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''The Amityville Horror'' is the title of a best-selling book by the author Jay Anson which was published in 1977 . The book has also formed the basis of a series of cinema films made between 1979 and 2005 . BRIEF SYNOPSIS The book and film adaptations deal with the story the Lutz family, who moved into a Dutch Colonial home in the village of Amityville , a suburban neighborhood located on the south shore of Long Island , New York in Suffolk County in 1975 . Thirteen months earlier the house at 112 Ocean Avenue had been the scene of a brutal mass murder. After living in the house for 28 days the Lutz family fled the house, claiming to have been terrorized by Paranormal phenomena. THE DEFEO MURDERS
''See also:'' Ronald DeFeo, Jr. On the evening of November 13 1974 , police officers were called to 112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville , Long Island , where they found that six members of the same family had been killed in a shooting incident. The victims were the two parents, two brothers and two sisters of Ronald "Butch" DeFeo Junior, a 23 year old who had survived the incident unscathed. The victims had all been shot with a .35 caliber hunting rifle at around three o'clock in the morning of that day. Ronald DeFeo initially suggested that they had been murdered by the mob until confessing to the killings. DeFeo was put on trial for the killings and attempted a defense of Insanity , which was supported by his psychiatrist Doctor Daniel Schwartz. The psychiatrist for the prosecution, Doctor Harold Zolan, maintained that although DeFeo suffered from a Personality Disorder and drug abuse problems, he was aware of what he was doing at the time of the crime. DeFeo was convicted of Second Degree Murder in December 1975 and is currently serving a life sentence. [http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/family/amityville/1.html JAY ANSON'S BOOK
and the removal of Lattice work around porch columns.]] The house on 112 Ocean Avenue remained empty for thirteen months after the DeFeo murders until December 1975 , when George and Kathleen Lutz purchased the house for what was considered to be a bargain price of $80,000. George and Kathy had married in July 1975 and had their own houses, but they wanted to start a new life with a new home. Kathy had three children from a previous marriage and a black Labrador named Harry. During their first inspection of the house the realtor told them about the DeFeo murders the previous November and asked if this changed their opinion on wanting to purchase the house. After family discussions, it was agreed that it was not an issue. The Lutz family moved in on December 18 , 1975 . When a friend of George Lutz learned of the house's history he insisted on having the house blessed. At the time George was a non-practising Methodist and had no experience of what this would entail. Kathy was a non-practising Catholic and explained the process. George knew only one Catholic priest named Father Ray and he agreed to carry out the house blessing. (In Jay Anson 's book the priest is referred to as Father Mancuso. This was done for reasons of privacy and the priest's real name was Father Ralph J. Pecoraro, who died in 1987 .) Being an ecclesiastical judge at the local Catholic establishment, Father Ray was not in the habit of doing house blessings but since he and George were friends, he agreed to bless the house as a favor. Father Ray arrived to perform the house blessing on the day the Lutzes were moving in and as they busily unpacked outside he went in and performed the house blessing. George and Kathy later learned from Father Ray that while blessing a particular room on the second floor which was formerly the bedroom of Mark and John DeFeo (the younger brothers of Ronald DeFeo ), he experienced an unnatural coldness in the room and heard an unearthly voice telling him to “Get out!” Startled by this, Father Ray was subsequently slapped by an unseen force. When leaving the house, Father Ray did not mention this incident to either George or Kathy, possibly because he did not wish to cause them unnecessary concern. Instead he told them that he felt uncomfortable in the room and would prefer it if nobody spent too much time there. Since they planned to use the room as a sewing room nothing more was mentioned of it until after George and Kathy had fled the house. At first George and Kathy Lutz experienced nothing unusual in the house. Talking about their experiences subsequently, they reported that it was as if they "were each living in a different house". Some of the experiences of the Lutz family at the house have been described as follows:
