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Paranormal Ghost filled tales of voodoo - hoodoo and zombies, Bigfoot, El chupacabra, Banshee's, witches, ghost hunting Cemeteries, the undead, the dead, Cryptids, Vampires, ghouls , Monsters, Ufo's, Haunted Locations, Haunted Buildings, People and objects, Paranormal Phenomena and strange Urban Legends perpetrate a type of folklore or "Fakelore," endlessly circulated by word of mouth through generations, repeated in television news stories, Documentaries, Radio Talk shows, Newspapers, Blogs, magazine articles and distributed by e-mail.
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And such is the Tales of all that is paranormal in the World.
Pazuzu was an Assyrian and Babylonian demonic god of the first millennium BC. He normally has a dog-like face like here, and where his body is depicted he has a scaly torso, a snake-headed penis, the talons of a bird and usually wings. He is often regarded as an evil underworld demon, but he seems also to have played a beneficent role as a protector against disease-bearing winds (especially the west wind). He was closely associated with the demoness Lamashtu who stole babies from their mother's womb or when newly born. Pazuzu acted to counter her evil: he forced her back to the underworld. Amulets of Pazuzu like this were therefore placed in windows hung inside and out of dwellings, attached to bedroom furniture. Smaller versions were hung around the necks of pregnant women. Pazuzu Head Assyria Artifact The Exorcist Prop 4 X 2 inches Item is shipped United States only Standard ~ Flat Rate Shipping Service
What if you find out the house you bought
is haunted! Should You Remodel or Move,
or call in " The Real Ghost Hunters"?
Real Haunted Houses go on the market for sale
every day. Would you dare buy
one!
Story By
Chamberlyn Cole
Buyers' feelings about houses, or
land or condo's or buildings with
haunted reputations are a little more
difficult to pin down. Although not
everyone believes in ghosts, buyers
should be made aware if the house
has a neighborhood, local or national
reputation for being haunted. Some
Haunted houses as Amityville, Lalaurie
Mansion, and The Myrtles Plantation
seem to be the most well known world
wide. But what about the local are
ones that neighbors talk of in hushed
tones. Is that the one for you?
Stigmatized-property laws vary greatly
by state, by the way, in part because
stigmas relate to strongly varying
perceptions, values and religious
beliefs. Texas property codes don't
address this type of issue. Other
states say psychological stigmas are
simply not material to a home transaction
and allow sellers to omit their disclosure
without liability. California laws,
for example, say sellers and agents
don't have to disclose a death --
even a murder -- that happened three
or more years before the sale.
But in the world today there are
many who would love to own or live
in a real haunted house.
Stigmatized property is a term used
in the real estate business which
describes possible detrimental features
of a property or home, all the result
of unfortunate occurrences. These
can include murder, suicide or even
AIDS, in addition to a belief that
a house may be haunted.
It's not easy to sell a house inhabited
by a ghost. Or a property that's been
the scene of a ghastly crime or suicide.
There are properties which are in
flawless physical condition but may
nevertheless present unusual marketing
issues. For instance, homes which
have been the site of murders, suicides,
or which are reportedly inhabited
by ghosts, or voodoo spells are known
as "stigmatized" properties.
This is a home with a condition which
is psychological in nature rather
than a matter of bricks and mortar.
Spain’s spiritual
home, a famous haunted house in the
southern province of Jaén,
was put for sale and attracted huge
interest from those desperate for
ready-made tenants - a cast of ghosts
whose faces appear on floors and walls.
Owner, María Gómez,
had discovered human faces in the
concrete floor 30 years earlier and
it had became so famous that queues
of visitors formed every weekend.
The Bélmez Faces (also called
The Faces of Bélmez) is considered
by some parapsychologists the best-documented
and "without doubt the most important
paranormal phenomenon [in the 20th]
century". Located at the Pereira
family home at Street Real 5, Bélmez
de la Moraleda, Jaén, Spain,
the Bélmez faces have been
responsible for bringing large numbers
of sightseers to Bélmez. Starting
in 1971, people have claimed to see
images of faces that continuously
and unexplainably form and disappear
on the floor of the Pereiras' home.
Wall face” appearance, purportedly
paranormal but probably made by human
hands, of the famous House of the
Faces in Spain. Cesar Tort, took the
photo in February 1992 with the permission
of the owner of the house: María
Gómez Cámara.
These faces, and many more which
have already disappeared, have been
appearing at irregular intervals in
the past thirty-five years and have
been frequently photographed by the
local newspapers and curious visitors.
Many Bélmez residents believe
that the faces were not made by human
hands, which has led some investigators
to conjecture that it is a thoughtographic
phenomenon unconsciously produced
by the owner of the house, María
Gómez Cámara. ("Thoughtography"
is considered a form of psychokinesis
among parapsychologists.)
On the other hand, skeptical researchers
point out that, as the faces of Bélmez
are fixed on whitewash of cement,
unlike other psychic claims a qualified
authority can offer a dictum on the
molecular changes that take place
in such mass of concrete; as well
as experts in conjuring. Skeptics
have performed extensive tests on
the faces and maintain they have demonstrated
that fakery has been involved.
Eventually a two-metre trench was
dug, revealing bones from a 13th-century
graveyard.
