After Ronald DeFeo Jr. murdered his family in their Amityville, New York home in 1974, the next family who moved into the house claimed it was plagued by paranormal activity.
Wikimedia CommonsThe Amityville Horror House, a year before the infamous DeFeo murders took place.
The Amityville Horror House is the site of one of America’s most popular ghost stories. The home’s dark reputation dates back to 1974, when Ronald DeFeo Jr. fatally shot his parents and siblings in the house on Long Island, New York. Chillingly, his lawyer would later claim that “demonic voices” in DeFeo’s head made him commit the heinous crime.
Following the brutal murders, the Lutz family moved into the Amityville home and reported terrifying paranormal activity there. They also claimed that the house was haunted by the murdered DeFeos. These disturbing incidents allegedly caused the family to flee the home after only 28 days.
The Lutz family’s alleged experiences were famously explored in the 1979 film The Amityville Horror, cementing their chilling tale as a staple in American pop culture. This is the true story behind the legend.
The Brutal Murders Behind The Amityville Horror
Public DomainThe DeFeo children. Pictured in the back row: John, Allison, and Marc. Front row: Dawn and Ronald Jr.
In 1927, the three-story Dutch Colonial home that would later gain the name Amityville Horror House was built in the village of Amityville, New York.
The Long Island home first belonged to John and Catherine Moynahan before switching hands to other owners. By 1965, the couple Ronald DeFeo Sr. and Louise DeFeo had moved into the house with their four children: Ronald Jr., Dawn, Allison, and Marc. The couple’s fifth and final child, John Matthew, was born after the DeFeos had settled in at the home.
The DeFeos lived at the home for about nine years before tragedy struck.
On November 13, 1974, the Suffolk County Police Department received a call that a distraught young man had run into a bar and claimed his whole family had been shot. The man was Ronald DeFeo Jr., the DeFeos’ 23-year-old son.
When police searched the home, they found the dead bodies of the DeFeo family: Ronald DeFeo Sr., Louise DeFeo, and four of their children, 18-year-old Dawn, 13-year-old Allison, 12-year-old Marc, and 9-year-old John Matthew. Every member of the family besides Ronald Jr. had been fatally shot. Forensic testing later found that the family had been killed by bullets from a .35-caliber Marlin rifle around 3 a.m. earlier that same day.
Though Ronald Jr. initially tried to pin the murders on a mob hitman, he confessed to killing his family just a day after the murders. When his case went to trial, his lawyer tried to claim that he was an “insane” man who turned to murder because of the demonic voices in his head.
In the end, the lawyer’s insanity argument didn’t work. DeFeo was found guilty of six counts of second-degree murder in 1975. He was later sentenced to six consecutive sentences of 25 years to life in prison.
Clearly, many didn’t buy that DeFeo was “possessed.” But some did begin to believe that the Amityville Horror House was haunted by his dead relatives.
The Lutz Family Reports Paranormal Activity In The Amityville House
IMDbGeorge Lutz, a former resident of the Amityville Horror House who claimed to have experienced paranormal activity.
Following the brutal murders, the house remained empty for months. Understandably, few wanted to live in a home with such a dark past.
Then, in December 1975, George and Kathy Lutz purchased the home for $80,000, which was a real steal considering the house’s large size.
“It was a dream come true,” George Lutz told ABC News.
However, after only 28 days in the home, the Lutzes fled, citing intense paranormal activity and “hauntings” at the residence.
“There were… odors in the house that came and went,” George Lutz claimed. “There were sounds. The front door would slam shut in the middle of the night… I couldn’t get warm in the house for many days.”
He complained of waking up every night at 3:15 a.m., which was believed to be around the same time that the DeFeos were murdered. And as the days went on, the paranormal activity in the house became increasingly disconcerting, including green slime allegedly oozing from the walls. The last straw came when George Lutz purportedly witnessed his wife levitating one night. By the next morning, the family had packed their bags and left.
