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The dining room has a new chandelier, but still features a red wallpaper very similar to the original. There aren’t any modern images of the upper levels in the home – likely because this was where the murders were committed. While there has been a lot of work done on the home, there are still areas of the residence that haven’t changed much since the 1970s. The living room, for example, still looks creepily similar to what it looked like when the DeFeo’s lived there.
The Amityville House still stands — with a new address
The owners repainted the house but kept original touches like the leaded glass and oak floors. Many previous owners of the Amityville house had to move out over the years, fed up with the attention their home was attracting on a daily basis. They were quite outspoken and upfront about what they were experiencing at the house, and they got other people interested, too. George and Kathy left all of their belongings there and put the house back on the market. George Lutz started hearing voices, random knocking noises, doors that would allegedly slam on their own, and other creepy stuff like that. Kathy Lutz also said that she discovered a secret room that wasn’t in the original house plans, and that this room was painted red — blood red.
What happened in the Amityville Horror house in 1974?
The jury didn't buy the "Devil made me do it" defense, and the judge sentenced DeFeo to six consecutive life sentences. The Lutzes later collaborated with author Jay Anson for his best-selling book. The family has said they never signed a contract with Anson, and that the tome and successful film spin-off netted them $300,000. Soon after, the couple said they began noticing odd things around the house, such as doors being ripped from hinges, cabinets slamming shut and slime oozing from the ceilings.
THE BOOKS AND MOVIES
So while the house might be one of the most recognized and feared houses in the nation, there’s certainly no denying that its attraction has kept it in the spotlight — especially with many believing the hauntings have been debunked several times over the years. The wake of the notorious murders gave birth to one of horror fans' most celebrated films, "The Amityville Horror" (1979), based on the book of the same title. Since then, the infamous residence at 108 Ocean Avenue (originally 112) in Long Island, New York has drawn endless numbers of bystanders who crave to see the site of one of America's most cold-blooded and fabled murders (per ATI). In the 43 years since the film's initial release, people often wonder what has become of the iconic Amityville homestead. However, our fascination for the paranormal and haunted houses is as strong as ever, and we’re pretty sure that more movies and stories based on the Amityville events will continue to pop up.
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Older photos indicate that the home also featured a wet bar, but there’s no way of knowing if this is still the case now. There are at least 45 sequels to Stuart Rosenberg’s 1979 horror drama about a family under siege by supernatural forces inside their home in suburban Amityville, Long Island. That’s more than the “Star Wars,” “Fast and Furious” and “X-Men” franchises combined.
Many question the validity of the Lutz's story
Father Mancuso was a lawyer, judge of the Catholic Court and psychotherapist who lived at the local Sacred Heart Rectory. He arrived to perform the blessing while George and Kathy were unpacking their belongings on the afternoon of December 18, 1975, and went into the building to carry out the rites. When he flicked the first holy water and began to pray, he heard a masculine voice demand that he "get out". When leaving the house, Father Mancuso did not mention this incident to either George or Kathy. Following his visit to the house, Father Mancuso allegedly developed a high fever and blisters on his hands similar to stigmata.
The Dark History Behind the Amityville Horror House's Rise to Infamy
But in 1979, attorney William Weber, who represented Ronald "Butch" DeFeo, came forward with a claim that not only said the Lutz family contrived the entire haunting, but that he was an instrumental part of its creation. Trying to reopen the case and have DeFeo plead insanity, Weber claimed to have approached George and Kathy with the idea that, if they also claimed to experience strange things in the house, they could get a book deal and the story could aid his client's case. Before Jay Anson wrote his bestselling "based on a true story" book The Amityville Horror, he told The New York Times, "I had never even tried a book before." What Anson had done was produce "making-of" featurettes for films like Klute and Deliverance. According to what he told The New York Times in 1978, Anson had no familiarity with the occult until he was commissioned to work on such a "making-of" featurette for The Exorcist. Despite its graphic content, and some condemnation from the clergy, The Exorcist was the #1 film at the 1973 box office, beating out the #2 film, The Sting, by nearly $10 million. (Another Satan-themed film, the X-Rated The Devil in Miss Jones, was also the 10th highest-grossing films of 1973.) In a rarity for horror films even today, The Exorcist received 10 Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, and won an Oscar for its screenplay.