The subject of stigmatized houses
is complex. While some people may
want a house with a ghost, others
do not. The subject gets tangled even
further when one is asked whether
murders and suicides at a property
must be disclosed. Even though a particular
buyer may not care about any stigma
attached to the property, the stigma
may make it very difficult to resell
in the future. Therefore, while a
buyer may or may not believe in supernatural
phenomena, he/she may want to know
about a property's bloody past. However,
depending on the jurisdiction of the
house, the seller may not be required
to disclose the full facts.
In December 1975, George and Kathleen
Lutz and their children moved into
112 Ocean Avenue, a Dutch Colonial
house in Amityville, a suburban neighborhood
located on the south shore of Long
Island, New York. Thirteen months
before the Lutzes moved in, Ronald
DeFeo, Jr. had shot dead six members
of his family at the house. After
28 days the Lutzes left the house,
claiming to have been terrorized by
paranormal phenomena while living
there.
The Amityville Horror
is a best-selling book by the author
Jay Anson which was published in September
1977. The book has also formed the
basis of a series of films made between
1979 and 2005. The story is allegedly
based on real life events, but has
caused controversy over the reliability
of many of its claims.
The rules on this matter vary by
state -- some say a given condition
must be disclosed, others say "no,"
some say disclosure is not necessary
after so many years, and some states
say nothing one way or the other.
For specifics, please speak with a
broker or real estate attorney in
your community. Realty Agents back
the practice of disclosure, as they
do not want fingers pointed at them
in the event a major issue is discovered
after closing and a lawsuit entails.
This can lead to bad press about the
agents and brokers. The National Association
of Realtors (NAR) would like to see
some form of disclosure mandated in
every state. According to the NAR,
one of the largest areas of controversy
in the process of buying and selling
a home is the failure to disclose
the defects in the property.
Real-estate professionals call homes
tainted by murder, sex scandals or
messy divorce "stigmatized properties."
While they make up a sliver of the
market, they have been the subject
of academic research, provided fodder
for lawsuits and posed a challenge
for brokers. State real-estate agent
and appraisal groups regularly include
the subject in seminars, and the National
Association of Realtors® publishes
a "Field Guide to Dealing with
Stigmatized Property," offering
insights on everything from how to
market and sell stigmatized homes
to dealing with buyer reluctance to
own them. One scandal-dampening suggestion
from the guide's "tool kit":
Enhance the home's facade by painting
it or replanting shrubs and flowers.
New Orleans Famous
Most Haunted House ghost tour attraction,
The Lalaurie Mansion!
There are different degrees of stigma,
of course. Appraisers and brokers
say murder -- in particular, multiple
homicides and cult killings -- is
by far the toughest kind of notoriety
to minimize. Suicides and hauntings
come next, followed by illicit sex
and celebrity infidelities. When bold-face
names aren't involved, hanky-panky
appears to have little impact. "If
real-estate values were hurt for every
house where the owners were unfaithful,
we'd have a fire sale out here,"
says Steven Gaines of East Hampton,
N.Y., author of 1999's "Philistines
at the Hedgerow: Passion and Property
in the Hamptons."
The most haunted building
in the city of New Orleans, story
told by Matthew Yaddoshi of Haunted
History Tours, New Orleans, August
2005. After you hear the above haunted
tale of the Lalaurie Mansion. Think
about it. would you buy it if it was
for sale? And what would your motives
be?
James A. Willis, a Columbus-based
paranormal investigator, sees it all
the time. He's the founder and director
of the Ghosts of Ohio Inc., a nonprofit
organization that researches alleged
hauntings by using the latest ghost-busting
technology. More than 425 Ohio homeowners
have reported unearthly appearances
and other creepy stuff to his Web
site, http://www.ghostsofohio.org,
since Willis' organization was established
in 1998.
He estimates that half of the reports
are probably bogus. But the other
half keep Willis and his team of volunteer
investigators busy with their infrared
cameras and thermometers, electromagnetic
field testers and other scientific
equipment.
"One of the most common fears
our clients have is that the data
we collect on their homes will be
made public ? which it never is. They
absolutely don't want their property
listed as stigmatized," Willis
said.
The Myrtles Plantation
has a haunted value to paranormal
investigators world wide. Would you
buy it if it was for sale?
Read
more here " Real Haunted Houses
For Sale" in the News:
But not all cursed houses go up in
value. Serial killer Fred West’s
Cromwell Street home in Gloucester
was bulldozed two years after it was
discovered he’d buried victims
including members of his own family
under the foundations.
This House is "reportedly
haunted." "Instead of a
Hot Tub, we have a real live ghost"!
In New York, some ghostly precedent
was set in the small town of Nyack,
where a buyer placed earnest money
on a mansion he later found to be
haunted -- at least in the experience
of the former owner. She had advertised
it thusly to promote her bed-and-breakfast
operation there, even describing various
resident ghosts in detail, in local
and national media reports. Because
of the public statements, New York's
Supreme Court ruled the buyer wasn't
given all the facts during disclosure
and ordered the owner to return the
deposit and pay a small amount in
damages.
The National Association of Realtors
says, in effect, "when in doubt,
disclose." (Check out the association's
"Field Guide to Dealing with
Stigmatized Property" at www.realtor.org
for much more information and links.)
In your case, it sounds as if you
disclosed all the material facts.
A excerpt from an Article in the
Registar Guard of Eugene, Oregan.
The house-for-sale ad in Saturday's
paper starts out like many others
- bedrooms, bathrooms, formal dining
room - but then it lists a unique
feature: resident ghost.
