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[Hollywood]

Has anyone read/heard any interviews on this? I listened to Coast to Coast AM the other day interviewing the guy who lived there during it all, it gave me chills. If anyone doesn't know ... the previous owners were the DeFeos whos 23 year old son went room to room with a shotgun killing the 6 other members of his family. Apparently none of them woke from hearing the shotgun sounds, no neighbors heard it despite only being around 30-40 feet away from each house. Defeo's defense was a shadow handed him the shotgun and told him to kill everyone in his house.

Then another family moved in, who had three children. A bunch of crazy events happened, even right when moving in their dog Harry was on a leash and jumped a fence to try to get out, and almost hung himself. The dog wouldn't go into certain rooms and things like that. The youngest child who was only like 3 or 4 or something had an 'imaginary' friend, and she would tell her parents things that it would say, and they thought nothing of it until she told her parents things it would say like 'You will never leave this house'. A weird gel would appear in parts of the house, doors would slam yet nothing would be seen, the guy said he heard a mistoned music sound downstairs at night thinking it was an alarm clock or something, he would wake up every night at 3:15 AM, supposedly the time the DeFeo family was killed. His wife changed appearance twice into an old hag looking woman, she levitated in bed, the childrens beds bouned up and down, the guy was paralyzed in bed, etc. He even insinuated he could understand what DeFeo went through, insinuating sometimes he had very bad thoughts go through his head in that house. The last night was so bad, they packed up and never came back and to this day the guy will not say what happened that night there.

That's just a summary of the most infamous haunted house, and future owners never reported any activity there. I hope I never have to mess with a Poltergeist.

 

[Grifter]

Wasn't this a proven hoax?

 

[border]

I think the original murders are a true story, but the haunting is a known hoax. The current owners of the house report no problems.

 

[Hollywood]

The hoax part was proven WRONG. Read up on your facts. The hoax was reported by a shady psychic who was hired to check out the place, but showed up with a news team, and several 'witches', and was then kicked out of the house and they hired the Warren's to investigate. He then made the claim it was all a hoax, then said it was a lie before he died. If it was a hoax it must include over 200 or so people because of the amount of people who came to and from there.

 

[LakeEarth]

Even if the people who said it was a hoax were shady, the fact that the house is still standing, with owners that haven't gone crazy and brutally killed each other for the past 30 years tells me it was.

 

[Hollywood]

"It’s believed that the hoax rumor began with a man who called himself Dr. Steven Kaplan, although he held no doctorate degree from any university. This fact was exposed on several occasions, yet that never stopped Mr. Kaplan from making these claims. He was the self-proclaimed president of the Parapsychology Society of Long Island and some other related societies, presumably founded by himself. As far as the Warrens can tell, he hated them because Mr. Lutz, the owner of the Amityville Horror home called Mr. Kaplan prior to calling the Warrens, and asked him to investigate the situation. Mr. Kaplan came to the home to “investigate” with 6 witches and the Channel 7 news team, and Mr. Lutz threw Mr. Kaplan off the property---and then called the Warrens. This started a 20 year vendetta of Mr. Kaplan against the Warrens.

The basic claims of Mr. Kaplan insisting Amityville to be a hoax were discussed with Ed Warren and Mr. Kaplan on a Long Island radio show. Kaplan insisted that Amityville was a hoax because Jay Anson’s book, The Amityville Horror, has some inconsistencies in it, and it was not 100% accurate. The Warrens felt that Mr. Anson’s book was not 100% accurate as well, but only because Mr. Anson was unfamiliar with the terms of art of the field of demonology, not because of any purposeful error on his or Mr. Lutz’s part. Apparently Mr. Kaplan simply could not let go of the idea that he had ruined his chance to become involved in what may be the world’s most famous paranormal investigation, and therefore started the rumor that it was all a hoax.