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The production for the 1979 movie The Amityville Horror wasn’t actually filmed at the real life Amityville house. The scenes of the home were actually shot at another residence located at 18 Brooks Rd, Toms River, NJ 08753. In fact, the story of the Amityville horror has inspired countless films and series over the past 4 decades. Keep reading for more on the real Amityville house, the Amityville horror house featured on screen and a closer look at the DeFeo murders. Since the tragic murders and supposed paranormal experiences by the Lutzes, the Amityville house has since been listed on the market several times, with the home even selling for $1.46 million last year.
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Inside The Real Amityville Horror House And Its Story Of Murder And Hauntings
Spanning close to 4,000 square feet, the house is “ideally situated on what is considered the most desirable street in Toms River,” a few blocks away from the center of town and positioned for open water views of the river, Mr. Childers said. After the story of the Amityville horror house went public, many questioned the validity of the Lutz’s claims. Given their financial struggles, there were those that believed the couple crafted the story as a means to make money. Later on, Ronald would change his story again and say he didn’t kill his family, but that Dawn had actually committed all the murders. While there were reports that Dawn did have unburned gunpowder on her nightgown, there’s no solid evidence to suggest she had a part in the murders.
The book is based on the 28-day period during December 1975 and January 1976 when George and Kathy Lutz and their three children lived at 112 Ocean Avenue. The parents were killed first, having both been shot twice, while all four children were killed with single shots. On August 17, 1987, Peter and Jeanne O’Neil purchased the house from the Cromartys.
The Lutz family only lived in the Dutch Colonial for 28 days before fleeing the home, leaving all their belongings behind. Following the alleged events that the Lutz endured in the Amityville house, they went on to collaborate with author Jay Anson to develop the book The Amityville Horror. Regardless of whether or not the entire haunting was real or not, interest in the infamous property has certainly yet to waver over the years, with horrorhounds and regular civilians still thoroughly invested in the bone-chilling story behind the house.
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The sequels from the 1990s were released direct to video and contain virtually no material relating to the Lutz family or the DeFeo murders. Instead, they concentrate on paranormal phenomena caused by cursed items supposedly linked to the house. Despite being the face of a terrifyingly haunted house of horrors on film, the place is actually pretty amazing in reality. According to property records, the home was last sold in 2013 for $350,000.
Following DeFeo’s eventual arrest, the Dutch Colonial house in Amityville, New York was then put up for sale. Over the years, the aforementioned case has skyrocketed in popularity and search and is often regarded as one of the most famous cases of paranormal ever. Despite its popularity, however, the particular case has experienced its fair share of criticism and uncertainty — with a large portion of folks believing the entire haunting to be a hoax. With a brand new address, new owners, and revamped interiors, the property best known as The Amityville Horror house is shedding its dark past and now serves as a regular family home for the residents that bought in 2017. The ‘evil eyes’ of the home, which is how people used to refer to the two attic windows, were also redone to tone down the evil — a bit late for that, but things were starting to look positive for the infamous murder house.
The waterfront house, in Toms River, New Jersey, has all of the cachet and none of the sinister history, having been used as the set for “The Amityville Horror” movie in 1979. The actual house where the horrors allegedly transpired is located on New York’s Long Island. At one time, there were rumors of a 7th victim due to a strange crime scene photo found in the case files. This photo depicted a woman with similar fatal injuries sustained by the DeFeo family members. One issue, however, was that the bedroom where this victim was located didn’t match any room in the Amityville house. Long before it became the site of a mass murder, the Amityville house was actually the dream home of John and Catherine Moynahan.
They moved in a year after the murders and were the first to report instances of paranormal activity that allegedly prompted their abandonment of the mansion after only 28 days. Following their untimely departure, the house went into foreclosure in 1977 (per All That's Interesting). The 1979 film, based on Jay Anson's novel, is the best known in the series. The part of the priest who blesses the house (renamed Father Delaney in the film) was played by Academy Award–winning actor Rod Steiger. The first three Amityville films received a theatrical release, while the fourth film was made for television by NBC.
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