The Amityville Horror: A Scary Ghost Story Or Something More Sinister?
Getty ImagesThe house at 112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville, New York where Ronald DeFeo Jr. killed his entire family on the night of November 13, 1974.
The horrifying Amityville murders of 1974 have been cemented as one of the most disturbing American horror stories of the 20th century.
The house in Amityville, New York, still stands to this day (though under a different address) as a potent reminder of the night when young Ronald DeFeo Jr. murdered his entire family as they slept.
It was November 13 when the 23-year-old awoke around 3:15 a.m. DeFeo systematically shot each of his four siblings once, one as young as 9, and both his parents twice, before running to a nearby bar claiming a local mobster had murdered his family.
But the next day he confessed to police. He claimed to have heard voices in the house, urging him to kill his parents, brothers, and sister. This was not the first time DeFeo claimed to have heard such voices. His testimony to a paranormal force didn’t go over well in court, considering he was also a drug addict presumably in the midst of a psychotic break.
He is still incarcerated in a New York Prison after being awarded six life sentences for his crimes.
John Cornell/Newsday RM via Getty ImagesRonald DeFeo Jr. sought a new trial in 1992, years after he was convicted of murdering his family.
The house remained vacant for more than a year before was then purchased by George Lutz for $80,000. The price was simply too good to be true, so Lutz, his wife Kathy, and their sons Daniel and Christopher gratefully moved in.
They only lasted 28 days in the home before fleeing. The family claimed that slime began seeping out of the walls. Knives flew off kitchen counters and a pig-looking creature had terrorized them.
At times when nobody was inside the house, passersby reported figures wandering about. Lutz even claimed he saw his wife floating above their bed and that he, too, began waking up at 3:15 a.m.
When they called in a priest to bless the house, he allegedly heard a voice telling him to “Get out!”
Hulton Archive/Getty ImagesGeorge and Kathy Lutz, owners of the infamous Amityville Horror house after the DeFeo murders took place.
Naturally, skepticism about these allegedly real ghost stories abounded. With one of the most famous massacres having occurred at the house, and the Lutz family in serious debt, it only made sense that they’d cook up an elaborate ruse to bring renewed attention (perhaps even a book or movie deal) into their orbit.
Although the Lutz’s lawyer claimed the family admitted to him they’d fabricated their purportedly true ghost stories, the couple doubled down and took a lie doctor test. They passed with flying colors, making their claims all the more unnerving.
Daniel Lutz, who was a child during that month his family lived in Amityville, says he still has nightmares about his time there. But whether these accounts are mere scary ghost stories, remains to be seen.
After reading up on these allegedly real and scary ghost stories, learn the true story behind the legend of Bloody Mary, which is more horrifying than the legend itself. Then, see which of your favorite horror films are actually based on true stories.
