[DarkHorse321]

Hello all.
I just rented the remake of The Amityville Horror, and there seem to be more scenes in here that I don't remember in the book or the original.

While I know the story of the Defeo's(I did a lengthy study on this for school many moons ago), this movie brought up some information about the house's past.

Do any of you know the house's past? Of 112 Ocean Avenue? Were there REALLY indians tortured there before the house was built? I thought it had been a sanitorium before, and some people said witches had lived there.

Just curious to know the true history of the house, and if anyone currently lives in it now, problem free?

[JoeBean24]

i have seen specials on the house the history in a nutshell is that butch defeo killed his family with a shot gun and then later on made up stories about demons telling him to do it but only most likely to preserve his hide with an insanity defense. as for now the people in the town hate visitors coming asking about the house and yes i believe people do now live in it.

[Eva Evermore]

The last time I checked, there was nobody living there still, they can't seem to sell the house. I have a book written by one of the original investigators of the house, I will look it up and see if I can find out anything about the land and get back to you.

Okay, from what I have read, there was an indian burial ground under the house, but isn't the house that has pissed off the spirits, I guess that before the house was built a man dug up one of the skeletons, and it was never returned. All of that has not been proven though. I also read that other owners of the house have reported paranormal activity, but only the sound of foot steps and slamming doors and such, nothing like the happened with the Defoe family. And his name was Robert Defoe Jr.

This post has been edited by Eva Evermore: 03 October 2005 - 01:27 AM

[amybutts]

Hello Darkhorse:

This question seems to come up A LOT! The remake is total fiction. The original is total fiction. The house is being lived in. I saw an interview with one of the former owners of the house and they showed the inside of it. It was a beautiful home, they remodeled the inside of it. AND there was nothing supernatural or paranormal going on. It has changed hands a few times, stictly for the reason of privacy. The owners seem to have NONE, because people continue to seek the house out to get a look at it.

There were never any indians tortured, etc.... It all comes down to Butch DeFeo slaughtered his parents while high on drugs. What happened after that is not really known. There is some evidence to implicate Dawn DeFeo in the murders. Butch claims she killed the children, then he killed her in a rage over it. No demons, no voices, just a very dysfunctional family. The sad thing is, it is the victims that are being forgotten about, the children that were murdered.

A good book to read is The Night the DeFeo's Died, by Ric Osuna. Butch DeFeo himself has a web site that his current wife keeps. No one will know for sure what happened that night, I'm sure Butch will take it to his grave. One thing is for sure, Amityville was a HOAX. A man named Weber, who offered the Lutz' a book deal even confessed it was a hoax made up over several glasses of wine.

Here are some sights you may find helpful, including Ronald (Butch) DeFeo's):

http://www.amityvillemurders.com/

http://www.thenighte...articles01.html

This post has been edited by amybutts: 03 October 2005 - 04:39 AM

[like a daydream or a fever]

It's all been exposed as a fake.

[Afaki]

Hi,

I am from Queens, NY and I don't live to far from Long Island..I've seen the house many times and YES, there are people living in it and they have never heard or saw anything. No one on the block has ever heard or saw anything either. The story is a big hoax!

Sorry If I bursted anyons bubble

[Dr1273]

I too have heard from many different sources that the whole story was all a hoax. That most of the story which was shown in the second movie was actually a way of the owners getting out of a mortgage on a house that they no longer wanted to reside in after finding out that there were murders in the home.

[pantherfirephd]

The Amityville Horror was a hoax invented to make money, as William Weber, de Feo's attorney admitted in a radio interview.

The hoax spawned lawsuits. Weber sued the Lutzes for his share of the profits. The Cromarty's, susequent owners of the house sued. Father Ralph Pecararo, Mancuso in the book and Anita Gregory, a British parapsychologist sued. All either won or settled out of court.

[DarkHorse321]

Thanks everyone. I figured the remake was no more valid than the original.

