AMITYVILLE HORROR…TRUTH OR NOT?

• One of the more notorious settlers who came to the newly-named Amityville in those days was a John Catchum or Ketcham who had been forced out of Salem, Massachusetts for practicing witchcraft. John set up residence within 500 feet of where George [Lutz] now lived, continuing his alleged devil worship. The account also claimed he was buried somewhere on the northeast corner of the property.

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The original house at 112 Ocean was built in the 1780s and was moved over a block or so in 1925 when the present house was built.

On January 14, 1924, the Ireland family sold the Ocean Avenue property to the John and Catherine Moynahan, a family of six. During the period the Dutch Colonial was being constructed, the home that originally stood on the property was relocated down the street.�

After her parents passed away, Eileen Fitzgerald (Moynahan) moved her own family into the house and resided there until October 17, 1960, when John and Mary Riley purchased the home for a reported $35,000.�

Within five years, the Rileys divorced and sold the home to the Ronald and Louise DeFeo on June 28, 1965. The DeFeo family lived in the house for over nine years until six of the family members were murdered on November 13, 1974.�

In December of 1975, George and Kathleen Lutz moved their family into the house, only to move out twenty-eight days later. The house remained vacant until March 18, 1977 when Jim and Barbara Cromarty purchased the property.�

Due to the Lutz’s claims of the house being haunted, the Village of Amityville became synonymous for its “house of horrors”. During this time, the Cromarty family changed the address on the house to confuse the hordes of tourists and ghost hunters who lined up by the dozens to take photographs of the infamous property.�

After the relentless wave of publicity proved unbearable, the Cromartys moved out of the house and left Frank Burch, a family friend, to tend the property while they were away. After the house had been on the market for some time, the Cromartys decided to move back into the house. They remained there until 1987 when Barbara’s son, David Roskin, passed away

Peter and Jeanne O’Neil purchased the home on August 17, 1987. The O’Neils also made many alterations to the property, such as changing the famous eye-windows to square ones.�

In 1997, Brian Wilson moved into the house for a reported $310,000. Along with every subsequent owner of the property since the Lutzes, Wilson claims he has never experienced any paranormal phenomena while residing there.

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In 2010, Brian Wilson pout the house on the market for 1.5 million. It sold for 950,000 to David and Caroline D’Antonio

Experiences of Lutz’s

George would wake up around 3:15 every morning and would go out to check the boathouse. Later he would learn that this was the estimated time of the DeFeo killings

The house was plagued by swarms of flies despite the winter weather.

Kathy had vivid nightmares about the murders and discovered the order in which they occurred and the rooms where they took place. The Lutz children also began sleeping on their stomachs, in the same way that the dead bodies in the DeFeo murders had been found.

Kathy would feel a sensation as if "being embraced" in a loving manner, by an unseen force.

George discovered a small hidden room (around four feet by five feet) behind shelving in the basement. The walls were painted red and the room did not appear in the blueprints of the house. The room came to be known as "The Red Room." This room had a profound effect on their dog Harry, who refused to go near it and cowered as if sensing something ominous

There were cold spots and odors of perfume and excrement in areas of the house where no wind drafts or piping would explain the source.�

While tending to the fire, George and Kathy saw the image of a demon with half his head blown out. It was burned into the soot in the back of the fireplace.�

The Lutzes' 5-year-old daughter, Missy, developed an imaginary friend named "Jodie," a demonic pig-like creature with glowing red eyes.�

George would wake up to the sound of the front door slamming. He would race downstairs to find the dog sleeping soundly at the front door. Nobody else heard the sound although it was loud enough to wake the house.�

George would hear what was described as a "German marching band tuning up" or what sounded like a clock radio playing not quite on frequency. When he went downstairs the noise would cease.�

George realized that he bore a strong resemblance to Ronald DeFeo, Jr., and began drinking at The Witches' Brew, the bar where DeFeo was once a regular customer.�

When closing Missy's window, which Missy said Jodie climbed out of, Kathy saw red eyes glowing at her.�

While in bed, Kathy received red welts on her chest caused by an unseen force and was levitated two feet in the air.�

Locks, doors and windows in the house were damaged by an unseen force.�

Cloven hoofprints attributed to an enormous pig appeared in the snow outside the house January 1, 1976.�

Green gelatin-like slime oozed from walls in the hall, and also from the keyhole of the playroom door in the attic.�

A 12-inch (30 cm) crucifix, hung in the living room by Kathy, revolved until it was upside down and gave off a sour smell.�

George tripped over a 4-foot-high (1.2 m) China lion ornament in the living room and found bite marks on one of his ankles.�

George saw Kathy transform into an old woman of 90, "the hair wild, a shocking white, the face a mass of wrinkles and ugly lines, and saliva dripping from the toothless mouth."�

Missy would sing constantly while in her room. Whenever she left the room, she would stop singing, and upon returning, she would resume singing where she left off.�

The house known as 112 Ocean Avenue still exists, but it has been renovated and the address changed in order to discourage sightseers from visiting it. The famous quarter round windows have been removed, and the house today looks considerably different from its depiction in the films

The house in Toms River used as the location for the first three films has also been modified for the same reason. For the 2005 film version, the house was renamed 412 Ocean Avenue..�

One of the victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks, Peter O'Neill, lived in the house from 1987 to 1997.^[30]�

In March 2013, the documentary My Amityville Horror was released. It featured interviews with Daniel Lutz, one of the children who lived in the house during the period on which the book and films are based.�^{http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BUJ5YHO/ref=avod_yvl_watch_now�}