"We haven't seen anything, we
mainly hear noises," said owner
Charlotte Brady, who lived in the
two-story, 80-year-old house on Fillmore
Street for about 30 years until moving
to a modern home in southeast Eugene
a couple of months ago. "We often
hear a ball bouncing - it sounds like
a hard rubber ball - and it starts
at the top of the stairs and seems
to hit every step on the way down."
Other typically ghostly things happened
occasionally, such as lights turning
on or off and finding doors or windows
opened or closed, but those things
might be explained away by the comings
and goings of a half-dozen people
living in a household, she said.
Real estate broker Ruby Brockett
said she's never heard of a house
ghost in all her many years of selling
homes in Lane County, "but in
the East it's very common."
"Usually it's a person who wasn't
ready to go or who has an attachment
to the place they lived," Brockett
said. "There's a whole 'nother
dimension out there we haven't run
into yet."
The idea of having a house ghost
never really bothered Brady, until
the knocking episode.
"I was home alone, sitting on
the floor of my daughters' room one
day when they were much younger, and
all of a sudden something started
knocking really loudly on the wall
right next to me," Brady said.
"It made me madder than anything
- I didn't have issues with it being
here until I thought it might be trying
to scare the kids."
In general, the value of a house
that has been the site of a suicide
doesn't take as much of a hit as the
value of a house that has been the
site of a homicide, said appraiser
Randy Bell, who specializes in stigmatized
properties. But if the stigmatized
house is in a rural or suburban area,
it will probably experience more of
an impact than an urban home.
Do you dare disclose if there is
murder or mayhem at your listing?
What are the professional and logistical
challenges if there is a well publicized
ghost on your next property? Don't
despair, help is here! This page offers
some creative marketing tools and
advice for selling properties with
an unsavory past.
AMITYVILLE THE MOST HAUNTED FAMOUS HOUSE IN AMERICA
FOR SALE 108 Ocean Ave Amityville, New York.
Immortalised: James Brolin and Margot Kidder portray the unfortunate Lutz couple who, after purchasing their 'dream house', fled in fear of their lives after just 28 days later
This is a single family home. It is located at 108 Ocean Ave Amityville, New York. The nearest schools are Park Avenue Elementary School, Berner Middle School and Amityville Memorial High School.
The house became so infamous that the couple who purchased it in 1977, James and Barbara Cromarty, had the address changed from 112 Ocean Avenue to 108 Ocean Avenue in a bid to protect their privacy.
They lived in the house for a decade. 'Nothing weird ever happened, except for people coming by because of the book and the movie,' Mr Cromarty, now 77, told reporters.
The real estate listing claims the house has an 'interesting history'.
Neighbours say gawkers still turn up to see the house, mostly on Halloween.
Ronald DeFeo remains in jail serving 25 years to life for the murders.
The home has been remodeled in the last three decades, and the original address, 112 Ocean Ave., was even changed by previous owners James and Barbara Cromarty to protect their privacy, Newsday reported.
Past owners have said the only scary thing about the home were the occasional gawkers who drove or walked by on Halloween night.
Amityville real estate agent Jerry O'Neill, of Coldwell Banker Harbor Light, told Newsday he believes the house is fairly priced and would make a beautiful family home.
"It's a gorgeous, big center-hall colonial with a finished basement," O'Neill said. "Nothing spooky about it."
Attention horror-movie enthusiasts and ghost hunters: The Amityville Horror house is on the market. But not the one from the legendary film—the one where several people were actually murdered and later residents claim to have been haunted. Yikes.
The five-bedroom Dutch Colonial in Long Island, N.Y. is the site where Ronald DeFeo Jr. infamously shot six of his sleeping family members. It is also the setting of the events that gave rise to Jay Anson’s book The Amityville Horror: A True Story, which, according to then-owners George and Kathleen Lutz, included spontaneous levitation and slime oozing from the walls.
Since the success of the 1979 movie (and 2005 remake) based on Anson’s book, the house at 112 Ocean Avenue (changed to 108 Ocean Avenue in an effort to reduce gawker traffic) has been heavily renovated, reports the BBC. These improvements, along with the property’s canal-front location, reportedly account for the home’s large asking price.
"I pray Heaven to bestow the best of blessings on THIS HOUSE and on all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and wise men ever rule this roof."
- John Adams, second President of the United States
Amityville The House Of Horrors Facts and Fictions...
112 Ocean Avenue remained empty for thirteen months after the DeFeo murders. In December 1975, George and Kathleen Lutz bought the house for what was considered to be a bargain price of $80,000. The six-bedroom house was built in Dutch Colonial style, and had a distinctive gambrel roof. It also had a swimming pool and a boathouse, as it was located on a canal.
Jay Anson's novel is said to be based on these events but has been the subject of much controversy. The house featured in the novel and its film versions still exists, but has been renovated and the actual Amityville House's address has been changed in order to discourage thrill seekers from visiting it. Because of the notoriety whether the house is haunted or not if only in the publics eye it is the most well known and often considered by most as the best most real haunted house in the world. But is it?
Story by Kim Hardy
My deep seated long hard fascination with the Amityville Horror has burnt inside me for many years. In trying to understand that, I set out to find all the information I could on it's history haunting's and murders. In trying to put it all into words I found much of the facts scattered through out the internet.
Yes as we all know "The Amityville Haunted House" haunts us all but the facts are very scattered, so I try now in my most hard hearted effort to present to you the actual facts that are out there. Including interviews with George Lutz his family and Ronald ("Butch") Joseph DeFeo Junior. After going through this story you might just be more afraid then if you lived in the house itself.
