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March 31, 2005

Comments

Mark Allen

Wow! Great story Chris! I was totally fascinated by the whole phenomenon when I was little kid, but of course lived nowhere near NY or even suspected that it was untrue, etc. I had the book, and me and my friends (somehow) snuck into the original movie when it came out. I would draw the house's evil attic eyes on my textbook covers at school, complete with Jody's "piggy eyes" staring out of one. I used to imagine trying to walk down the stairs of my own house with blood dripping down the walls, and how bizarrely cool it would be. Murder? Death? Huh? I'm just interested in sliding down cool blood stairs. Wheeee! The phrase "Get out!" spoken in a low-Muppet growling voice, used to be a hot buzzword amongst me and my friends. I was weirdly fascinated by the scene in the film where the nun leans out of her car and becomes "...violently ill" in the street. I became really interested in random dead flies that would sometimes collect on our windowsills in the summer, and kind of wished there would be hundreds instead of just one. I even had the *soundtrack* album to the movie, you know the one with the Lalo Schifrin score where the little girl creepily goes "La... la... la... la, la, la..." over a music box tune? There were several incidents where my brother got really "scared" when I would play this album, and would run and tattle on me to my parents, who didn't really love my being interested in Satan house phenomenons anyway, and would force me to turn the record off and threaten to punish me if I continued to use the album to "scare" my brother. This record, and him being able to complain about it to them, then became a leverage point in out ridiculous sibling rivalries. A bunch of other situations got into the mix, and at one point I started playing the record really loud just to drive my brother nuts... and my father came barreling into my room, took the vinyl off the turntable and smashed it into two pieces over his thigh, right there in front of me. I guess it was his own little protest over the false phenomenon that the Lutz's thrust upon the world with their haunted house lies.

Art

Hey Chris, thanks for debunking this "true story." My enduring pet peeve is the fact that hollywood has run out of ideas and/or that we have run out of ideas as a species. My girlfriend informed me of this dissaster and said she was excited because it was based on a "true" story. I had to break it to her gently. I'll admit that my friends and I also used the "get out!" line over and over.

Dave

Very well written. I feel sorry for the people who live in the home...and the folks of Amityville. I do believe that there are things that are not easy to explain...but I don't believe that this house was haunted. Does it have a bad vibe? Sure...it was a house where 6 people were brutally murdered!! Haunted? I doubt it. Good for you not going into the home. I doubt I'd feel comfortable in it.

Leslie

Who cares if its true or not im interesting in seeing a horror movie that is actually scary and the original amityville scared the crap out of me i could care less if it really happened as long asitsentertaining

psb

I read this book when I was in 8th grade and it scared me so bad I couldn't finish it. I didn't know what was worse -- not knowing what happened or reading the rest. Telling myself it's "just a book" never worked. It caused me to fear "evil eye windows," glowing pig's eyes in windows, bleeding walls, flies, 12:15, 3:15, rockers, and dolls with eyes that automatically close, as they might open and glow red...for years! Reading this now, it sounds crazy. But even today, anyone who growls "Get Out!" at me in the dark (my husband) gets a hard elbow to the gut!

CK1


I read all the A.V.H. stuff years ago and with the new movie coming out, I've been reading all the new stuff.

One fact I didn't remember was the fact that the night of the murders, the DeFeo's dog was barking like crazy. I was surprised (but relieved) that I read he was left unharmed.

My question is - do you know what became of their dog? Might seem irrevelant to some but, as an animal rescuer, foster, rehabber, the animals' plight is one I cannot help but wonder about. Thank you for your information and factual site.

'Kindness Becomes Kindness'
*peace* CK1

Andrew Johnson-Schmit

Look, Manohla Dargis' April 15 NYT review of the "Amityville" remake is spot on;

not just about proficiency stripping kitsch, the only redeeming value of the initial film, but the inherent fascination of the real estate angle.

Bearing that in mind, our radio comedy group, Coyote Radio Theater, wrote a little piece in her honor.

