Is the Amityville Horror a True Story?
Kendall Hutchinson
October 3, 2011
English 102
Steve Sparks
Is The Amityville Horror True? Based on a reportedly true story, Jay Anson’s, The Amityville Horror, took the nation by storm. It caught the eye of people mainly because of the subtitle it carried: “A True Story”. Jay Anson wrote this book based on George and Kathleen Lutzes’ claims “that they and their three small children felt threatened from strong supernatural forces while living at 112 Ocean Avenue” (Osuna). However, aside from the account of the Lutzes’ encounters with these forces, no actual facts prove that these events truly occurred. Therefore, many people became skeptical of the alleged true story of these happenings at the Lutzes’ home. The Amityville Horror came out only a few years after The Exorcist which most likely contributed to the huge uproar of the book. People were much more susceptible to these types of things after being exposed to The Exorcist, which led to majority of people believing the happenings of The Amityville Horror. In the afterward of the book, Jay Anson is extremely adamant about convincing the reader that these events are true. He not only bases his reports on George and Kathy’s reconstructions of the events that supposedly took place, but he also receives verification from Father Mancuso the priest, and local police officials. We as a people, tend to place more confidence in things reported by these “people of power”. Anson goes on to say that when the Lutzes fled their home, they had not ever considered putting their experiences into book form. This further provides proof of the legitimacy of the story, implying that the Lutzes did not fabricate these events. However, many years later, tremendously different theories arose. Butch DeFeo doubted these stories were valid and supposed they were concocted with the help of Butch’s defense attorney, William Weber. In a letter Butch DeFeo wrote “Amityville was a hoax that Weber and the Lutzes started. Yes, to
October 3, 2011
English 102
Steve Sparks
Is The Amityville Horror True? Based on a reportedly true story, Jay Anson’s, The Amityville Horror, took the nation by storm. It caught the eye of people mainly because of the subtitle it carried: “A True Story”. Jay Anson wrote this book based on George and Kathleen Lutzes’ claims “that they and their three small children felt threatened from strong supernatural forces while living at 112 Ocean Avenue” (Osuna). However, aside from the account of the Lutzes’ encounters with these forces, no actual facts prove that these events truly occurred. Therefore, many people became skeptical of the alleged true story of these happenings at the Lutzes’ home. The Amityville Horror came out only a few years after The Exorcist which most likely contributed to the huge uproar of the book. People were much more susceptible to these types of things after being exposed to The Exorcist, which led to majority of people believing the happenings of The Amityville Horror. In the afterward of the book, Jay Anson is extremely adamant about convincing the reader that these events are true. He not only bases his reports on George and Kathy’s reconstructions of the events that supposedly took place, but he also receives verification from Father Mancuso the priest, and local police officials. We as a people, tend to place more confidence in things reported by these “people of power”. Anson goes on to say that when the Lutzes fled their home, they had not ever considered putting their experiences into book form. This further provides proof of the legitimacy of the story, implying that the Lutzes did not fabricate these events. However, many years later, tremendously different theories arose. Butch DeFeo doubted these stories were valid and supposed they were concocted with the help of Butch’s defense attorney, William Weber. In a letter Butch DeFeo wrote “Amityville was a hoax that Weber and the Lutzes started. Yes, to
Cited: Osuna, Ric. "The Haunting." The Amityville Murders. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Oct. 2011. <http://www.amityvillemurders.com/>. Radford, Benjamin. "The Amityville Horror." Snopes. N.p., 15 Apr. 2005. Web. 3 Oct. 2011. <http://www.snopes.com/horrors/ghosts/amityville.asp>.