The incident soon drew the attention of authors, including Jay Anson. The Lutzes sent him over 45 hours of tape recordings so he could write The Amityville Horror, which was published in 1977. The book explored the DeFeo murders and the Lutzes’ alleged experiences, capturing America’s attention.
The Amityville Horror Draws The Attention Of Paranormal Investigators
Ira Berger/Alamy Stock PhotoAuthor and parapsychologist Hans Holzer in front of the infamous Amityville Horror House.
After the successful release of The Amityville Horror, which sold more than 10 million copies, many paranormal investigators from across the country traveled to Amityville to explore the notorious home for themselves. Some even opened investigations before the book was published.
The most famous paranormal investigators to walk through the doors were Ed and Lorraine Warren, a couple who founded the New England Society for Psychic Research and investigated countless high-profile paranormal cases, including those that would inspire The Conjuring Universe horror franchise.
The Warrens arrived at the property about five months after the Lutz family had vacated the home. During the couple’s investigation, Ed Warren claimed that an unknown force pushed him to the floor. Lorraine claimed to have experienced the presence of demonic beings in the house, and she also said that she saw visions of the bodies of the DeFeo family.
The couple later alleged in their case files that a black magic practitioner had once used the land around the home and even specifically requested to be buried there. They also claimed that Shinnecock Native Americans had once used the land to house people who were sick or experiencing mental illness. However, historical evidence does not support these claims.
Despite this, the Warrens did capture an eerie image of what appears to be a young boy on the second floor. As chilling as it is, many experts have doubted the photo’s authenticity and the claims that it depicts a “spirit.”
Public DomainThe controversial “spirit” photo captured in 1976. Many experts have expressed skepticism about the image’s authenticity.
Another notable paranormal investigator to take on the Amityville Horror House was Hans Holzer, an author and parapsychologist.
In 1977, Holzer and the spiritual medium Ethel Johnson-Meyers entered the home. The photos they took in the house that night showed some bizarre light anomalies, but there was not much else to note.
Still, Holzer firmly believed that the home was sitting on a Shinnecock Native American burial ground, and that is why the property attracted such negative energy. He also claimed to have made contact with a Native American Shinnecock chief while he was exploring the residence.
However, many historians have argued that the Shinnecock Native Americans lived further out east on Long Island, and that there would’ve been a different Indigenous tribe living in present-day Amityville all those years ago. Despite this, Holzer’s investigation became famous — and ensured that the home’s legacy as a “haunted” house would continue.
The Questionable Legacy Of The Amityville Horror House
American International PicturesJames Brolin in The Amityville Horror (1979), a famous retelling of the Lutz family’s alleged experiences.
Following the Lutz family’s flight from the home, the Amityville house fell into the hands of several people, none of whom seemed to have the terrifying paranormal experiences that the Lutzes allegedly had.
Still, paranormal enthusiasts remained fascinated by the home, and so many people came to visit the house that the owners were eventually forced to renovate the home in the hopes of keeping curious visitors away. Not only did they change the house’s recognizable quarter-moon windows, but they also changed the home’s address so it would no longer show up immediately on maps. The home was last sold for $605,000 in 2017.
Interestingly, despite the fact that many claims about the home and its history have been disproven — or strongly doubted — the legend of the Amityville Horror House lives on in American pop culture to this day.
The most famous film depicting the Lutzes’ alleged experiences hit screens in 1979. Another version of the movie was later released in 2005, starring Ryan Reynolds as George Lutz. Ultimately, the original book about the Amityville haunting inspired more than a dozen movies total.
Thanks largely to the efforts of authors and filmmakers, the name Amityville is still synonymous with the paranormal today. And despite the many skeptics who have spoken out against the chilling tale, some still believe that the house is one of the most haunted locations in the United States.
After reading about the real Amityville Horror that inspired the classic movie, dive into the true story behind The Conjuring and the Enfield Haunting. Then, discover the true story that inspired The Haunting in Connecticut.