I did a paper on the Defoe's, and Defao Jr's problems. He was highly into drugs/LSD(popular at the time) and it was well known his (I think it was his step father) was very hard on him. They did NOT get along, and Ronnie(Butch) had actually claimed, in one book, that God told him to do it. I think on LSD, you will pretty much hear anyone tell you anything. Bottom line, I think he was a very messed up young man with a very dysfunctional family. I had also heard reports that his sister, Dawn had possibally been involved, as she had gunpowder residue on her night gown.

However, there seems to be a speculation of why they were all found in the same position, and no one woke up.

What was the story with the Warrens?? I remember reading that they said it was a hoax one minute, then became total advocates for it's validity?

The sad story here, was the loss of six people, and four of those being children. . I have read the website on the actual Amityville site, and they basically said that the Lutz's had decided to do this BEFORE moving into the house, to make money. I'm not sure what is real, and what is fiction, but I wonder if they made it up, but that ALSO, something strange DID start to happen.

Wouldn't that be ironic?

So, there was no indian burial ground(Realistically, native americans would not build a place of rest right near the water, for their people)? No witchcraft?

So many stories on this!

[Eva Evermore]

I am actually a little surprised that there is no activity at all. Not because of all of the stories of burial grounds and witch craft and all of that, but just from the tragic murders that did happen there, that would be enough for a haunting.

[JoeBean24]

I saw a special on city confidential on A&E before about the murders at the house, those of course are the true part, the rest is speculation.

[amybutts]

Ronald DeFeo was his actual father, not step-father. The reason they believe all the bodies were found in the same spot was because in police reports Butch stated that he and Dawn told the younger kids there was a burglar in the house and to stay in their rooms no matter what. Butch then proceeded to shot his mother, then father, who got out of bed, came towards him and Butch shot him a second time. They then dragged the body back to the bed.

Butch states a friend witnessed the whole thing and ran out of the house. When he went to find this third party and bring him back, that is when he states Dawn killed the siblings. They were in the rooms frightened that there was a burglar. One of the boys was actually in a wheelchair from an injury he sustained playing football. That is why there was no struggle. Butch then stated when he came home, found what Dawn had done, became enraged, went upstairs to her room where she was on the bed and shot her.

Very gruesome, horrible act. I read up on it after hearing the Warrens speak one time (by the way, I believe NOTHING these people say - I feel they are complete frauds), I was curious because there was an entire story, a real one, being missed because of the hoax. After I read up on it, I was sorry I did.....extremely heart-breaking story.

[DarkHorse321]

oh my! How utterly SAD!
Of course, the forensics of then vs now would have limited their knowledge of what actually happened. But, for Dawn to kill the sibilings...she must have been very upset herself. Women/females are rare to kill as it is, let alone children. I know that the police have always suspect that Ronnie didn't do this alone. I believe that they retested Dawn's nightgown and found gunpowder residue, making her a suspect/accomplise. Regardless of what happened, it is a horrifically SAD story, and one that Ronald Defoe Jr has to live with for the rest of his life.

So, so tragic. Did any of you know that the author of the book, Jay Anson DIED of a heartattack at 36, writing a book about the devil called 666?? ?That creeped me out!

[lex1]

This is a fasinating story. HOAX yes, Good movie YES! I lvoe the movie even if it was total fiction.

[Alia]

Quote

This is a fasinating story. HOAX yes, Good movie YES! I lvoe the movie even if it was total fiction.

I have seen the Warrens speak twice. The second time I had the opportunity to ask Ed about the Amityville house because I had read "the book" and the "hoax exposed" book. He became very angry and cut off my question before I could finish it, saying that the author of the hoax book was just upset because he wasn't allowed to investigate the house himself so he did it for revenge. Then he just turned away from me and wouldn't answer any other question I had.

Hoax, hoax, hoax...but to this day I hide under the covers if I happen to wake up at 3:15 am...