When the Lutzes decided that something was wrong with their house that they could not explain rationally, it was suggested by a friend of George’s that he and Kathy carry out a blessing of their own and open all the windows in the rooms, telling whatever was there to leave in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. While taking his advice and walking around the house reciting the Lord’s Prayer in each of the rooms, George and Kathy allegedly heard a chorus of voices telling them “Will you please stop!” By mid January of 1976 and after another attempt at a house blessing by George and Kathy, they experienced what would turn out to be their final night in the house. To this day events of this night have not been disclosed fully by the Lutz family as they have described them as "too frightening". After getting in touch with Father Ray the Lutzes decided to take some belongings and stay at Kathy’s mother’s house in nearby Deer Park, New York until they had sorted out the problems with the house. On January 14 , 1976 , George and Kathy Lutz, with their three children and their dog Harry, left the house at 112 Ocean Avenue leaving most of their possessions behind. The next day, a mover came in to remove all of the possessions to send to the Lutzes. He reported no paranormal phenomena while inside the house. {Link without Title} CRITICISMS Much of the is revealing, since the 1973 film had been a huge box office success and was one of the major cultural events of the 1970s . Many of the incidents in Jay Anson's book describing the events at the house at 112 Ocean Avenue carry with them the style of the The Exorcist, and this is one of the reasons why some of the events described in Anson's book have aroused suspicion. Anson himself wrote that "There is simply too much independent corroboration of their narrative to support the speculation that Lutzes either imagined or fabricated these events", but other writers and researchers begged to differ. Almost as soon as the book was published in September 1977 other writers began looking into the events at the house at 112 Ocean Avenue, and the conclusions that they reached were often considerably different from those that had appeared in Anson's book. The researcher Stephen Kaplan spent many years investigating the incident and concluded that many of the events described in the book were of questionable veracity. Much attention has been given to the role of Father Pecoraro in the events at 112 Ocean Avenue. During the course of the lawsuit surrounding the case (see following paragraph) Father Pecoraro stated in an Affidavit that his only contact with the Lutzes concerning the affair had been by telephone. Additionally, Ronald DeFeo's defense lawyer William Weber claimed in a radio interview that Father Pecoraro had never at any time visited the house. With regard to the hoofprint claims, subsequent research showed that there had been no snow in Amityville on the day in question. The claims of physical damage to the locks and doors were questioned since an inspection suggested that they were still the original items. Neighbors of the house reported nothing unusual during the time that the Lutzes were living there. In the book and film, police officers are shown visiting the house, but records showed that no police officers visited the house during the 28 days that the Lutzes were living in Ocean Avenue. [http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/family/amityville/6.html {Link without Title} In May , 1979 issue of People Magazine , William Weber wrote: "I know this book is a hoax. We created this horror story over many bottles of wine." Judge Weinstein also expressed concern about the conduct of William Weber and Bernard Burton relating to the affair, stating: “There is a very serious ethical question when lawyers become literary agents.” {Link without Title} At the time of writing George Lutz is still alive, although Kathy Lutz died of Emphysema in 2004 . The couple were divorced in the late 1980 s but remained on good terms. George Lutz maintains that events in the book are "mostly true" and denies any suggestion of dishonesty on his part. In a television interview with the History Channel broadcast in October 2000 he commented: "I have never said it was a hoax and I never will, because it is not a hoax. That doesn't mean that everything that was ever said about it was true, but it is certainly not a hoax. I wish it was. It's not." The debate about the validity of the hauntings continues, and it should be noted that the present occupants of the house have reported no problems while living there. THE FILMS At the most recent count, the story of the Amityville Horror has been the subject of nine films, which are as follows:
The best known of these films is the original 1979 version. This starred James Brolin and Margot Kidder as George and Kathy Lutz. The part of the priest who blesses the house was played by Rod Steiger , whose name in the film is Father Delaney as opposed to Father Ralph Pecoraro who was the actual priest concerned. {Link without Title} George Lutz has described the 2005 remake of The Amityville Horror as "drivel" and is currently suing the makers for defamation, libel, and breach of contract. He has particularly objected to the scene in the film where the male lead - named as George Lutz and played by Ryan Reynolds - is shown killing the family dog with an ax. The film also shows the George Lutz character building coffins for members of his own family. George Lutz registered the phrase ''The Amityville Horror'' as a trademark in 2002 , and it is referred to as The Amityville Horror™ on his official website. See The Amityville Horror (2005 Film) and [http://tarr.uspto.gov/servlet/tarr?regser=serial&entry=78021172 . SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
Skeptical articles
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