AMITYVILLE THE MOST HAUNTED HOUSE WALLPAPER FROM HAUNTED AMERICA TOURS
Click a size to view actual wallpaper, then right-click wallpaper to download
The DeFeo Stigmatized property residence was a large, rambling, three-story Dutch Colonial home built in 1925. Because the property was long and narrow, the dark-shingled house sat sideways with the front door facing the elongated driveway. At the end of the DeFeos’ 237-foot-long lot sat their boathouse, right at the edge of the Amityville Creek.
November 13, 1974 Transcripts of the call to the Amityville police department:
Operator: This is Suffolk County Police. May I help you?"
Man: "We have a shooting here. Uh, DeFeo."
Operator: "Sir, what is your name?"
Man: "Joey Yeswit."
Operator: "Can you spell that?"
Man: "Yeah. Y-E-S W I T."
Operator: "Y-E-S . .
Man: "Y-E-S-W-I-T."
Operator: ". . . W-I-T. Your phone number?"
Man: "I don't even know if it's here. There's, uh, I don't have a phone number here."
Operator: "Okay, where you calling from?"
Man: "It's in Amityville. Call up the Amityville Police, and it's right off, uh . . .Ocean Avenue in Amityville."
Operator: "Austin?"
Man: "Ocean Avenue. What the ... ?"
Operator: "Ocean ... Avenue? Offa where?"
Man: "It's right off Merrick Road. Ocean Avenue."
Operator: "Merrick Road. What's ... what's the problem, Sir?"
Man: "It's a shooting!"
Operator: "There's a shooting. Anybody hurt?"
Man: "Hah?"
Operator: "Anybody hurt?"
Man: "Yeah, it's uh, uh -- everybody's dead."
Operator: "Whattaya mean, everybody's dead?"
Man: "I don't know what happened. Kid come running in the bar. He says everybody in the family was killed, and we came down here."
Operator: "Hold on a second, Sir."
(Police Officer now takes over call)
Police Officer: "Hello."
Man: "Hello."
Police Officer: "What's your name?"
Man: "My name is Joe Yeswit."
Police Officer: "George Edwards?"
Man: "Joe Yeswit."
Police Officer: "How do you spell it?"
Man: "What? I just ... How many times do I have to tell you? Y-E-S-W-I-T."
Police Officer: "Where're you at?"
Man: "I'm on Ocean Avenue.
Police Officer: "What number?"
Man: "I don't have a number here. There's no number on the phone. "
Police Officer: "What number on the house?"
Man: "I don't even know that."
Police Officer: "Where're you at? Ocean Avenue and what?"
Man: "In Amityville. Call up the Amityville Police and have someone come down here. They know the family."
Police Officer: "Amityville."
Man: "Yeah, Amityville."
Police Officer: "Okay. Now, tell me what's wrong."
Man: "I don't know. Guy come running in the bar. Guy come running in the bar and said there -- his mother and father are shot. We ran down to his house and everybody in the house is shot. I don't know how long, you know. So, uh . . ."
Police Officer: "Uh, what's the add ... what's the address of the house?"
Man: "Uh, hold on. Let me go look up the number. All right. Hold on. One-twelve Ocean Avenue, Amityville."
Police Officer: "Is that Amityville or North Amityville?"
Man: "Amityville. Right on ... south of Merrick Road."
Police Officer: "Is it right in the village limits?"
Man: "It's in the village limits, yeah."
Police Officer: "Eh, okay, what's your phone number?"
Man: "I don't even have one. There's no number on the phone. "
Police Officer: "All right, where're you calling from? Public phone?"
Man: "No, I'm calling right from the house, because I don't see a number on the phone."
Police Officer: "You're at the house itself?"
Man: "Yeah."
Police Officer: "How many bodies are there?"
Man: "I think, uh, I don't know -- uh, I think they said four."
Police Officer: "There's four?"
Man: "Yeah."
Police Officer: "All right, you stay right there at the house, and I'll call the Amityville Village P.D., and they'll come down."
Police investigators would find an additional two bodies, bringing the Ocean Avenue death toll to six. Six of seven members of the Ronald DeFeo family had been methodically murdered as they slept in their beds, leaving Ronald DeFeo, Jr., as the sole survivor of the grisly suburban bloodbath.
All six of the victims were found lying face down in their beds with no signs of a struggle or sedatives having been administered, leading to claims that someone in the house would have been woken up by the noise of the gunshots. Neighbors did not report hearing any gunshots being fired. The police investigation concluded that the victims had been asleep at the time of the murders, and that the rifle had not been fitted with a silencer. Police officers and the medical examiner who attended the scene were initially puzzled by the rapidity and scale of the killings, and considered the possibility that more than one person had been responsible for the crime. Ronald DeFeo has given several accounts of how the killings were carried out, all of them inconsistent.
On November 30, 2000, Ronald DeFeo gave an interview to Ric Osuna, the author of The Night the DeFeos Died, which was published in 2002. DeFeo claimed that he had committed the murders "out of desperation" with his sister Dawn and two unnamed friends. He claimed that after a furious row with his father, he and his sister planned to kill their parents, and that Dawn murdered the children in order to eliminate them as witnesses. He said that he was enraged on discovering his sister's actions, knocked her unconscious on to her bed and shot her in the head. Attempts to contact the two alleged accomplices have failed, since one died in January 2001 and the other is said to have entered a witness protection program. Ronald DeFeo Junior had a stormy relationship with his father, but why the entire family was killed remains unclear. The prosecution at his trial suggested that the motive for the murders was to collect on the life insurance policies of his parents.
