The Amityville Horror - Additional Information

Additional Information

Kathleen Theresa Lutz (October 13, 1946 - August 17, 2004) died of emphysema and George Lee Lutz (January 1, 1947 - May 8, 2006) died of heart disease. The couple divorced in the late 1980s, but remained on good terms.

During the period that the Lutz family was living at 112 Ocean Avenue, Dr. Stephen Kaplan, a self-styled vampirologist and ghost hunter, was called in to investigate the house. Kaplan and the Lutzes fell out after Kaplan said that he would expose any fraud that was found. Kaplan went on to write a critical book titled The Amityville Horror Conspiracy with his wife Roxanne Salch Kaplan. The book was published in 1995.

On the night of March 6, 1976 the house was investigated by Ed and Lorraine Warren, a husband and wife team self-described as demonologists, together with a crew from the television station Channel 5 New York and reporter Michael Linder of WNEW-FM. During the course of the investigation Gene Campbell took a series of infrared time-lapse photographs. One of the images allegedly showed a "demonic boy" with glowing eyes who was standing at the foot of a staircase. The photograph did not emerge into the public domain until 1979, when George and Kathy Lutz and Rod Steiger appeared on The Merv Griffin Show to promote the release of the first film. 112 Ocean Avenue was also investigated by the parapsychologist Hans Holzer. The Warrens and Holzer have suggested that the house is occupied by malevolent spirits due to its history.

George Lutz registered the phrase The Amityville Horror as a trademark in 2002, and it is referred to as The Amityville Horror™ on his official website. Lutz claimed that the film producers embellished or fabricated events portrayed in the 1979 version and the 2005 remake. He also claimed that the producers of the 2005 film did not involve his family, and that they used his name without permission.

In recent years many websites devoted to The Amityville Horror have been created, often taking a strong stance either for or against the events. Virtually every aspect of the story has been disputed at some point and rivalry between researchers has been a longstanding feature of the case.

The house known as 112 Ocean Avenue still exists, but it has been renovated and the address changed in order to discourage sightseers from visiting it. The famous quarter round windows have been removed, and the house today looks considerably different from its depiction in the films. The house in Toms River used as the location for the first three films has also been modified for the same reason. For the 2005 film version, the house was renamed 412 Ocean Avenue. The 2005 film remake says that the basement of the Lutz home was built in 1692, but 112 Ocean Avenue – also known as High Hopes – was built around 1924 for John and Catherine Moynahan.

The local residents and authorities in Amityville, New York are unhappy with the attention that The Amityville Horror brings to the town and tend to decline requests to discuss it publicly. The website of the Amityville Historical Society makes no mention of the murders by Ronald DeFeo, Jr. in 1974 or the period that the Lutz family lived at 112 Ocean Avenue. When the History Channel made its documentary about The Amityville Horror in 2000, no member of the Historical Society would discuss the matter on camera.

The episode of CSI: NY first broadcast on October 31, 2007 was a Halloween edition based on The Amityville Horror. Entitled "Boo", it features a house in Amityville where a family has died in circumstances similar to the DeFeo murders.

One of the victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks, Peter O'Neill, lived in the house from 1987 to 1997.

Actress Christine Belford lived in the house as a teenager from 1960 to 1965. Her parents sold the house to the DeFeos.

In May 2010, the house was placed on the market with an asking price of $1.15 million. In August 2010, the house was sold to a local resident for $950,000. On August 21, 2010, the departing owner held a moving sale at the house, and hundreds of people turned up for the event. They were allowed to go inside the house, but not to visit the upstairs rooms or the basement.