The Amityville Horror

By Jay Anson,

Book cover of The Amityville Horror

Book description

“A fascinating and frightening book” (Los Angeles Times)—the bestselling true story about a house possessed by evil spirits, haunted by psychic phenomena almost too terrible to describe.

In December 1975, the Lutz family moved into their new home on suburban Long Island. George and Kathleen Lutz knew that, one year…

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Why read it?

2 authors picked The Amityville Horror as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Growing up in Rhode Island, I can't tell you how many times I told someone where I was from, and they would respond with, "Oh, Long Island, New York." Ugh.

Naturally, a haunted house story set in Long Island caught my eye. I can honestly say this book gave me nightmares. Oddly enough, I'm not easily sucked into supernatural thrillers because they often require too big of a leap of faith. The Amityville Horror was different.

My sisters and I all read the book and regularly tried to scare the crap out of each other with scenes from the story.…

What sets The Amityville Horror apart from other haunted house stories is that it is supposedly true. The objective facts are that 24-year-old Ronald DeFeo Jr. killed his parents and four siblings while they were asleep in their home. At his trial, he claimed that voices in the house told him to do it. The Lutz family moved into the home the next year and vacated the house 28 days later. According to Jay Anson’s book, the same spirits that possessed DeFeo were still doing their thing when the Lutzs moved in. A priest was told to “Get out!” and…

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