz for Murder-Commerce. ll hac
Ronald DeFeo Jr. shot his entire family in their own home at 112 Ocean Avenue in November 1974. DeFeo was eventually convicted of all six murders and is currently serving his life sentence behind bars. George and Kathy Lutz, along with Kathy’s three children from a previous marriage, moved into the home in December 1975–a little over a year after the murders had taken place.
Almost immediately after moving in the Lutz family started to experience unusual things in their home. Doors would slam on their own, voices could be heard talking, and an evil sense of something being very wrong permeated everything in the house. The family said they were “driven out” of their home just 28 days after moving in by relentless paranormal activity.
The Amityville Horror story is, to date, one of the most famous – and debated – paranormal cases on file. Some say it was all an exaggerated event, and the whole thing was hoaxed, others are confident that the residence was haunted. Whether true or a sham, the Amityville Horror is still a scary story that ignites the imaginations of readers today.
The DeFeo Murders in Amityville
The granddaddy of haunted houses opens with the ordeal and murder of the DeFeo family on November 13, 1974. Ronald DeFeo Jr. at 23, shot and killed his parents, Ronald Sr. and Louise as well as his siblings: Dawn, Allison, Marc, and John Matthew
DeFeo stated he had killed his family in response to voices that commanded him to do so. The murders resulted in six concurrent life sentences for Johnson. The house stood empty for more than a year after the murders.
The Lutz Family Moves In
And George and Kathy Lutz, buoyed by boasting three of Kathy’s offspring from a previous marriage, took up residence in the 112 Ocean Avenue digs in December of 1975. The Lutzes did not know about the horrific events in that house and just wanted to get a fresh start at the new location.
The family almost immediately began having peculiar happenings going on around the house. That doors would slam shut, voices of the dead could be heard, and that an evil presence was in the home. The family said they fled the new home just 28 days after moving in, unable to deal with dreadful paranormal activity.
The Paranormal Activity
The Lutz family photographed reported activities of the house like these.
-Doors slamming shut on their own
– Disembodied voices
-The suffocating atmosphere of evil in the house
-Green slime dripping along the walls
-A hellish pig-like demon
-Kathy Lutz levitating over the bed
The family also reportedly claimed that the house was being “haunted” by the ghosts of the DeFeo family members who had been murdered there just a little over a year earlier.
The Controversy
The Amityville Horror is another one whose authenticity has long been in question. Many think that it was a matter of exaggeration or even a hoax; and for others, the house was haunted.
A major problem with the story is that the Lutzes allegedly never called the cops or reported anything amiss until after they had vacated the house when they were back in California trying to figure out what to do next. Some of the specifics of their story, including the green slime seeping out of the walls and Kathy Lutz “levitating” above her bed, have since been discredited as new embellishments or outright lies.
But proponents of the Amityville Horror story counter that for all their claims, the Lutzs had no reason to lie about what they experienced and that indeed, the abode was inhabited by tortured spirits frothing in wrath, emanating from the souls of the DeFeo clan. They cite the house sitting empty more than a year after the killings as proof that there was a problem with the home.
The Legacy of the Amityville Horror
The Amityville Horror legend began on November 13, 1974. The film has also inspired a wealth of books, documentaries and movies over the years and each tells a slightly different story as to what happened at 112 Ocean Avenue.
The whole thing entered the legends of American horror-and he wrote a book about what ensued for him and his family that inspired 1979’s The Amityville Horror starring James Brolin (above right) with Margot Kidder as George and KathyLutz. It was the beginning of a series of future sequels and remake successes at the Box Office.
The Amityville Horror is tried and tested as far as urban myths go, with dozens of documentaries and TV specials made about it. Though others have honed in on the incident’s haunting features; still others have conjectured about the terrifying events that befell the Lutz family.
Alasdair: Alasdair Alasdair By Alasdair When it formed the basis of a real-life horror story, the legend of the Amityville Horror tale was born – and thanks to Hollywood – has lived on in various forms for many decades. This is a story of murder, heartbreak and the supernatural which is so profound that makes you feel as if it never truly leaves you when you finally finish reading it.
Conclusion
One of those stories that had been stuck in the back of people’s minds for years is The Amityville Horror, This is a story of murder, the supernatural and how trauma can completely change the way we relate to our homes. The subject of great debate and controversy, the story is as chilling today as when it first horrified audiences.
Be it from that of a world beyond our understand, the perpetual infliction of horror on civilization or simply as an accursed pillar twisting its occupants into wicked shapes at every opportunity; Amityville still stands reminding us just how permanent such haunting can be. A tale that still mesmerizes and continues to send out chills for generations to come.