Mug shot of Ronald DeFeo. taken shortly after his arrest
Ronald ("Butch") Joseph DeFeo Junior (born September 26, 1951) is an American murderer. He was tried and convicted for the 1974 killings of his father and mother, two brothers and two sisters. The case is notable for being the real life inspiration behind the book and film versions of The Amityville Horror.
At around 6:30 on the evening of November 13, 1974, Ronald DeFeo Junior burst into Henry's Bar in Amityville, Long Island, New York and declared: “You got to help me! I think my mother and father are shot.” DeFeo and a small group of people went to 112 Ocean Avenue, which was located not far from the bar, and found that DeFeo's parents were indeed dead. One of the group, Joe Yeswit, made an emergency 911 call to Suffolk County Police, who searched the house and found that six members of the same family were dead in their beds.
The Offical Website of Ronald DeFeo. This site explores the Injustices of Suffolk County PD and the corruption within the 1975 trial of Ronald DeFeo jr. www.injusticesofamityville.com
The victims were Ronald DeFeo Senior, 43, Louise DeFeo, 42, and four of their children, Dawn, 18, Allison, 13, Marc, 11, and John Matthew, 9. All of the victims had been shot with a .35 caliber lever action Marlin rifle at around three o'clock in the morning of that day. DeFeo's parents had both been shot twice, while the children had all been killed with single shots.
Ronald DeFeo Junior was the eldest son of the family, and was also known as "Butch". He was taken to the local police station for his own protection after suggesting to police officers at the scene of the crime that the killings had been carried out by a mob hit man named Louis Falini. However, an interview with DeFeo at the station soon exposed serious inconsistencies in his version of events, and the following day he confessed to carrying out the killings himself. He told detectives: "Once I started, I just couldn’t stop. It went so fast."
DeFeo's trial began on October 14, 1975. He and his defense lawyer William Weber mounted a defense of insanity, with DeFeo claiming that voices in his head had urged him to carry out the killings. The insanity plea was supported by the psychiatrist for the defense, Doctor Daniel Schwartz. The psychiatrist for the prosecution, Doctor Harold Zolan, maintained that although DeFeo had an antisocial personality disorder and was an abuser of heroin and LSD, he was aware of his actions at the time of the crime. On November 21, 1975, DeFeo was found guilty on six counts of second-degree murder. On December 4, 1975, Judge Thomas Stark sentenced Ronald DeFeo Junior to six consecutive sentences of 25 years to life. DeFeo is currently held in Green Haven Correctional Facility, Beekman, New York, and all of his appeals to the parole board to date have been turned down.
Over the years there have been many stories written about the DeFeo's, and the events that took place in 1974.
The latest version of events tells of a woman named Geraldine Gates who has claimed to have been married to Ronald DeFeo in 1974, and she claims her daughter is Ronald's child. This website debunks Geraldine Gates's claims of ever having known the DeFeo family, and proves beyond a shadow of a doubt the stories she told Ric Osuna for his book "The Night the Defeos died," is pure fantasy and fabrication. http://thenightexposed.net/
Injustices of Amityville www.injusticesofamityville.com, explores the Injustices of Suffolk County PD and the corruption within the 1975 trial of Ronald DeFeo Jr. It also contains pages for the victims, the family, and a case files page. The bios page will give you an insight into some of the people mentioned here and within the Amityville Horror community.
The Amityville Horror by Jay Anson
Buy new: $7.99 / Used from: $1.90 Usually ships in 24 hours
Ric Osuna's book The Night the DeFeos Died offers an alternative but controversial explanation of the murders
Here's The Amityville Horror House Which Was Shot In June, 2005
THE BOOK THAT STARED IT ALL
The Amityville Horror
Amityville is best known as the setting of the novel The Amityville Horror by Jay Anson which was published in 1977, and has been turned into a series of films made between 1979 and 2005.
In December 1975 George and Kathy Lutz and their three children moved into 112 Ocean Avenue but left after twenty-eight days, claiming to have been terrorized by paranormal phenomena produced by the house.
Almost from the moment that they moved into the house, the Lutz family would insist they noticed a paranormal presence in the house.
William Weber, Ronald DeFeo Jr.'s trial attorney, discusses how the Amityville Horror story was made up.
Amityville Horror - Good Morning America
George and Kathy Lutz appear on Good Morning America on July 26, 1979, alongside actor James Brolin (who played George Lutz in the original Amityville Horror movie).
But the most distinguishable characteristic of 112 Ocean Avenue was its dramatic front yard. Overlooking the street were two quarter-moon windows that looked like eyes, a feature common in Dutch Colonial homes. On the front lawn stood a lamp post with a sign attached that read “High Hopes,” a symbolic title of the family’s life in suburbia. Kneeling behind the sign were three figurines of children praying to a larger statue of St. Joseph holding the baby Jesus.
A Stigmatized property is a term used in the real estate business which describes possible detrimental features of a property or home, all the result of unfortunate occurrences. These can include murder, suicide and torture, in addition to a belief that a house may be haunted.
Even though a particular buyer may not care about any stigma attached to the property, the stigma may make it very difficult to resell in the future. Therefore, while a buyer may or may not believe in supernatural phenomena, he/she may want to know about a property's bloody past. However, depending on the jurisdiction of the house, the seller may not be required to disclose the full facts.