You can hear it at:

http://www.coyoteradio.org/Listen.html

Pleasantly disgusted at the corporate entertainment complex,

Andrew Johnson-Schmit
President-for-life
Coyote Radio Theater
Prescott, AZ USA
http://www.coyote radio.org

vivicabowles

hey i just saw the movie to this and it was very good it acctually scared me for the first time in a while and i dont care if its not true b cuz other wise the movie would have sucked

Margery Baxter

Dear reader,
I think both the book and the movies where gravely exaggerated tales of what happened in the house. The reason why I say this is because I live also on Ocean Ave and have seen many families over the decades come and go in the neighborhood but nothing compares to the likes of what I saw both on the nights of the murders and the evening the Lutz family fled. People just don't run like that, they don't look like that.
The Defeo murders where the most tragic, seeing all those small body bags leaving the house. Truly heart breaking. then to add insult to injury, is what happened to the Lutzes. I watched as they ran in terror from whatever real or imagined threat was in that house with them. I even called the police as nothing could imitate the sense of chaos and fear they seemed to be in. I was afraid for them. I could never erase from my mind seeing those parents and three children fleeing and crying as they fled the neighborhood. I have always wondered, why would they leave everything behind? Even if what most here in Amityville say about the Lutzes is true. They did it for money. I would have to say, for them to leave everything they owned behind to gamble on a potential book deal in such a short time, as they lived there for about a month, is beyond me.

For the record, I am against all the Hollywood hype, and those who want to exploit the murders that took place there. This being said, one thing is true, it is a fact the house is tied in to something unexplainable if not sinister.Murder,scandel, and fear is what this house has become. I wish it where never built. I was friends with the Oneil's who used to live at 114 Ocean St. and the saddest thing about them was the misfortune and ill fated luck which also plagued this family until they also left the house. They, however, where smart enough to not "go public" about their opinions and experiences. The tragic happenings of three families, known and unknown, to the public, is why I wish this house never stood.

After all is said and done, it doesn't matter if those reading this believe in the Amityville Horror or not, what does matter is those of us who knew and loved the families over the years whose lives have been, mostly in silent ways, altered by whatever it is that hovers over that house. Hollywood lies, Hyper sensitive teens, or horrible crimes that house has opened a gateway to the place of darkest fears real and imagined in our society.
I close with a prayer.
Dear Lord,
Let us see truth,
remember the dead,
and
respect those things that should never be tampered with.
Amen.
M.Baxter

Vanessa Pacheco

Hey everyone i've been wanting to vist the house amityvile they call it. I think that it's true and i do believe in the amityvile by the way the movie was pretty good. Well that is my thing and the amityville sounds so tragic and sad you wounder what made them go insain and i think.I think about the things that may of happened in that house and how evil it was that day.I wounder what made him so made. Well everyone gots to go so take care hey p.s does anyone know if the house is still there or did they nock it down? anyone answer me please?! BYE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

natalie

Whilst i also enjoyed the current film i find it harsh they used fractions of real footage in the film and also altered certain facts to a ridiculous degree i also think it is wrong that they used the defeo name in the film for all and sundry to see the fact they invented a character and attached the name jodie defeo is appalling the defeos didnt even have a five year old child.I think if they truly wanted to make a film they should give the victims the face they deserve by doing either a documentary or a film on the defeos and thier life before and leading up to that horrible night so people can realise that there was more to this family than being the five minute wow factor in the opening of a film that doesnt depict anything about the defeos cept the fact they were murdered instead we focus on a family that really didnt do anything but get spooked by the fact something tragic happened in the house kathy lutz own son apparantly is making a doco to set it straight and has said that george made things like creeks in the night and shadowy figures into something bigger then ben hur and to answer vanessas question yes the houses is still there and people live in it and have done so for quite a while .Also chris in regards to your invite into the house the curiosity woulda got the better of most of us im sure .Cheers And thanks.

Megan M.

Yes, I also think it's stupid how they turn Jodie the demonic pig into Jodie DeFeo the little dead girl. I always like to tell my friends that and laugh. I went to go see the new Amityville Horror and although it had it faults, as do all movies, I thought it was pretty well made. I also scared the bejesus outta me! But I'm probably just a big scaredy cat. Also, in regards to the older movie and sequels, Amityville 3D? I mean, come on! Anyway, the true story behind all the exaggerations and lies is that a family was murdered by a psychotic (I'm guessing, I mean, why would you kill your family for no apparent reason) man who is now serving 6 life sentences. Good! But also, for the sake of money-making and entertainment, people (directors, writers, so on) are allowed to stretch the truth and make a movie that scares you, it's a free country. Thank you and good night.

