The Amityville Horror: A True Story is a 1977 book by Jay Anson, presenting the claimed paranormal experiences of the Lutz family at 112 Ocean Avenue, Amityville, New York — the same house where Ronald DeFeo Jr. had murdered his family the previous year. It became a publishing sensation and launched a long-running film franchise, while remaining one of the most disputed "true story" claims in the history of paranormal publishing.
Overview
The book was commissioned after Prentice-Hall editor Tam Mossman introduced George and Kathy Lutz to Anson. The Lutzes did not work directly with Anson; instead, they submitted roughly 45 hours of tape-recorded recollections, which Anson used as the basis for the finished text. Anson wrote the book during a three-month recovery period following a heart attack, having decided, by his own account, to write the Lutzes' story largely as they had told it to him. It recounts the family's reported 28 days in the house, culminating in their flight, leaving virtually all their possessions behind — the book's final scene describes a wave of green-black slime advancing up the staircase as they left.
Publication and sales
Published in hardcover by Prentice-Hall in September 1977, the book became a major commercial success, with total sales across its many editions estimated at around 10 million copies. It formed the basis for a 1979 film adaptation and a long-running horror franchise that has continued for decades since.
Reception and controversy
The book's claim to be a true story drew scrutiny almost immediately. William G. Roll, head of the Psychical Research Foundation, publicly described the book as a work of fiction, and colleague Rick Moran characterised it as sloppily researched and riddled with factual errors, while noting persistent suggestions that the Lutzes had been coached by an outside party — later identified as Ronald DeFeo's own defence attorney, William Weber. A mover who removed the Lutzes' possessions from the house the day after they fled reported experiencing no paranormal phenomena inside. See Amityville Horror for the fuller account of the case and the evidence supporting its fabrication.