After a attempted exorcism, a Catholic priest entered the house, after agreeing to exorcize it, an eerie, disembodied voice told him to "get out". The horror of this haunted house reached even more dramatic proportions. Loud banging and scratching sounds, a demonic creature was seen outside the windows at night, George Lutz reportedly became "possessed" by some unseen spirit and green slime oozed from the walls and ceiling.
Local New York television’s Channel 5 “investigated” the alleged haunting by bringing in alleged psychics together with “demonologist” Ed Warren and his wife Lorraine, a professed “clairvoyant.” The group held a series of séances in the house. One psychic claimed to be ill and to “feel personally threatened” by shadowy forces. Lorraine Warren pronounced that there was a negative entity “right from the bowels of the earth.” A further séance was unproductive but psychics agreed a “demonic spirit” possessed the house and recommended exorcism (Nickell 1995).
The family was further terrified by ghostly apparitions of hooded figures, flies that appeared from nowhere, cold chills, personality changes, sickly odors, objects moving about on their own, the repeated disconnection of their telephone service and communication between the youngest Lutz child and a pig that she called "Jodie". Kathy Lutz reported that she was often beaten and scratched by unseen hands and that one night, she was literally levitated up off the bed.
The family managed to hold out for 28 days before they gathered up their possessions and fled from the house. According to their story, they left so quickly that they didn't take their furniture or many of their other possessions with them. The demonic spirits, they said, had driven them from their home.
In February 1976, not long after the Lutz family left the house, local residents were stunned to see New York Channel 5's news team doing a live news feed from the house on Ocean Avenue. The news crew filmed a séance and a dramatic "investigation" of the place conducted by Ed and Lorraine Warren, two of America' most famous "demonologists".
At the most recent count in the land of remakes and sequels, the story of The Amityville Horror has been the subject of nine major Hollywood films.
James Brolin was hesitant when he was first offered the role of George Lutz. He was told that there was no script and that he must obtain a copy of Jay Anson's novel and read it as soon as possible. Brolin started the book one evening at seven o'clock and was still reading at two o'clock in the morning. He had hung a pair of his pants up in the room earlier and at a really "tense" part in the book, the pants fell down from wherever they had been hanging. Brolin jumped out of his chair, nearly crashing his head into the ceiling. It was then that Brolin said, "There's something to this story." He agreed to do the movie.
Inside Edition - Amityville - Hoax or Horror?
Christopher Quaratino Lutz, step son of former 112 Ocean Avenue owner George Lutz, describes his opinions of the Amityville events and the most recent MGM remake.
The Amityville Horror (1979)
advertisement The outdoor scenes of the movie were not filmed in Amityville, Long Island, but rather Toms River, New Jersey. Local police and ambulance workers played extras.
The Toms River, New Jersey volunteer Fire Company Number One was used to provide the "rain" during one of the exterior scenes. If you look closely, you can see that it is sunny and not "raining" in the background, the next street over.
This film's theatrical success was followed by two theatrically released sequels - Amityville II: The Possession (1982) an official sequel/prequel; Amityville 3-D (1983), not an official sequel; and five direct-to-video low-budget sequels released from 1989 to 1996. Then there's The Amityville Horror (2005), based on the book written by Jay Anson.
Jay Anson who wrote the book "The Amityville Horror" actually wrote out a screenplay for this film only for the producers to turn it down. Eventually they found Sandor Stern and liked his take on it so he was hired for the job.
Even though James Brolin became friendly with George Lutz and his children, he was highly doubtful of their story.
James Brolin said he didn't get a job for two years after doing this movie because of cruelty of his character.
A family is terrorized by demonic forces after moving into a home that was the site of a grisly mass-murder. George & Kathy Lutz and Kathy's 3 children are moving into an elegant Long Island home. What they don't know is that 6 gruesome murders were committed there the year before - Ronald DeFeo Jr., the oldest son in the family, murdered his parents, his 2 brothers & 2 sisters by shooting them with a .35 caliber in November of 1974. No sooner are the Lutzes moved into the house than they begin seeing horrible things - the ghost of Jodie DeFeo, horribly disfigured bodies - and hearing ghostly voices throughout the house. George seems to notice it the most, and it isn't long before he becomes a danger to those around him. When the local priest, called in to bless the house, comes charging out in horror after being swarmed by flies, he issues a dire warning to Kathy - 'Leave that house'. But will they be able to escape before the house and its vengeful spirits take control of George - and make him into a deadly menace?
Most horror movies establish an atmosphere of normalcy, which they gradually rupture with spooky or creepy or stomach-churning images. The Amityville Horror--a remake of the 1979 movie about a possessed house that torments the family that moves into it--tosses normalcy out the window in the first five minutes, unleashing a nonstop barrage of unsettling camera angles, decaying wood and stained wallpaper, half-glimpsed shadows in motion, fast edits of grotesque ghosts, and dozens of other horror-movie devices. Whether you like the movie will depend on whether you like feeling slightly nauseated and cut off from any semblance of reality--for many people, that's why they go to horror movies. Others won't be able to suspend disbelief that anyone but an actor would spend the time necessary to develop Ryan Reynold's insanely buff physique, prominently displayed as he runs around wearing nothing but a pair of loose-fitting pajama bottoms. In addition to Reynolds (Van Wilder, Blade: Trinity), the movie also features Philip Baker Hall (Magnolia) and Melissa George (Down With Love). --Bret Fetzer
Product Description
From Michael Bay, the producer of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre," comes the true story of Amityville. In November 1974, a family of six was brutally murdered. Now, a year later, an unsuspecting young couple, George (Ryan Reynolds, "Blade: Trinity," "The In-Laws") and Kathy Lutz (Melissa George, TV's "Alias"), and their children move into the house that was the site of the horrific event and is now haunted by a murderous presence. What follows is 28 days of unimaginable terror. With demonic visions of the dead and relentless screams of terror, this is the haunted house story that isn't just a movie - it's real.
