The Amityville Horror (novel)

In November 1974, in the town of Amityville, Suffolk County , Ronald Defeo murdered his entire family. The killer later explained that the “voices” he heard in the house made him commit crimes.

A year later, George and Katie Lutz moved to Amityville with their children from their first marriage: Chris, Danny and Melissa. They settle in the very house where the Defeo family was killed. George is surprised that such a huge and luxurious three-story mansion comes to them so cheaply, they were not even scared away by a terrible story about the murder of previous owners.

First day at home. In the afternoon, a familiar priest of the Lutz family arrives, Father Frank Mancuso, to consecrate their new home. However, during the prayer, the priest hears a demonic voice that orders him to “Get out!” Father Mancuso leaves the house without saying anything to the Lats, after which he begins to have an ailment that develops into a serious illness, after the priest has blisters on his hands and the temperature rises, all attempts to reach the Latsevs result in a loss of communication or new attacks of the disease. The priest has a fear of a house in Amityville.

Every night in the new house, George and Katie wake up at the same time - 3:15. On the first night, George hears a knock on the front door, but no one is behind her. George notices a moving shadow near the boathouse . But having checked the structure, he does not find anyone there. With each passing day, oddities only increase: George becomes irritable, he is obsessed with the fireplace insert, he chopped firewood all his free time, he constantly feels cold, despite the fact that the heating works with might and main. Melissa has an invisible friend - pig Jodi, who seems to her an angel . When Katy is left alone, she feels someone's touch and the smell of old spirits, suddenly she has scars on her body, which after a while disappear without a trace. Chris wounds his hand on the window frame that fell on her. At night, strange orchestra sounds and voices are heard, the closed windows of the door open by themselves, the front door is knocked out from the inside, a strange green liquid oozes out of the hole in the wall, flocks of flies appear or disappear in the sewing room. George, waking up in the middle of the night, notices that his wife soars in the air while sleeping, but he does not dare to tell her about it, because he does not want to aggravate her fear. Later, George begins to think that Katie looks like a ninety year old woman. Once, sitting by the fireplace, George and Katie see the silhouette of a strange figure in the hood on fire, but he immediately disappears.

George begins to take an interest in the history of the house and learns that the once Rev. Jeremiah Ketchum, the missionary and sorcerer who tortured and killed about 400 Indians, buried their bodies on the very ground where this house was then built. Later, George finds the mysterious “Red Room” in the basement, from there, for unknown reasons, and then the smell of rotten rot and rot is heard throughout the house - one of the signs of the presence of the devil . The same smell appears in the apartment of the holy father Mancuso. After George addresses his friend’s girlfriend, who is a psychic . She claims that she feels the presence of at least two or three spirits, she becomes sick after she visited the sewing room. She later advises the Lats not to go there. Also strange begins to behave near this room and the dog of the family - Harry. Brother Katie Jimmy, along with his wife Carey, decides to come to the Lats to visit with an overnight stay. Late at night, his wife sees a ghost of a boy asking for help. George and Katie try to contact Father Mancuso, but he refuses to come and says that he will contact the paranormal researchers and the Chancellor of the Roman Catholic Church to tell them what is happening. The Latvians decide to cleanse the house of evil spirits. George and Katie take the crucifix, which they find turned upside down, and begin to say a prayer, but immediately a demonic voice sounds throughout the house, saying: “Stop it!”

A few days later, Melissa tells George that Jody wants to talk to him. Entering the stepdaughter's room, he is horrified to find two sparkling red eyes in the window. George throws a chair out the window, and then hears a pig screech, but no one is on the street. The next morning, traces of hooves are found in the snow, which proves that pig Jody exists. Phoned to father Mancuso, George tells him about all the horrors. The priest advises him and his family to leave the house soon. At night, George dreams of a strange creature in the hood that they saw in the fireplace - she tries to grab his stepson .

Last day at home. The Lutz family decides to leave the house, but the car will not start and the downpour begins with a strong wind. Latvians have to stay in the house. George again begins to dream of a ghost, but when he wakes up, he sees that the spirit in the hood is really wandering around the house, which is trying to grab them. Finally, the Lats are able to leave the cursed house. The car starts, and without even taking personal belongings, they leave Amityville.

• The Horror of Amityville 1979. The film has several differences from the novel, the action takes place not in the middle of winter, but in early autumn. The names of some people have changed: in the film of the holy father, Mancuso is called Delaney, instead of Chris, Danny and Melissa, Matt, Greg and Amy. Although the act of paranormal forces is present in the film, the essence is not shown in the hood. The storyline of the holy father is changed, in the film during prayer in the church the holy father, unlike the real one, decided on a view. In the film adaptation, Katie is interested in the history of the house, not George. Also, the plot of the film focuses on the fact that George Lutz becomes the same as Ronald DeFeo, that he also comes to think about killing the family and hears voices.
• The horror of Amityville 2005. This version is far from the novel and is more a remake of the original film than an adaptation of the book. The action also takes place not in winter, but in summer. Many manifestations of paranormal forces are either altered or removed. The invisible friend of the Latsev’s daughter is Jodie Defeo, who died, not a talking pig. The names have also been changed: the holy father's name is Calloway (the storyline of the holy father is almost cut out in the film), the children in this version are called Billy, Michael and Chelsea. Unlike reality, George kills his dog and tries to kill his family, the strained relationship between George and Katie’s children is also shown, although in reality they treated each other very well. At the end of the film, the Lutz family escapes on a boat, not a van. The house address has been changed to Ocean Avenue 412.

After the success of Anson’s novel, other authors began to develop the theme of Amityville’s horror, however, they did not succeed in the original, but they served as the basis for the continuation of the original 1979 film, but these films did not become successful as they were no longer developing real events, but entirely fictional ones. The American mystic writer Ganz Holzer also wrote several books about the cursed house: Murder in Amityville and The Curse of Amityville , which were also filmed in sequels to the franchise .

The sequels of Anson’s novel:

• “The horror of Amityville. Part two"
• “Amityville. Final chapter"
• “Amityville. Evil Is Saved
• “Amityville. Horror is Back
• “Amityville. The Last Nightmare. "

• Radiance
• Dreams in the Witch House
• The ghost of a house on a hill