Markus

Ok..The story you told was in fact very interesting..Just today, i saw the dvd version of the original movie, and i think it was kinda good, i´m into the 70´s horror movies, but still, i don´t think that the story that the Lutzes tell is so reliable. The facts are against them, and i think it was all just a matter of publicity, living in a famous house of horror. Nowadays, if you do shit like that, kill 6 people, all you can do is to claim you´re guided by voices (great band,btw), sit in jail like a half of your life sentence. By the way, your story entertained me and my friends in Turku,Finland. Thank god from Internet. Just kidding.

Todd

Christopher Lutz (Now Quarantino) has a website he's working on to expose George. See it here: http://waronhorror.com/

shortey,and playa

"are all the things that u said true,because playa and i was thik'n of going there",says Shortey."What dummy would move into the house that was haunted,but we are just visting",says Playa

David

k, just to clarify...

Jay Anson confessed on his deathbed that the events depicted in the book hadn't occurred, that the whole thing was a hoax.
NOT TRUE.

he was trying to steal a box containing $10,000 in cash
it wasnt a box of cash it was an envelope and the money wasnt stolen it was still hidden under the carpet untouched...a picture of it is also in the crime scene photos.

http://www.amityvillemurders.com/csgallery/slides/evidence.html

intending to blame the murders on a Manson-like cult.
no, he was not intending to blame it on a cult...he was intending and did blame it on the Mafia, at first.

Jasmine bridges

Well pesonally I really would like to see sum pictures of the house and everything and also the parents and the siblings that lived in ther with them if you, can get them send them to my e-mail or put them on the site.

Heather

It has never been proven that this was a hoax, so to say it is all a hoax is incorrect and misinformed. I used to be 100% hoax - that is to say that I believed it was all a lie the Lutzes created. I was wrong. I did my research, read countless, countless and countless info, both for and against. The Lutzes story has not changed - NOT ONE WORD. Of course Anson said his book was a lie - THE LUTZES SAID THAT FROM THEN DAY THE BOOK WAS RELEASED!!! No surprised there, EVERYONE knew that. The Lutzes have ALWAYS maintained that Jay Anson and Hollywood took 'literary licence' and created a story with only a slight percentage of truth, that did not bare much of their story at all. However 'based' on a true story is simply that. Being Hollywood, I find it quite amusing that the author of this site expected the book and movie to be one hundred percent factual. Common sense tells it was not going to be 100% true - name a movie that is?!?? However the Lutzes DID experience something. ALL of the Lutzes inc Missy, Chris and Daniel affirm that they did experience a haunting. George and Kathy have passed lie dectector tests. Yet the arguments for a hoax, that I believed too at the time, have all fallen flat and have no substance. Under testing and questioning, they do not stand up For e.g

As someone else said above WHY would you abandon everything you own, to GAMBLE on the prospect of getting rich? Do you KNOW how many books, horror or otherwise that are published in this world, flop? MOST. And the amount of money they (the Lutzes) made/make after legal cases, from royalties is pocket change. Someone was even there when they got a royalty check in the mail. The money was pathetic.

The Lutzes also went through the stress of public disbelief, such as that from your ill-informed self, even though THEY had done NOTHING WRONG, all they had done was tell their story and they were abused and you don't know the half of it. It caused family upheaval, and a divorce. Yet, amongst ALL of that, EVERY SINGLE Lutz still affirm that their story is true. Pretty strong anti-hoax evidence to me.

Yet, to a skeptic and a disbeliever no evidence is enough. I can't pinpoint the exact time I changed from a disbeliver 'hoaxer' as disbelievers are called, to a 'truth' person. All I can say is that I went onto George's board, and opposing boards that I was a member at, read an enormous stack of arguments, compared them all, and thought for myself. Common sense tells one that it really is not feasible that a family, including 3 young children, could pull something like this off, and not have anyone 'crack' at some point if it were not true. There is absolutely NO evidence or proof that it was a hoax, because the 'hoax' theories and arguments simply do not stack up! I've asked the questions on why this or why didn't they or how can they this or that myself. With all the answers I got, it became clear whilst the book and the movie were a pack of lies, what the Lutzes went through was very much real. Instead of spreading misinformation, you should endeavour to keep an open mind to the facts and not lie by saying what the Lutzes went through, is a lie. Not only is that not right or fair, but you are lying yourself when you put their story forward as a complete hoax.