Mr. Kaplan wrote a book concerning the Amityville story, called The Amityville Conspiracy, and one week before the book was published he died from a heart attack. The book contains far more contradictions and mis-stated facts than The Amityville Horror by Jay Anson. Kaplan was never even inside of the Amityville house (except to attend a party--not as part of an investigation), despite his claims to the contrary.

Kaplan nevertheless swore that he had photographs and investigative materials. Ed Warren offered him $5000 to show him the hoax evidence, yet Kaplan declined. When Ed Warren asked how Kaplan had conducted his investigation, Kaplan couldn’t even specify what equipment he’d used. Somehow, he managed to lie his way out of every possible detail.

Ultimately, a Babylon, NY radio station made Mr. Kaplan apologize to the Warrens because they’d uncovered that Kaplan had fabricated the hoax rumor. Kaplan said on the radio program, “I will never go against the Warrens again.” Given his health, he was never able to try, although his apology was short- lived. "

http://www.warrens.net/amityvill.htm

 

[Hollywood]

Even if the people who said it was a hoax were shady, the fact that the house is still standing, with owners that haven't gone crazy and brutally killed each other for the past 30 years tells me it was.

Haunted doesn't mean haunted for good, you know that right?

 

[themadcowtipper]

Hollywood Never lies..............

 

[xsarien]

Haunted doesn't mean haunted for good, you know that right?

And you know the Warrens are basically more interested in media attention than their actual work, right? I've met 'em, wouldn't let me go on one of their little investigations unless I wrote a positive piece about the experience in the school newspaper.

Amityville's haunting was, and is a hoax. The family that moved into the house after the Lutz' never reported anything remotely wrong with the place. The only "disturbance" is the myriad people who still go looking for the house, despite a major renovation to alter the exterior entirely and an address change.

 

[border]

I'll go with Wikipedia...

However, it is not widely known by the public that many, if not all, of the paranormal claims were discovered to be false.

* William Weber, lawyer for Ronald DeFeo, Jr., admitted in 1979 that he and the Lutzes had concocted the whole story of the haunting. The story was related to Weber's defense in court.
* Doors and windows show none of the claimed damage.
* Police records show that they were never called by the Lutzes.
* Descriptions of alleged psychic events did not match either the method or details of the actual murders.
* Father Pecoraro, who supposedly fled the place, later stated that he never saw anything in the house.
* Weather records show that there was no snow for the claimed hoofprints to be in.

 

[hiryu]

http://www.amityvillemurders.net/murders.html


Go to that site and look around. I don't see how you can believe in the hauntings after reading most of that. Heck, it doesn't even appear that the murders were done by one person.

 

[Lyte Edge]

http://www.amityvillemurders.net/murders.html


Go to that site and look around. I don't see how you can believe in the hauntings after reading most of that. Heck, it doesn't even appear that the murders were done by one person.

That's far scarier than any ghost story.

 

[SlickWilly223]

And you know the Warrens are basically more interested in media attention than their actual work, right? I've met 'em, wouldn't let me go on one of their little investigations unless I wrote a positive piece about the experience in the school newspaper.

Amityville's haunting was, and is a hoax. The family that moved into the house after the Lutz' never reported anything remotely wrong with the place. The only "disturbance" is the myriad people who still go looking for the house, despite a major renovation to alter the exterior entirely and an address change.

You've met the Warrens? That's pretty cool, what were they like?

 

[Hitokage]

The hoax part was proven WRONG. Read up on your facts. The hoax was reported by a shady psychic who was hired to check out the place, but showed up with a news team, and several 'witches', and was then kicked out of the house and they hired the Warren's to investigate. He then made the claim it was all a hoax, then said it was a lie before he died. If it was a hoax it must include over 200 or so people because of the amount of people who came to and from there.

Whatever. http://www.snopes.com/horrors/ghosts/amityville.asp

 

[WordAssassin]

I'll go with Wikipedia...

However, it is not widely known by the public that many, if not all, of the paranormal claims were discovered to be false.

