The 'Amityville Horror' house may still be 'haunted' 50 years after the real-life massacre that inspired the book and movie, say neighbors and paranormal experts close to the case. claim.
Years after the infamous murder of a family of six in 1974, a Long Island home still has a demonic presence “sleeping inside, waiting to be awakened anew.” There is a possibility that the
“Absolutely. I believe there is more to this world that we don't understand, and I never discount that possibility,” said Fran Walters, who has lived next door for 28 years. .
“When I first moved here, I used to walk by there and I couldn't believe there was a little girl playing in front of it. I thought, 'How can a family with young children buy this house?' 'I remember thinking,' she said. .
The house has long been a curiosity for people who claim it is haunted, but the legend began with an actual crime that occurred on November 13, 1974.
Around 3 a.m., 23-year-old Ronald “Butch” DeFeo got out of bed with a .35-caliber rifle and executed his parents and four siblings as they slept.
Then he got dressed and went to work. Hours later, DeFeo burst into a nearby bar and claimed someone had attacked his family.
The following year, DeFeo was sentenced to life in prison, but spent his life blaming a long list of others – at one point reportedly claiming there were “voices” from home urging him to do so.
DeFeo was believed to be a heavy drug user, but noted paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren came to believe that DeFeo was performing satanic rituals and that the voices he heard were I started to think that it might have been the power of the devil. He shot toward the house.
“DeFeo was into Satanism,” said Tony Spera, the Warrens' son-in-law, who now heads the couple's New England Society for Psychical Research. “He had a little room called the Red Room because it was painted red, and it had a little little hole in it, and he kept his demonic artefacts there.
“There was something going on inside the house,” Spera told the Post. “Something sinister was going on in that house. We believe it was Ronald DeFeo Jr. who was performing this satanic ritual.”
While DeFeo was serving his sentence, George and Kathy Lutz moved into an Amityville home with their three children for the bargain price of $80,000.
Over the next 28 days, the family endured a number of terrifying events, including levitation and visions of an old hag, children sleeping face down when DeFeo's body was found, subzero temperatures while the fireplace was blazing, and slime oozing from their bodies. He claimed to be haunted by the incident. walls and doors.
They fled the house before the end of the month, and after local news stations camped out at the house on some shows, the Warrens showed up to investigate, but the Lutzes refused to return to the house with them. It is reported that.
“There was an arrangement for George to meet Ed and Lorraine at a pizza shop about five blocks from their Amityville home,” Spera said. “Ed said, 'Well, let's go over to the house and check it out.'
“George stood up and pulled out the house key. He said, 'Here's the key.' I won't go to that house…I won't go near that house. I have a request for you, Ed, where in your drawer is the deed to the house? Could you please bring it to me? ”
A few months later, the Lutzes signed a book deal to tell their story, and when it was published in 1977, it was an instant success and inspired an even more successful film and sequel.
Many dismissed it as a hoax, but DeFeo's attorney William Weber later claimed that DeFeo and his family made up the story over a few bottles of wine — the Latz's parents told their story for the rest of their lives. supported.
The house has changed hands many times since the Lutzes left, but no one has reported it being haunted in the last 50 years. Spera thinks that doesn't necessarily mean the Lutzes were lying or that whatever possessed them is truly gone.
“Ed didn't really want to talk about this because he said the more you appreciate this piece, the more likely something is going to happen. “It depends on the entity. It could be dormant for years,” Spera said.
“Maybe there's something still dormant within that structure that gets recognized, or someone performs a ritual in the house, casts a spell, or is a family member who is prone to ghosts. In other words, a weak-willed family member, or someone in a weak-willed household.
“That means you can move into your house. You can make it a ghost. You can dabble in occult practices, perform witchcraft, spells, satanic rituals, use Ouija boards in your house. And you can turn your house into a ghost,” he added.
“When you're doing something like that, you're inviting something into your life. You're inviting the unknown into your life.”
The current residents of the home and one of Lutz's children declined to comment.
Walters said she had “decided never to go to the movies,” but although she did go into the “beautiful” house once when the property was being sold, she had no intention of living there. It was.
“I've always had the horror of Amityville in the back of my mind. I might hear little squeaks at night and be uncomfortable. I don't know,” she said.