The Amityville Horror Collection (The Amityville Horror/Amityville II: The Possession/Amityville 3-D/Bonus Disc - Amityville Confidential)
During the period that the Lutz family was living at 112 Ocean Avenue, Stephen Kaplan, a self-styled vampirologist, was called in to investigate the house. Kaplan and the Lutzes fell out and Kaplan went on to write a critical book entitled The Amityville Horror Conspiracy with his wife Roxanne Salch Kaplan. The book was published in 1995 and Stephen Kaplan died of a heart attack in the same year. On the night of March 6, 1976 the house was investigated by Ed and Lorraine Warren, a husband and wife team described as demonologists, together with a crew from the television station Channel 5 New York. During the course of the investigation a photograph was taken allegedly showing a demonic boy with glowing white eyes.
The house was also investigated by the parapsychologist Hans Holzer. The Warrens and Holzer have suggested that 112 Ocean Avenue is occupied by malevolent spirits due to the past history of the house.
In recent years many web sites devoted to the Amityville Horror have sprung up, 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 long standing feature of the case.
The 2005 film says that the basement of the house was built in 1692, but 112 Ocean Avenue - also known as High Hopes - was built around 1924 for John and Catherine Moynahan. It is a six bedroom house in the Dutch Colonial revival style, with a distinctive gambrel roof. In the film versions, the house was renamed 412 Ocean Avenue.
The That's Incredible team investigates claims by the Cromarty family that the Amityville "Horror House" (which they bought a year after the Lutzes fled) is not haunted, after all - and that the whole haunting was a fraud. Check out how Mrs Cromarty proves the front door was never broken/repaired with the help of her magic screwdriver!
One of the victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks, Peter O'Neill, lived in the house from 1987 to 1997.Also, the actress Christine Belford lived in the house from 1960 to 1965
Eminem recorded a song called Amityville for his 2000 album The Marshall Mathers LP. The lyrics of the song are controversial and contain strong language.
LAS VEGAS -- George ''Lee" Lutz, whose brief stay in an Amityville, N.Y., house spawned one of the most famous haunted house stories ever, has died of natural causes. He was 59. Mr. Lutz, a Las Vegas resi- dent, died on May 8, 2006, his lawyer, Larry Zerner of Los Angeles said. The Clark County coroner listed the cause as heart disease. Lutz, a former land surveyor, became famous after moving his new bride and three children into a Dutch colonial house on Long Island in 1975. About a year earlier, six members of the DeFeo family had been shot and killed in the house. Ronald DeFeo Jr., the eldest son, was later convicted of those mur- ders. The Lutzes lived in the house for 28 days before being driven out. The family's eerie tales became the source for Jay Anson's 1977 book, ''The Amityville Horror," along with a 1979 film. The book and movies chronicled horrors that include visions of walls oozing blood, furniture that moves, and a visit from a demonic pig named Jodie. The fran- chise made a cult figure of Mr. Lutz, who some claimed bore a likeness to Ronald DeFeo. He passionately defended himself against those who accused him of intentionally moving in- to the house to profit from the DeFeo mur-ders. The Amityville tale and the rights to profit from it led to a tangle of litigation involving the Lutzes, publishers, and others. After fleeing the home and abandoning their possessions, the Lutzes moved to San Diego, briefly selling Amway products. His former wife, Kathy Lutz, died of emphysema on August 17, 2004. The couple were divorced in the late 1980s.
Associated Press
The 1995 book The Amityville Horror Conspiracy by Stephen and Roxanne Kaplan was critical of the Lutzes' version of events.
Sources & Bibliography:
Anson, Jay - The Amityville Horror (1977)
Auerbach, Loyd - ESP, Hauntings & Poltergeists (1986)
Guiley, Rosemary Ellen - Encyclopedia of Ghosts & Spirits (2000)
Jarvis, Sharon - True Tales of the Unknown: Beyond Reality (1991)
Kaplan, Dr. Stephen & Roxanne Salch Kaplan - The Amityville Horror Conspiracy (1995)
Lynott, Douglas B. - The Real Amityville Horror (2001)
Sullivan, Gerald & Harvey Aronson - High Hopes: The Amityville Murders (1981)
A 10 year owner of 112 Ocean Avenue, Amityville NY, tells some of the made up stories about the Amityville Horror story and the house.
The man who later lived there for eight months said he had experienced nothing more horrible than a stream of gawkers who tramped onto the property. Similarly the couple who purchased the house after it was given up by the Lutzes, James and Barbara Cromarty, poured ice water on the hellish tale. They confirmed the suspicions of various investigators that it was a bogus admixture of phenomena: part traditional haunting, part poltergeist disturbance, and part demonic possession, including elements that seemed to have been lifted from the movie The Exorcist.
Made up Amityville Horror Story
HAUNTED OR NOT EVERYONE KNOWS ABOUT AMITYVILLE'S MOST HAUNTED HOUSE DO YOU?