* William Weber, lawyer for Ronald DeFeo, Jr., admitted in 1979 that he and the Lutzes had concocted the whole story of the haunting. The story was related to Weber's defense in court.
* Doors and windows show none of the claimed damage.
* Police records show that they were never called by the Lutzes.
* Descriptions of alleged psychic events did not match either the method or details of the actual murders.
* Father Pecoraro, who supposedly fled the place, later stated that he never saw anything in the house.
* Weather records show that there was no snow for the claimed hoofprints to be in.

HUH? That's the first time I've ever heard of this before, what's this about? Hoofprints in the snow? We talkin' Jersey Devil style, here? Can anyone elaborate on this bit for me?

 

[xsarien]

You've met the Warrens? That's pretty cool, what were they like?

They gave a lecture at my school, and afterwards went into one of the older buildings on campus that used to be a hospital to see if they could find anything. I asked if I could go, they said only if I write about it.

Fine.

The impression I got from them was just what I said: A couple who sometimes seem more concerned about their credibility than with what they purport to investigate. Their presentation had plenty of testimonials (relayed by the Warrens, of course) about how scary and real some of this shit really is.

As for me? I think the truth is somewhere in the middle; between hardened skeptics and people who play it up, like the Warrens.

 

[Hollywood]

From Snopes:

The truth behind The Amityville Horror was finally revealed when Butch DeFeo's lawyer, William Weber, admitted that he, along with the Lutzes, "created this horror story over many bottles of wine."

Funny, that Weber wanted the rights to the book/movie, and wanted to handle it all for the Lutz's, and when they declined, he goes on to say it was ALL a hoax. What do you know eh. "If Weber claimed that he helped to concoct the story, he is admitting that he knew the story was false. If he knew the story was false, then why would he include clauses in his contract with the Lutzes that stated they must be truthful and submit to a polygraph test?" - from amityvillefaq



The house was never really haunted; the horrific experiences they had claimed were simply made up. Jay Anson further embellished the tale for his book, and by the time the film's screenwriters had adapted it, any grains of truth that might have been there were long gone. While the Lutzes profited handsomely from their story, Weber had planned to use the haunting to gain a new trial for his client. George Lutz reportedly still claims that the events are mostly true, but has offered no evidence to back up his claim.

HANDSOMELY profited? Snopes shoud look into the facts. While the writer made millions, the Lutz family made a little under $300,000 out of all of it from start to finish.

BTW the Lutz's took and passed a polygraph test on this.

Also the late Father Malacki Martin, who was highly respected within the church went on to confirm the church knew of the haunting and was keeping an eye on it.

So believe what you want, but if you are using bad info to back up the hoax, thats stupid rationale.

http://www.amityvillefaq.com/hoax.html

 

[xsarien]

From Snopes:

The truth behind The Amityville Horror was finally revealed when Butch DeFeo's lawyer, William Weber, admitted that he, along with the Lutzes, "created this horror story over many bottles of wine."

Funny, that Weber wanted the rights to the book/movie, and wanted to handle it all for the Lutz's, and when they declined, he goes on to say it was ALL a hoax. What do you know eh. "If Weber claimed that he helped to concoct the story, he is admitting that he knew the story was false. If he knew the story was false, then why would he include clauses in his contract with the Lutzes that stated they must be truthful and submit to a polygraph test?" - from amityvillefaq

Dear God, you don't know many lawyers, do you?

HANDSOMELY profited? Snopes shoud look into the facts. While the writer made millions, the Lutz family made a little under $300,000 out of all of it from start to finish.

That may have been the end result, but I think it goes without saying that the story was created in order to profit from it. If the plan failed, well, sucks for them (I guess.)

BTW the Lutz's took and passed a polygraph test on this.

Polygraphs are notoriously unreliable. It's why the results from those tests are rarely allowed inside a courtroom. All a polygraph measures is breathing, pulse, blood pressure, and perspiration. Any convincing liar can remain perfectly calm while hooked up to the machine, defeating its purpose entirely.

