I use to live near here before we moved to the south The Amityville Horror: A True Story is a book by Jay Anson, published in September 1977. It is also the basis of a series of films released between 1979 and 2013. The book is said to be based on the real-life paranormal experiences of the Lutz family, but has led to controversy and lawsuits over its truthfulness. In December 1975, George and Kathy Lutz and their three children moved into 112 Ocean Avenue, a large Dutch Colonial house in Amityville, a suburban neighborhood located on the south shore of Long Island, New York. Thirteen months before the Lutzes moved in, Ronald DeFeo, Jr. shot and killed six members of his family at the house. After 28 days, the Lutzes left the house, claiming to have been terrorized by paranormal phenomena while living there. Much of the controversy surrounding The Amityville Horror can be traced back to the way that it has been marketed. One edition of the book has quote from a review in the Los Angeles Times on the front cover stating: A fascinating, frightening book... the scariest true story I have read in years, while the tagline states: More hideously frightening than The Exorcist because it actually happened!. The reference to The Exorcist is revealing, because the 1973 film had been a box office success and had received generous media coverage. Many of the incidents in the book recall the style of The Exorcist and this is one of the reasons why it has aroused suspicion. In the afterword of The Amityville Horror, Jay Anson states: There is simply too much independent corroboration of their narrative to support the speculation that [the Lutzes] either imagined or fabricated these events, but some people remained unconvinced. Almost as soon as the book was published in September 1977, other writers and researchers began looking into the events at 112 Ocean Avenue and the conclusions that they reached were often at odds with those that had appeared in Ansons book. The role of Father Pecoraro in the story has been given considerable attention. During the course of the lawsuit surrounding the case in the late 1970s, Father Pecoraro stated in an affidavit that his only contact with the Lutzes concerning the matter had been by telephone. Other accounts say that Father Pecoraro did visit the house but experienced nothing unusual there. Father Pecoraro gave what may have been his only on-camera interview about his recollections during a 1980 episode of In Search of..., a documentary series about the paranormal narrated by Leonard Nimoy. Father Pecoraros face was obscured during the interview to preserve his anonymity. In the interview, he repeated the claim that he heard a voice saying Get out, but stopped short of giving it a paranormal origin. He also stated that he felt a slap on his face during the visit, and that he did subsequently experience blistering on his hands. As with many areas of The Amityville Horror, the inconsistent accounts given by Father Pecoraro about the extent of his involvement with the Lutz family have led to more questions than answers. The claims of physical damage to the locks, doors and windows were rejected by Jim and Barbara Cromarty, who bought the house for $55,000 in March 1977. In a television interview filmed at the house for Thats Incredible!, Barbara Cromarty argued that they appeared to be the original items and had not been repaired. The Thats Incredible! feature also showed that the Red Room was a small closet in the basement, and was known to the previous owners of the house because it was not concealed in any way. The claim made in Chapter 11 of the book that the house was built on a site where the local Shinnecock Indians had once abandoned the mentally ill and the dying was rejected by local Native American leaders. The claim of cloven hoofprints in the snow on January 1, 1976 was rejected by other researchers, because a check on the weather records showed that there had been no snow in Amityville on the day in question. Neighbors reported nothing unusual during the time that the Lutzes were living there. Police officers are depicted visiting the house in the book and 1979 film, but records showed that the Lutzes did not call the police during the period that they were living on Ocean Avenue. There was no bar in Amityville called The Witches Brew at the time, and Ronald DeFeo, Jr. was a regular at Henrys Bar, a short distance from 112 Ocean Avenue. Critics including Stephen Kaplan pointed out that changes were made to the book as it was reprinted in different editions. In the original hardcover edition, Father Pecoraros car is an old tan Ford and he experiences an incident in which the hood flies up against the windshield while he is driving it. In later editions the car is described as a Chevy Vega, before reverting to a Ford. In May 1977 George and Kathy Lutz filed a lawsuit against William Weber (the defense lawyer for Ronald DeFeo, Jr. at his trial), Paul Hoffman (a writer working on an account of the hauntings), Bernard Burton and Frederick Mars (both alleged clairvoyants who had examined the house), along with Good Housekeeping magazine, the New York Sunday News and the Hearst Corporation, all of which had published articles related to the hauntings. The Lutzes alleged invasion of privacy, misappropriation of names for trade purposes, and mental distress, and claimed $4.5 million in damages. Hoffman, Weber, and Burton immediately filed a countersuit for $2 million alleging fraud and breach of contract. The claims against the news corporations were dropped for lack of evidence, and the remainder of the lawsuit was heard by Brooklyn U.S. District Court judge Jack B. Weinstein. In September 1979, Judge Weinstein dismissed the Lutzes claims and observed in his ruling: Based on what I have heard, it appears to me that to a large extent the book is a work of fiction, relying in a large part upon the suggestions of Mr. Weber. In the September 17, 1979 issue of People magazine, William Weber wrote: I know this book is a hoax. We created this horror story over many bottles of wine. This refers to a meeting that Weber is said to have had with George and Kathy Lutz, during which they discussed what would later become the outline of Ansons book. Judge Weinstein also expressed concern about the conduct of William Weber and Bernard Burton relating to the affair, stating: There is a very serious ethical question when lawyers become literary agents. George Lutz maintained that events in the book were mostly true and denied any suggestion of dishonesty on his part. In June 1979, George and Kathy Lutz took a polygraph test relating to their experiences at the house, which they both passed. In October 2000, The History Channel broadcast Amityville: The Haunting and Amityville: Horror or Hoax?, a two-part documentary made by horror screenwriter/producer Daniel Farrands to mark the 25th anniversary of the case. George Lutz commented in an interview for the program: I believe this has stayed alive for 25 years because its a true story. It doesnt mean that everything that has ever been said about it is true. Its certainly not a hoax. Its real easy to call something a hoax. I wish it was. Its not. The debate about the accuracy of The Amityville Horror continues and, despite the lack of evidence to corroborate much of the story, it remains one of the most popular haunting accounts in American folklore. The various owners of the house since the Lutz family left in 1976 have reported no problems while living there. James Cromarty, who bought the house in 1977 and lived there with his wife Barbara for ten years, commented: Nothing weird ever happened, except for people coming by because of the book and the movie. Page Owner
Posted on: Mon, 19 Jan 2015 08:58:00 +0000
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