The Amityville house has become the stuff of horror legend. It was also a popular movie, which helped to spark interest in the famous house and case nationwide and worldwide. Many rumors surfaced over time about the Amityville case being a fraud. It has never been certain how these rumors originated, but it is true that the Warren family lived in the home and dealt with some unusual phenomena while there. Photos and firsthand accounts have shown some amazing proof that the strange things happening in the house were real. Some believe the rumors of the Amityville horror being a hoax began with Dr. Steven Kaplan, who did not have a doctorate degree. Because of this, many people attempted to use that information to call his bluff, but Kaplan stayed consistent in his statements. He founded the Parapsychology Society of Long Island, and was an active investigator in the case. His relationship with the Warrens was tumultuous, and the arguments and distaste lasted for two decades.
Dr. Kaplan appeared on a Long Island radio show, where he continued to insist that the entire Amityville situation was not true. The famous book entitled The Amityville Horror by Jay Asona has a few inaccuracies in it, which Kaplan used to his advantage. The Warren family also agreed that the book had a few differences, but mainly because the author was not completely familiar with demonology. However, Dr. Kaplan continued to insist that the entire story was false, and many feel this is due to the fact that he was not able to gain the title of head investigator of the world's most well-known paranormal story.
Since Steven Kaplan was not chosen or trusted to be involved in the case, he wrote a book entitled The Amityville Conspiracy. The book had many new, and often incorrect statements, even more than The Amityville Horror book by Anson. In fact, Kaplan had never even been physically inside of the Amityville house to conduct any kind of investigation, although he consistently claimed this was not true. He passed away due to a heart attack a week before his conspiracy-themed book hit the shelves.
Although people began to become skeptical of Kaplan, he always testified that he had real photographs of the inside of the home as well as other physical evidence. Once, Ed Warren offered Kaplan several thousand dollars to provide this evidence, but he never was able to produce it. He was asked by Mr. Warren to also explain exactly what type of equipment he had used to determine whether or not the paranormal activity was real, but he never did provide such information. A local radio station told Kaplan to publicly apologize to the Warren family because they had exposed Kaplan's fabrication of the hoax rumor. He promised on-air to never speak negatively about the Warrens again.
Why do so many people want to know more about the Amityville hoax? The local police chief had a son who was a reporter, and there had recently been a lot of vandalism in the area once the Amityville story hit the press. Traffic was overwhelming the small town, and so some believe the police chief's son helped to push the hoax story along. There was also a published story in Newsday magazine about it being a hoax. The real question was who would profit if the story was in fact a hoax. The Lutz family did not receive much money from the books or the movie. Anson, author of The Amityville Horror gained some profit but it appeared as if no one else had.
To follow is a condensed version of the Warrens' account about the Amityville investigation. This information comes from am oral recount during a NESPR meeting in 1997. This testimony is to help confirm that the Amityville horror was not a hoax. Accuracy is important in any paranormal related story, and the New England Society for Psychic Research believes in honesty, integrity, and accuracy. Once the public is aware of the right information, they will be able to decide for themselves whether evil truly exists, and whether paranormal activity can be combated. When fraudulent stories abound and those who experience paranormal trauma are ignored, it makes the evil forces grow only stronger. Only by way of education and information can good win over evil.
The history of Amityville begins during the time of the Native Americans. It was believed that the property was used for an insane asylum. Patients were living within an enclosure on the property. Patients were commonly Native American and often sick or even dying. Spirits rose up that were truly suffering, and they seeped into the graves of those who had been buried there.
Most problems at the Amityville house began after the infamous Ronald DeFeo murders, which occurred in November of 1974. Ronald had a hatred for his own father and was planning to kill him. DeFeo had been using drugs heavily, and his father was fully aware of it. During the murders, DeFeo claimed he had a shadow or ghost next to him, which helped to encourage him to shoot not only his father but his two brothers and sister. The neighboring homes were fairly close but no one heard the gunshots ring out around 3:15 am. Each murder victim was found on their stomach, and the Warrens believe that this caused them to experience a state of phantomania. This state paralyzed the victims and would not allow them to call out for any help.
Ed and Lorraine Warren met with a priest by the name of Father Pecararo as well as the Lutzes when the investigation first began. The Lutzes were living in Deer Park, NY at the time with Mrs. Lutz's mother. They had been in fear of living at home because of their discovery of the phenomena they had found. They even decided to leave their furniture and belongings behind. When the Warrens first arrived at the house, it was with a news anchorman who also happened to be the president of the American Society for Psychic Research. The first day there was extremely frightening, and Lorraine Warren claimed to experience both clairvisual and clairaudial transmissions about the phenomena.
Ed Warren wanted to see for himself the true paranormal activity. He had normally not experienced many clairvoyant feelings so he fearlessly went down to the cellar. Usually evil spirits spend their time in the cellar, and so Ed thought it was an excellent place to begin. Once he went down he saw shadows and tiny little points of light. The shadows actually tried to shove him down. He used his religious strength to help demand that the evil spirits leave. Once he did this, he felt as if something was trying to lift him up off the ground. At that point, Ed realized the Amityville house was definitely a place of evil. This experience really affected Ed, and he knew this was a real occurance.
Lorraine was afraid to even enter the house, so she got in touch with a few friends who were priests, and asked them to be with her in spirit as she entered the house. She took some relics and other religious items into the house for protection. When she went up to the second floor, a feeling of rushing water began forcing against her. Everything around her began to solidify. She then went into the sewing room where the original furniture remained from the DeFeo murders. She then realized that Mr. Lutz had let his children sleep in the death beds of the DeFeo children.
A wall in the master bedroom was made up entirely of mirrors. Lorraine sat on the bed, the same bed that Mr. and Mrs. DeFeo had been murdered. The mattress had been changed but everything else remained the same. She felt total and complete horror and every single room continued that feeling throughout. In fact, she claimed that each room felt worse than the one before it. On the third floor she was able to clairvoyantly come into contact with Ronald DeFeo. It was such a horrible experience that she felt as if there was nothing she could do to remove his spirit from the home.
When Lorraine went downstairs, she was asked to communicate with the spirits inside the home, and find out what truly happened. This is something she had never been asked to do before. The investigator who was present at the time, from Duke University, passed out from pure fear! Two other investigators claimed to feel a racing heartbeat and had to lie down for a while. The home seemed to affect men even more than women. A woman named Mary Pascarella became so sick she had to be removed from the house and he never went back in again. At 1:00 am, the Warrens left the Amityville home. They were both traumatized and swore they would never return. But eventually they did, and this is how the Amityville horror story began.
For more information on the Amityville murders, home, and horror, please refer to the following websites:
- Amityville Murders – This website discusses the real story behind the home and the murders.
- Horror or Hoax? – An interesting look at the Amityville story and whether or not it is a hoax.
- Snopes – Snopes digs in to find the truth behind Amityville.
- Interview with George Lutz – An in-depth interview with Mr. Lutz about his Amityville experiences.
- Ed & Lorraine Warren – The home page for Ed and Lorraine Warren, the original ghost hunters.
- Lorraine & Amityville – Lorraine Warren discusses the Amityville horror and her experience in this interview.
- Revisiting the Murders – An in-depth look at the DeFeo murder case.
- Documentary – You can watch a documentary about the Amityville horror here.
- Quiz – A fun quiz to test your knowledge of the Amityville case and home.
- Feud – A story about George Lutz and his struggle to overcome accusations of the Amityville story being a hoax.
Article written by Janice D. McDonald