I must have read “The Amityville Horror” at least three times when it came out in 1977. I was fascinated and scared out of my skin by the “haunting” of 112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville, NY, on the south shore of Long Island. The home was site of a horrendous murder spree: Ronald DeFeo, Jr., had shot six members of his family to death. The book told the story of George and Kathleen Lutz, who, along with their three children and their dog, Harry, moved into the house 13 months after the murders.
But it wasn’t long before they started reporting that very strange and very scary things were going on: green goo flowing down the walls, giant swarms of black flies commandeering a room on the second floor, George waking up every morning at 3:15 (the estimated time of the murders), loud noises, glances of demonic creatures, and the discovery of a hidden room in the basement. When they tried an exorcism to rid the house of the “evil spirits”, George said he heard a chorus of voices demanding they to stop. Finally, after 28 nights in the house, the Lutz family fled and their story was taken up by writer Jay Anson. He went on to sell 10 million copies of his book about the family’s ordeal. Anson’s book, by the way, spawned nine (!) movies.
Anyway – I saw this week that the house at 112 Ocean Avenue is on the market for $1.15 million. So here’s my question: if you had the money and discovered that this was indeed your dream house, would the home’s “backstory” – the horrific murders, the supposed haunting, or the continuing media and tourist interest in this house – deter you from making the purchase?
In 1977 my brother had the book and I remember it scaring the bejesus out of me - I was even afraid to touch the book. I saw the movie and got so scared that it made me sleep with a cross for a while.
ReplyDeleteI remember not being able to sleep when I read that book and I always remember waking up around 3am being scared crapless that I'd hear a marching band or see pig eyes...what a downer when years later that Lutz couple admitted it was all made up to sell a book they thought they'd make millions off of....still freaky stuff though....
ReplyDeleteHey Kimber: I know that both George and Kathleen Lutz have passed away, but i didn't know about them making all of this up to sell books. I wonder how much they personally profitted from all of this??
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