As a teenager, I came across this true story about a haunted house called The Amityville Jay Anson Horror and I was fascinated. Was this house actually haunted? Find out what happens in this true story and whether or not the house is haunted.
The Amityville Horror Summary
George and Kathleen Lutz bought a house that was too good to pass for the going price in 1975. The five-bedroom house has a dark past that drove the price down. A murder had taken place in the house and that didn’t the Lutz from buying it and moving in.
Upon learning of the murder in the house, a friend of the Lutz insisted on getting the house blessed. George reaches out to a Catholic priest named Father Ray. The priest flicked holy water and started to pray and was immediately told to “get out” by a masculine voice. During this time, George and Kathleen didn’t recall anything weird happening.
A month after the priest’s visit, the Lutz’s decided to call the priest again and try to bless the house again. This would be the last night the Lutz’s would stay in the house. They declined to go into details about what happened, saying it was too frightening. They did say the phenomenon followed them and they saw “greenish-black slime” in their new place.
Commentary
I was a big fan of this story and novel and also saw the movie. Sue me. But don’t really. The novel went on to sell over 10 million copies. But the events in the book were said to be fabricated and a big controversy that involved the court.
The first thing people pointed out was that the priest’s account was fabricated. Father Pecoraro whose name was changed to Father Ray for privacy reasons, said his only contact with the Lutz’s was by phone. There are other accounts (how if the person who was said of doing said thing denied it??) that say Father Pecoraro went to the house but didn’t experience anything unusual.
A lot of the events in the novel were disproven by experts. George Lutz has maintained his stance on the events being “mostly true.” Kathleen and George took a polygraph and the results did not indicate they were lying.
No other residents that lived in the house afterwards said they experienced anything weird or supernatural. Except for all the people in front of the house because of the novel and the movie’s popularity.
Conclusion
My personal opinion is that this was a money grab idea that became much bigger than anyone imagined. Kind of interesting that a haunted house was this big of a thing. Even today, people still debate The Amityville Horror. I closed the chapter (and door) on this story and find it fun to revisit in this post. I hope you enjoyed the Amityville Horror summary written by me. What do you make of this story?
P.S. A fellow blogger wrote a great review for this novel and you can that out here. Anne with a Book
Interesting, I have not read this book nor seen the film, but I am fully aware of the case of Ronald DeFeo who shot his five family members on 13 November 1974 in Amityville. I am sure that the 1970s mania for all things supernatural and occult can explain a lot of what was going on at that time regarding the house where it happened and I do like horror film The Conjuring by James Wan inspired by the real Amityville investigators.
The book isn’t that interesting to be honest. It’s more that is was one of the first so it had a big impact
I have been meaning to read The Amityville Horror. I really enjoyed the 2005 (I think that’s when it was released) version of the movie. Since the book is usually always better, I really need to get to the book.
I say something did happen and they saw this as a chance to fabricated into a money grabbing opportunity. When people have all this attached they tend to make up stories to the point where it so far from the truth.
I’m surprised people ate it up as much as they did
It must of been the culture at the time. This is the case that push Ed and Lorraine Warren into the spotlight.