Last night, I finished reading “Murder in Amityville” by Hans Holzer, and if you’re interested in reading more about the “Amityville Horror,” you’ll definitely want to read this book.Published in 1979, this 288-page book was meant to serve as a prequel to the original, better known book about the case, Jay Anson’s 1977 book, “The Amityville Horror.”
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the “Amityville Horror” case, it centers on a Dutch Colonial-style house at 112 Ocean Ave. in Amityville, N.Y. In 1974, Ronald DeFeo Jr. shot and killed six members of his family inside the house. In late 1975, George and Kathy Lutz, along with their three children, bought and moved into the home. After just 28 days, they fled the house and claimed to have been terrorized by “paranormal phenomena” while living there.
The experiences of the Lutz family are covered in detail in “The Amityville Horror,” with passing mention of DeFeo and his crimes. “Murder in Amityville” briefly summarizes what happened to the Lutz family, but mostly focuses on Ronald DeFeo Jr.
In “Murder in Amityville,” which was used as the basis of the movie “Amityville II: The Possession,” consists mostly of transcripts from DeFeo’s trial as well as interviews conducted by the author. Transcripted interviews in the book include interviews with attorneys involved in DeFeo’s court case, police investigators, private investigators, local history experts and a prison interview with DeFeo himself.
Also included in the book are transcripts of séances conducted in Amityville and transcripts of paranormal investigations conducted inside DeFeo’s home. Whether you believe in the supernatural or not, the material is extremely interesting, well presented and raises many questions about DeFeo’s actions.
As previously mentioned, Hans Holzer wrote “Murder in Amityville”, and many of you will be familiar with that name. Born in Austria, Holzer, who died in 2009 at the age of 89, wrote well over 100 books on supernatural and paranormal subjects. His most famous investigation was into the “Amityville Horror” case, which he began conducting, along with spiritual medium Ethel Meyers, in January 1977.
One of the most striking things, to me anyway, about Holzer’s “Murder in Amityville” is the boldface statement you’ll find on the page opposite the tables of contents: This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely incidental.
I suspect that Holzer’s publishers demanded that this be printed in the book for fear of being sued by the Lutz family and others. As many of you are probably well aware, a number of lawsuits were filed by a handful of plaintiffs after the publication of “The Amityville Horror” and the release of the motion picture version of that book.
In the end, I enjoyed “Murder in Amityville” and would recommend it to anyone with an interest in the “Amityville Horror.” I don’t think this book is as good as Anson’s “The Amityville Horror,” but it was very interesting nonetheless.
How many of you have read “Murder in Amityville”? What did you think about it? Did you like it? Dislike it? Let us know in the comments section below.
I,believe what george and kathy lutz said happend to them in the amitiville horror house.ive,not read murder in amitiville yet.i read a little bit where hans holzer,was,interviewing ronold defeo jr and defeo,was saying the house was haunted,but he lies so MUCH YOU don't know what to believe.in my personal opinion i,believe the place is haunted by demonic spirits and that is what caused ronold defeo to kill his family. There's a video on YouTube of ed and loraine warren being interviewed by tony sparrow,ed Warren explained IT best as to why some people were saying it was a hoax it wasn't a hoax the atheist dont want any of us to believe it really happened,also the devil dosent want us to believe he exists,he,wants people to think he aint real so he can send us to hell with George and kathy lutz passed every lie detector,test they were given,plus they went to their graves saying it was true.the,family that bought the house after the lutzs fled,told the press they hadn't seen or heard anything unusual that was a lie some people from a film company came to talk,to the lady that lived there said there was a stench in the house and one of the people ask mrs cromarty,what was the strange,stench she said she spilled coffee on the rug and for them not to buy that brand,of coffee.the,cromartys were being tormented by people who were peeping in the windows at all hours of the night 24,they didn't want anyone to know,if paranormal activity was happening to them because it would make,matters worse.how could anyone,ever call that house a dream home after 6 people WERE MURDERED IN the HOUSE.
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