Lzzi

I think the haunting story was just that, a story , made by a desperate couple and Defeo's attorney. They might have scared themselves a bit because of the murders but as for marching bands, ceramic ornaments biting etc, i just don't buy it .

When they said that they had taken the boy to the hospital for his injured hand ( window ) , it was later proved that there was no record of the hospital visit for any of that family during the time they lived at the house.

Read the Amityville Horror Comspiracy, High Hopes and the Night the DeFeos Died for more info

Lizzi

natalija

it really is true i have been to the site that has the photo's of the house and the death's of the the defeo's and it's not a story would anyone in their right mind want to kill there whole family unless sumthing was really wrong with him.. and im not saying that he was seeing things im just saying no-one know's the truth expect for ronnie defeo and no-onw ill ever know unless he tell's us the truth on why he killed his family!!!!!!! And what the lutze's did go through was real cause i have read in alot of books that when you die in your sleep your spirit remains in that house untill they can be at peace and the lutze's did go through all that stuff and i hope no-one every has to go through that ever so everyone who dought's this story trust me it's true after alot of study it's true......... bye pplz

Inuranchan

Ah, finally someone who has the story right. I have been researching this story ever since I heard about it as a kid. I live in amityville. Down the street from the "Horror" house as it's refered to so plainly. My parenst actually used to know the people who lived there. I wasn't alive during this time but, heard about it a few years afterward. Nice to see someone has their facts right though.

Tammy Juaire

I am interested in the person who says they live(d) near the house. i am working on a book trying to get nothing but factual accoiunts of both the murders and the alleged haunting. I assue you I am professional Criminologist. My main interest is in the lack of understanding that i see in the case of the murders and now i tiink the supernatural occurances may explain a few indiscrepancies I found in reveiwing the police reports and crime scene photos.

If you get this and am willing to talk please contact me at [email protected]. Thank you

chris

I was curious yet again after I saw history channel's special on the Amityville Horror House.History channel shoes actual photographs of the house,and the one picture with the kid in it?The looks of this kid isn't normal,ever for an actor,the pic is messed up,and no one was around when the pic was taken.It's obvious the documentary was made after all of the amityville hype,so why promote it again?Normally they have pretty good facts and truthfull critics so you do get both sides of the story,but more so the weird things that happend are true.Even george Lutz in the documentary admitted the book,and movie were horrible,and beyond the truth!Don't you find it even more weird that the author of the book,and director of the movie,and the lutzs(George and Kathleen only) are now all dead?Don't say it's bad timing,hell no,they all ha a common goal,the Amityville Horror House,just wouldn't make any sense.I even beleive they all died of heart attack which is even stranger.Gun blasts are very loud indeed,and the neighbours to other local residents didn't even hear a scream?Thats the most bizarre part don't you think?Or how the autopsy proves that no one moved a muscle while the shootings occured.It's like they were in a dead sleep,or magically lost their hearing over night.I'm in Canada,no where near long island,ny but from what I been reading in all these comments,and from that documentary,Amityville sounds like little ol heck town usa that doent like the outside world knowing it exists.Of course they won't give media,or anyone documents proving the Lutz were sane.They wanted this frenzy to go away so they denied everything in their own power.This in my mind states you cannot believe the townspeople of Amityville 100%.They went from changing the address to modifying the house to even changing the formation of the Lake on the property to not be spotted!Common,add all the pieces together people,things are purposly being hidden,and public info doesnt exist there.It was even admitted the Historian Soceity of Amityville doesn't even have the defeo murders on record!The town tried to wipe out any negative facts about its precious little town.Please give me your thoughts about my comments,not trying to battle anyones beliefs,just trying to be open minded,and viewing arguments from both sides of the table.The house by the way has had several owns since the Lutz,I come from a small hecktown,and normally people who go to a small community stay within it,and normally houses in small towns are owned for 30 years and beyond,so I find it odd the house keeps getting new owners.According to the documentaries,and other sources of info I read,Amityville isn't that far from NY city so even if the owners lived in Amityville,and worked in NY City,still is cheaper in the long run to live in Amityville as opposed to living in NYC.Sometimes you gotta tink a little bit more outside the box =o)

jasmine

that scared the fuck out of me no shitin it realy fuckin scared me

Dylan

Hi Chris my name is Dylan im 16 from apopka florida. Im thinking of actually saving up my money and visiting the house with some friends is their more beliveable info that you can share with me. I try looking on sites but their not as helpful as i was hoping.

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