It has been more than 45 years since George and Kathy Lutz fled their home in Amityville, Long Island, claiming that they were haunted by evil spirits.
The couple’s terrible demonic possession story inspired the 1977 book “The Amityville Horror”, a 1979 hit film of the same name and several sequences, including a 2005 remake.
Although his story is now widely considered a scam, Lutz’s so-called horror house continues to fascinate the public.
The three-story colonial – its original address was 112 Ocean Ave., but was changed to 108 to deter tourists – was the site of a brutal massacre.
Ronald DeFeo Jr., then 23, shot and killed his parents and four brothers there on November 13, 1974. The notorious killer died behind bars on March 12 at the age of 69.
In December 1975, a month after DeFeo was convicted of the murders, the Lutz couple and their three children moved into the house, which they reportedly stole for $ 80,000.
On the day they moved in, the couple asked a priest to bless the house. But George claimed that the holy man felt an invisible hand hit him in the sewing room and heard a voice say “Get out”.
Soon after, the couple said they began to notice strange things around the house, such as doors being pulled off their hinges, closets closing and mud running down from the ceiling.
“There were … odors in the house that came and went,” George told ABC News in 2006. “There were sounds. The front door would close in the middle of the night…. I was unable to warm up at home for many days. “
He claimed that he woke up mysteriously at 3:15 am almost every day – at about the same time that DeFeo’s murders were believed to have occurred.
Sometimes his wife would physically become an old woman and once levitate, George said. One night, he heard his children’s beds “hitting the floor,” but said he couldn’t do anything because an invisible force was paralyzing him.
The family moved after 28 days, leaving their belongings behind, including clothes in their closets and food in the fridge.
Two months later, a local TV crew did a segment on the house, bringing in so-called “ghost hunters” and paranormal experts to assess the couple’s claims.
“It was like a psychic pajama party,” reporter Laura Didio reminded ABC.
The team took several pictures of the interior, including an image now infamous apparently showing a “ghost boy” peeking from one of the rooms. The mediums agreed that there was some kind of demonic force present in the house.
The Lutzes later collaborated with author Jay Anson on their best-selling book. The family said they never signed a contract with Anson, and that the book and spin-off from the hit movie earned $ 300,000.
Many people expressed doubts about his horror story, which came under even more scrutiny after DeFeo’s defense lawyer, William Weber, admitted that he and the couple created the story because of several bottles of wine.
“We took real life incidents and transposed them,” Weber reportedly said on the TV show “A Current Affair” in May 1988. “In other words, it was a scam.”
Still, George, who died in 2006, said the story was real, telling ABC: “I can only tell you what I experienced”.
Her son Daniel Lutz, who was 10 at the time, said that George had invited mysterious and dangerous forces into their lives due to his interest in the occult.
The Queens resident told his side of the story in the 2013 documentary “My Amityville Horror”.
George’s stepson, Christopher Quaratino, who was 7 when he lived in the house, came forward in 2005 to say that the events in the books and films “The Amityville Terror” had reached the point of fiction.
Quaratino also said that George was obsessed with the occult and exaggerated some paranormal incidents that he believes occurred when he was a child.
“He’s a professional showman, in my opinion,” said Quaratino. “I feel like we’re being exploited.”
The notorious house has been in the hands of several owners since the Lutzes lived there – and no one else has reported any frightening events.