2008 Woodie Awards
'Amityville Horror': fiction vs. reality
Jeff McAllister
Issue date: 4/20/05 Section: Entertainment
With "The Amityville Horror" hitting theaters last weekend, there is no doubt that people will be talking about what happened over 30 years ago at the famous address of 112 Ocean Ave. There will always be skeptics that say the story was nothing but a hoax. After all, there is never any actual evidence that a haunting has occurred; you just have to take someoneʼs word for it. On Oct. 24, 2003, at Penn State University, that is exactly what people did as George Lutz, the man that lived in the house, came to talk about it.
Lutzʼs testimony of what happened that day is horrific to most, but not uncommon when compared to most haunting cases. In fact, there have been other cases that would seem even worse, such as the "Bell Witch," (witch unleashes hatred for Tenn. man in 1800s) or the "Smurl Haunting," (unseen force terrorizes family in West Pittston, Penn. from 1985-1987) so why does a haunting like Amityville get so much hype? The movies are just the movies, but readers might find that George Lutzʼs story is a lot more interesting than the movie. Strange events were happening in this house long before the Lutz family moved in. Prior to their purchase of the home, Ronald Defeo, Jr. tragically murdered his entire family as they slept. Armed with a .35 caliber Marlin rifle, he moved from room to room and fired eight shots in all.
When confessing to the murders, he claimed to have heard voices telling him to do it and claimed to have seen dark shadowy figures moving about the house. He also said a pair of dark hands handed him the rifle. None of the family heard the gunshots, nor did any of the neighbors around the house. Defeo remains in prison today where he is serving six consecutive life sentences.
When the Lutz family moved in, they knew about what had happened. "The realtor eventually told us what happened in the house and asked if we were still interested in looking at the home," said Lutz at the Penn State event. "The kids didnʼt seem to have any reservations about whether to at least look at the house, so we went through with it."
Lutzʼs testimony of what happened that day is horrific to most, but not uncommon when compared to most haunting cases. In fact, there have been other cases that would seem even worse, such as the "Bell Witch," (witch unleashes hatred for Tenn. man in 1800s) or the "Smurl Haunting," (unseen force terrorizes family in West Pittston, Penn. from 1985-1987) so why does a haunting like Amityville get so much hype? The movies are just the movies, but readers might find that George Lutzʼs story is a lot more interesting than the movie. Strange events were happening in this house long before the Lutz family moved in. Prior to their purchase of the home, Ronald Defeo, Jr. tragically murdered his entire family as they slept. Armed with a .35 caliber Marlin rifle, he moved from room to room and fired eight shots in all.
When confessing to the murders, he claimed to have heard voices telling him to do it and claimed to have seen dark shadowy figures moving about the house. He also said a pair of dark hands handed him the rifle. None of the family heard the gunshots, nor did any of the neighbors around the house. Defeo remains in prison today where he is serving six consecutive life sentences.
When the Lutz family moved in, they knew about what had happened. "The realtor eventually told us what happened in the house and asked if we were still interested in looking at the home," said Lutz at the Penn State event. "The kids didnʼt seem to have any reservations about whether to at least look at the house, so we went through with it."
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