If you don’t know the history behind the Amityville horror movies, let me fill you in. George and Kathleen Lutz bought the house in 1975. But, after only 28 days there, the family (including their children) fled in horror. Or, did they?
(This image has been (or is hereby) released into the public domain by its author, Seulatr at the wikipedia project.)
George and Kathleen claimed that a lot of really weird things went on in those 28 days. George claimed he woke up every morning at 3:15 a.m. The house was filled with flies, even though it was winter when the family moved in. Kathy had vivid nightmares about murders and often felt as if she were being embraced by an unseen presence. Missy, George and Kathleen’s five year old daughter, had an imaginary friend that had glowing red eyes. The front door slammed on its own and odd music sometimes filled the house. Cloven hoof prints appeared in the snow outside the house and green slim oozed from the walls.
There’s more, but that would have been more than enough to run me out of the house! The only problem is, after the story was sensationalized by the media, and a best selling book and movie were made, people began to wonder how much of the story was true. Jim and Barbara Cromarty bought the house in 1977 and didn’t experience anything unusual. The neighbors reported no unusual happenings during the time the Lutz family was there.
What might have caused them to concoct a horror story like this? Something sinister did happen in the house on Ocean Avenue not too long before the Lutz family moved in. Ronald DeFeo Jr., known as Butch, was convicted of killing his family in the house, including his father Ronald, mom Louise, and four siblings. The estimated time of the killings was at 3:15 in the morning. Who was Butch’s defense lawyer? None other than William Weber.
William Weber finally admitted that he and the Lutzs created the horror story for profit, yet George and Kathleen swore the story was true until their deaths. Because no one who has owned the house since the Lutzs has complained of any paranormal activity, it would appear it was a ruse, albeit a very profitable one. Besides the original book (and at least 10 subsequent books about the house), a total of nine movies were filmed about the Amityville horror.
The residents of the normally quiet town of Amityville still get unwanted tourists looking to take photos of the house.