The Amityville Horror: A Real Murder House, and a Manufactured Haunting.
It is the most famous haunted house in America, the seed of a publishing and film empire. At its center are two very different things: a genuine, horrifying mass murder, and a ghost story that the people closest to it have said was invented. Keeping those two apart is the whole task of the file.
AnomalyDesk is reader-supported. Articles may contain affiliate links to books and primary-document collections. Read our full funding disclosure.
What the Amityville Horror is, in a paragraph.
The Amityville Horror refers to the claimed haunting of a Dutch Colonial house at 112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville, on the south shore of Long Island, New York. The house has a genuinely tragic history: on the night of November 13, 1974, 23-year-old Ronald “Butch” DeFeo Jr. shot and killed his parents and four younger siblings — six people — as they slept there. DeFeo was convicted of the murders and died in prison in 2021; that part of the story is fully documented. In December 1975, George and Kathy Lutz bought the house cheaply with their three children and moved in, but left after just 28 days, saying they had been driven out by terrifying paranormal phenomena: swarms of flies in winter, a foul green slime, cold spots and odors, a demonic red-eyed creature glimpsed by their daughter, a presence that hurled objects and that George felt waking him each night at around 3:15 a.m. — close to the estimated time of the murders. Their account, worked up by author Jay Anson into the 1977 bestseller The Amityville Horror and a hit 1979 film, became a global phenomenon, and the paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren attached themselves to it. The haunting itself, however, has steadily fallen apart. William Weber, the lawyer who had defended DeFeo, said publicly that he and the Lutzes had “created this horror story over many bottles of wine,” partly with an eye to DeFeo's appeal and to book money; investigators found that many specific claims did not check out; and crucially, the families who lived in the house after the Lutzes reported no unusual activity at all, and sued over the disruption the legend brought. The honest reading is that 112 Ocean Avenue is the site of a real and terrible crime onto which a lucrative, and largely fabricated, ghost story was grafted.
The documented record.
The DeFeo murders were real
The crime is fully documented. Verified Ronald DeFeo Jr. murdered six members of his family at 112 Ocean Avenue on November 13, 1974, was convicted, and died in prison in 2021 [1].
The lawyer said the haunting was invented
A central figure described it as a fabrication. Verified William Weber, DeFeo's defense attorney, stated that he and the Lutzes had concocted the horror story “over many bottles of wine,” and litigation followed among the parties [2].
Later residents reported nothing
The “haunting” did not recur. Verified Families who lived in the house after the Lutzes reported no paranormal activity and sought to distance themselves from — and were harmed by — the legend and the sightseers it drew [3].
The competing positions.
The believer's position holds that the Lutz family genuinely experienced a demonic haunting — supported by their consistent testimony, the Warrens' investigation, and a famous photograph said to show the face of a spectral boy. Claimed In this telling, the murders “opened” something in the house that drove the family out [4].
The skeptical position, and this archive's, is that the haunting is a hoax or heavy embellishment built on a real tragedy for profit, given away by the lawyer's admission, the failure of specific claims to check out, and the absence of any phenomena for later occupants. Disputed The DeFeo murders are real and horrifying; the ghost story is a commercial construction layered on top. The honest summary is a documented crime and a discredited haunting [2][3].
The unanswered questions.
The exact mix of motive
How the story was assembled is only partly clear. Claimed The precise blend of financial motive, the DeFeo appeal strategy, and any genuine unease the Lutzes felt in a murder house is debated, even granting that the supernatural account is fabricated [2].
Loose ends in the DeFeo case
The crime itself has minor open questions. Claimed DeFeo gave shifting accounts over the years — including claims of an accomplice — that were never substantiated and do not change his conviction [1].
Primary material.
The record on the Amityville Horror is held principally in these sources:
- The DeFeo murder trial record (1975) — the documented crime.
- Jay Anson, The Amityville Horror (1977) — the book that built the legend.
- William Weber's statements and the related lawsuits — the “bottles of wine” admission.
- Accounts of later residents — reporting no activity.
- Skeptical investigations — checking the Lutzes' specific claims.
Critical individual sources include: the DeFeo trial; Weber's public statements; and skeptical analyses such as those by Stephen Kaplan and others.
The sequence.
- Nov 13, 1974 Ronald DeFeo Jr. murders six family members at 112 Ocean Avenue.
- Dec 1975 The Lutz family moves in and leaves after 28 days, reporting a haunting.
- 1977 Jay Anson's The Amityville Horror becomes a bestseller; a 1979 film follows.
- Late 1970s Lawyer William Weber says the story was concocted; lawsuits follow.
- After 1977 Later residents report no paranormal activity.
Full bibliography.
- Trial record of People v. Ronald DeFeo Jr. (1975) and coverage of DeFeo's imprisonment and 2021 death.
- William Weber's public statements on the origin of the “horror story” and the ensuing lawsuits.
- Accounts of subsequent owners of 112 Ocean Avenue reporting no paranormal activity.
- Jay Anson, The Amityville Horror (1977); skeptical investigations (e.g., Stephen Kaplan, The Amityville Horror Conspiracy).
Frequently asked questions.
What is the Amityville Horror?
The claimed haunting of a house at 112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville, New York, where a family had been murdered in 1974. The new owners, the Lutz family, said they fled paranormal terror in 1975, which became a bestselling book and film.
What is the current status of this case?
Mixed. The 1974 DeFeo murders are real and documented, but the Lutz family's haunting is widely regarded as a hoax or exaggeration — the lawyer involved said it was concocted, and later residents reported nothing unusual.
Was the Amityville haunting real?
The haunting is not supported by evidence and is widely considered fabricated. DeFeo's defense lawyer, William Weber, said the story was created “over many bottles of wine,” and subsequent occupants of the house reported no paranormal activity.
Did the murders really happen?
Yes. Ronald DeFeo Jr. murdered six members of his family at the house on November 13, 1974, was convicted, and died in prison in 2021. That crime is fully documented and separate from the haunting claims.