Also the late Father Malacki Martin, who was highly respected within the church went on to confirm the church knew of the haunting and was keeping an eye on it.

You got a link for that? Because the real priest and church in question went on to deny the events of the book and the movie, specifically the parts where the demon - or one of the demons (not GAF's demon) - managed to follow the guy back to the rectory and attack him there.

So believe what you want, but if you are using bad info to back up the hoax, thats stupid rationale.

Define irony...

 

[WordAssassin]

So, erm, is anyone gonna tell me the story behind the snowy hoofprints?

^__^;

 

[xsarien]

So, erm, is anyone gonna tell me the story behind the snowy hoofprints?

^__^;

I've never read the book, but one of the apparitions the Lutz' allegedly saw was a (floating?) pig with red eyes outside one of the house's windows. I'm guessing it's related to that.

 

[Hollywood]

Dear God, you don't know many lawyers, do you?





That may have been the end result, but I think it goes without saying that the story was created in order to profit from it. If the plan failed, well, sucks for them (I guess.)



Polygraphs are notoriously unreliable. It's why the results from those tests are rarely allowed inside a courtroom. All a polygraph measures is breathing, pulse, blood pressure, and perspiration. Any convincing liar can remain perfectly calm while hooked up to the machine, defeating its purpose entirely.



You got a link for that? Because the real priest and church in question went on to deny the events of the book and the movie, specifically the parts where the demon - or one of the demons (not GAF's demon) - managed to follow the guy back to the rectory and attack him there.



Define irony...

See this is the thing, people can't get their facts straight from the movies/books. George Lutz readily admits much of what was in the books and movies were overexaggerated and just plain made up. That does not make it a hoax. And I posted a link go read it.

 

[Nerevar]

:lol

Can we give Hollywood a tag, like "champion of lost causes" or something? I mean seriously.

 

[xsarien]

See this is the thing, people can't get their facts straight from the movies/books. George Lutz readily admits much of what was in the books and movies were overexaggerated and just plain made up. That does not make it a hoax. And I posted a link go read it.

Your link sources "History's Mysteries," Coast to Coast, and other media that pretty much profit from the "it's true" slant of the story. I half expected one of the links to go to the Weekly World News.

Look, the only "horror" that took place in that house was the grisly murder of a family by a son who had a history of drug and LSD abuse, which is more than enough to explain his paranoid flights of fancy during trial. Even Ronald DeFeo's lawyer has denied the supernatural element to the case.

The likely scenario, if the Lutz' truly believe the home is haunted, is that they found out what had happened there, got spooked, and ye olde power of suggestion took over the driver's seat. The logical scenario is that the home is not haunted. Account after account after account of hauntings all over the world (at least the ones publicized) are rather constant, not turning on and off like a light switch. To this day, the house is occupied and it'd be rather extraordinary if any spirits in the house were only encountered by the Lutz family.

 

[Mejilan]

Jeezus people, the thing was a f-cking hoax.

 

[LakeEarth]

Haunted doesn't mean haunted for good, you know that right?

No I didn't. I didn't know there were rules to hauntings. Is there a book or some sort of University course where I can learn all these apparent rules I am unaware of?

 

[Vieo]

When I was younger I would drive by that house ever summer with my pops to visit relatives. It looked damn creepy because those odd windows made it look like a skull. From my understanding who ever owns the house now changed the windows. I guess I'm not the only one who thought they made the house look like a skull. :lol

 

[xsarien]

When I was younger I would drive by that house ever summer with my pops to visit relatives. It looked damn creepy because those odd windows made it look like a skull. From my understanding who ever owns the house now changed the windows. I guess I'm not the only one who thought they made the house look like a skull. :lol

The windows were changed to keep people from finding the house.

