Legend
Quiet possibly the most famous haunted house story ever and one that is clouded in such hype and speculation it is hard to find any discernable truth.
It involves an all American family The Lutz’s buying there dream home at a seemingly cheep price and getting a lot more than they bargained for.
Sometime earlier a man called Ronald DeFeo gunned down his entire family within the house. He claimed that voices told him to do it and some people believe him to have been possessed. Obviously no one can prove this but what is known is that Ronald DeFeo was dabbling in drugs at the time. Interesting things to note however, when the police entered the house to find the bodies they where all lied down in the same positions in all the rooms and the type of weapon used was a shotgun that to coin a phrase is loud enough to wake the dead. So how come nobody woke up as he walked into the separate rooms killing his family? And why where they all in the same position? The autopsy showed that no drugs where used on the family so unfortunately the only man who could give us those answers is Ronald DeFeo and too be honest with you he doesn‘t seem the kind of person I would want to sit down for an evening meal with. Now a lot of people do believe that he was under the influence of a paranormal force that wanted them out of the house. The houses is reportedly built on an ancient Indian burial site. Seems cliché now but that is where the story originally came from.
So George and Catherine Lutz and there 3 small children moved into there new ‘dream’ home and straight away where met with supposed paranormal happenings. On the same day as they moved in they got a Father Mancusco to bless the house. He did this while the family where moving there belongings in. as he made his self to the second floor and entered the northeast room. As he sprinkled holy water he allegedly heard a voice shout “get out!!” at him. Apparently the priest didn’t tell them about the voice but according to The Good House Keeping Guide he did tell them not to have it as a bedroom and they followed his advice and turned it into a sewing room.
From the first night the family said they felt very strange and personalities changed, according to the book wrote about the haunting the Lutz’s beat there children with a belt and also the children became a lot more aggressive and disobedient. Is this down to the house or the stress of moving and starting a new life?
According to Anson, the phenomena then turned physical. Kathy was victimized by unseen touches, which had sometimes forced her to pass out. On the other hand, George would sit hours by the fireplace because he suffered from constant chills. In addition, he would wake up nightly at 3:15 a.m., reasoning that there was a connection between that hour and the hour the DeFeos were killed. In reality, the time of the deaths was never determined by the medical examiner.
As the month progressed, apparently the situation worsened again for the family. Anson reported that George awoke one night to witness his wife transform into a 90 year old hag. The next night, she began levitating off the bed, forcing her husband to grab her before she floated away.
After failing to get the priest to return, the family took matters into their own hands. Armed with a crucifix, they walked throughout the house reciting the Lord's Prayer. A chorus of voices erupted in response, asking them, "Will you stop?"
The most incredible part of Anson's story was his claim that the daughter had befriended an invisible, red-eyed pig named Jodie. "Jodie could not be seen by anyone unless it wanted to. At times it was a little bigger than a teddy bear and other times bigger than the house," George Lutz explained in October 1979 on the TV show "In Search Of," which he served as a consultant and participant for the show.
One night while coming back from the boathouse, Anson had George Lutz witnessing Jodie standing behind his stepdaughter in her bedroom. Kathy Lutz's introduction to her daughter's friend was just as disturbing. On a separate evening, she was startled to see two red eyes peering in through the darkness from the window. Although Anson's version was dramatic, Hollywood's adaptation was simply unbelievable.
The book reported that the malevolent forces caused significant property damage to the house, such as the front door being ripped off its hinges, windows being smashed, banisters being torn from their fittings, damage to the garage door, and water damage from hurricane force winds, which local meteorological stations had no record of.
After 28 days the family could take no more and left there house and all there belongings behind.
Consequently to this Jay Anson wrote a book on these events which sold more than 3 million copys and the film that was made after that is still one of the highest grossing indepedant films to be made.
The family stuck to there word through all the critisisms that followed untill there deaths.
Although George Lutz proclaimed his story to be true, William Weber argued the story and Anson's book were not. In the September 17, 1979 issue of People magazine, Weber charged, “I know this book’s a hoax. We created this horror story over many bottles of wine.”
So was it a massive hoax or truth? I personally think that the truth lies somewhere in the middle. I have seen many documentaries on the subject and know that a lot of things can be explained. A floor board in the house actually opens a window when stepped on. The family that live in the house now say that they have a great life in there and it isn’t haunted at all?
Source: http://www.manchesterhaunted.com/famoushauntings.htm