EMBATTLED AUTHOR RIC OSUNA EXONERATED IN COURT
Las Vegas, NV (October 23, 2005 ) – The US District Court Southern District New York ruled on October 17, 2005 against Ronald "Butch" DeFeo, ordering his “action closed.” This brings to an end nearly three years of legal struggles that Ric Osuna, author of The Night the DeFeos Died: Reinvestigating the Amityville Murders, has had to endure in order to validate his work and defend himself from the defamatory claims made by individuals looking to prevent his book from achieving the international recognition it has gained.
In February 2004, DeFeo brought a civil action against author Ric Osuna and his former publisher, good friend and Amityville colleague Ryan Katzenbach, claiming he lied in his book, made defamatory statements, and stole his property. Osuna always has maintained that the case was revenge, filed against him because he refused to help DeFeo profit from his crime. The case against Ryan Katzenbach was dismissed in July, when the court ruled DeFeo was libel proof. Osuna, on the other hand, held off until August to request a formal dismissal, which was recently granted after DeFeo could not address the merits of his case.
Osuna said, "I am pleased that the New York court, after carefully weighing all the evidence, has found that the accusations against me were without merit and has summarily dismissed the case. Far too long, certain individuals have called into question my character to prevent the truth from being reported and sabotage my diligent work. This court decision, like the others, has exonerated not only me, but also the individuals who have stood by me."
Ric Osuna is no stranger to legal action. In 2003, George Lutz filed a lawsuit against Ric Osuna arguing several absurd and self-serving claims that a court of law eventually dismissed. Like DeFeo’s action, Osuna feels the case was nothing but an attempt to bully him into silence. Representing himself, Osuna filed a 200+ page summary judgment that won four of the five causes of action. Although in the court proceeding Lutz never attacked any of the facts presented in Ric Osuna's book, Lutz tried to claim that Osuna was guilty of fraud, conversion of stolen property, trademark infringement over a domain name dispute, copyright infringement, and breach of contract. Despite the fact that in an earlier letter Lutz's attorney promised Lutz would "own" him, the court ruled in favor of Osuna, citing that Lutz's "mere scintilla of evidence is not enough to defeat a motion for summary judgment."
Explaining a summary judgment, Ryan Katzenbach said, "Ric, who moved for summary adjudication [judgment], had the burden of presenting evidence and facts that prove, SO CLEARLY, that he is right and the other side is wrong. In this case, George and his attorney had the upper advantage, frankly. Lutz's attorney was fighting a pro-se Defendant with no formal legal training or degree."
As the case neared the final showdown, Ric Osuna filed an 18-page motion, expecting to win his case with an involuntary dismissal of the last cause of action pertaining to the disputed domain name. The day before the hearing and upon the request of Lutz and his attorney, Osuna settled the last cause of action over the disputed domain name for no money or damages. "If any of the opposing parties in these proceedings would have had a leg to stand on," Katzenbach quipped, "they would have prevailed. THEY DIDN'T. George and his attorney had 80% of their lawsuit blasted out from under them by a 30-year old with no formal legal education. Apparently, our courts can still see the differences between right and wrong."
However, Ric Osuna and Ryan Katzenbach were not the only party to prevail in the courts. Back in 2003, Butch DeFeo retaliated against his ex-wife Geraldine because, among other things, she would not remarry him. The lawsuit against Geraldine was nearly identical to the one he would eventually file against Osuna. As in Osuna’s case, the New York superior court found Butch DeFeo’s charges to be baseless. The case was dismissed, helping secure Geraldine DeFeo’s authenticity.
The results of these court cases further substantiate that Ric Osuna’s book, The Night the DeFeos Died: Reinvestigating the Amityville Murders, was based on the truth supported with factual information obtained through legitimate and proper methods. Osuna picked up the entire tab for the research, which amounted to more than $13,000.
But, Ronald “Butch” DeFeo and his current wife Tracey did not limit their accusations to court documents. They continued their defamatory remarks through sensational claims against Ric Osuna and Geraldine DeFeo made to various law enforcement agencies. Osuna contacted these agencies offering cooperation and proof of his innocence, being proactive with his defense. The U.S. Department of Justice, the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office and the Attorney General of New York State informed the embattled author that they had found no wrongdoing on his part. Disbelieving Butch and Tracey's allegations, in an October 3, 2004 letter to Ric Osuna, the U.S. Department of Justice wrote that it "does not intend to initiate a criminal investigation regarding this matter." For the record, Osuna has never been arrested or a suspect in a crime and has even assisted law enforcement in criminal cases. In fact, Osuna has a clean record and is a volunteer with the American Red Cross along with several other prominent community organizations. He freely gives of his time to the needy and less fortunate.
"It is a great day." Osuna concluded, "The absurd allegations, along with the various parties who have resorted to character assassination, have been proven false. Their failure only reinforces the validity of the truth and corroborating research contained in my book and at my website."
We investigate almost anywhere willing to learn the truth. Domestic Domiciles have been done before as well as businesses. We look forward to building relationships with all the individuals willing to learn the truth and help build the future of the Afterlife Research Team.
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[PLEASE NOTE: The articles released, posted,
published OR issued by haunredamericatours.com and/orhaunted America
Tours. Any errors, typos, etc. are attributed to the original author.
The Articles releasse or reproduced solely for the dissemination
of the enclosed information.]
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and will not sell your email address to anyone. Haunted America
Tours does not support or endorse any myspace.com pages including
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America Tours on Myspace please disregard as we DO NOT maintain
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