 

[WordAssassin]

I've never read the book, but one of the apparitions the Lutz' allegedly saw was a (floating?) pig with red eyes outside one of the house's windows. I'm guessing it's related to that.

Oh shit! That's my favorite part of the old movie! (And my one reason for fucking hating the new one).

That demon pig was AWESOME. I thought they just made that shit up for the movie, I had NO idea that it "really happened."

I must now find out more about this. Hollywood, mind helping me out?

 

[xsarien]

Oh shit! That's my favorite part of the old movie! (And my one reason for fucking hating the new one).

That demon pig was AWESOME. I thought they just made that shit up for the movie, I had NO idea that it "really happened."

I must now find out more about this. Hollywood, mind helping me out?

I had no idea what those eyes were in the movie, because that's all they were. Me looking up shit because of this Godforsaken thread finally brought it to my attention.

 

[WordAssassin]

I had no idea what those eyes were in the movie, because that's all they were. Me looking up shit because of this Godforsaken thread finally brought it to my attention.

There's the one part where the mother sees the eyes outside the window, but then later on when the shit hits the fan, the father sees the eyes and lightning flashes and reveals it's a pig. I thought that was so fucking funny when I first saw it.

"OMFG the moster was a PIG? HAW HAW HAW! XD"

Then in the sequel there are haunted paint brushes that paint the outline of a demon pig with sharp teeth and wings on the wall of the kid's room. :lol

I was so pissed to see they replaced it with that fucking generic little girl in the remake.

 

[xsarien]

There's the one part where the mother sees the eyes outside the window, but then later on when the shit hits the fan, the father sees the eyes and lightning flashes and reveals it's a pig. I thought that was so fucking funny when I first saw it.

"OMFG the moster was a PIG? HAW HAW HAW! XD"

Maybe it's just been awhile since I've seen the movie in its theatrical form. When I usually catch it, the movie's on basic cable, therefore cut for time.

 

[WordAssassin]

Ah, understandable. One of my friends is a total horror movie freak, so he of course bought the four-disc DVD set when the remake hit. It's still very fresh in my mind. :lol

 

[xsarien]

Ah, understandable. One of my friends is a total horror movie freak, so he of course bought the four-disc DVD set when the remake hit. It's still very fresh in my mind. :lol

Oh, I love me a good horror movie, I just can't bring myself to buy the boxed set. The first movie is passable, the rest - especially "It's About Time" is just bad in a bad way, not bad in a good way.

 

[WordAssassin]

Hahahaha, I just remembered how the sequel, has demon-induced incest, hahahaha.

"You might just be the prettiest girl in the world."
"Might be?"
"Take off your shirt."




. . .





*cries softly in the corner*





And who can forget the classic:

:lol

 

[border]

I think the most detrimental thing is that the haunting magically stopped when the Lutz family moved out. Even if you believe that hauntings can just magically stop, it seems like a pretty big coincidence doesn't it?

 

[Hitokage]

Look, the only "horror" that took place in that house was the grisly murder of a family by a son who had a history of drug and LSD abuse, which is more than enough to explain his paranoid flights of fancy during trial. Even Ronald DeFeo's lawyer has denied the supernatural element to the case.

But you see, somebody who's not in their right mind killing people is too boring, we gotta add ghosts!

 

[Manics]

I think the most detrimental thing is that the haunting magically stopped when the Lutz family moved out. Even if you believe that hauntings can just magically stop, it seems like a pretty big coincidence doesn't it?

EXACTLY. The hauntings "magically stop" when the Lutz family leaves the house. Wow, guess the ghosts all decided to follow the Lutz's out of the house. Perhaps they decided to move down to Florida where the weather was consistently better and they would feel more comfortable haunting people in a warm weather climate. Or maybe the ghosts felt shafted by the success of the book and movie and the fact that they didn't receive their fair cut so they decided to stop haunting the place until retribution is paid.

 

[Cerebral Palsy]

The actual murders are a lot more interesting than the haunted house hoax.