How to write

One of the most notorious haunted houses is in Amityville, New York. Tourists flock to 112 Ocean Avenue to see the famous home, with its eerie windows that seem to look across the water with sinister intent. Residents of the town insist there is nothing to see, the house is not haunted and they haven’t experienced any supernatural phenomena, including flying pigs.

In November, 1974, Ronald DeFeo,Jr.  was 23 years old when he killed six members of his family in the home. Ronald DeFeo, Sr. was a violent, domineering patriarch who controlled his family, including his son, with physical force.  Until Ronny Jr, nicknamed Butch, was 14 years old and too big to dominate, at which time Ronny Sr. began to defer to his son’s wishes. By the time Butch was 17 years old, he began to use drugs and participate in petty theft, however he had a long history of bullying school mates and violent outburst.  Butch claimed self defense and his lawyer argued that he was insane and couldn’t distinguish between right and wrong.  At one point, Butch also blamed his sister Dawn for killing his father and siblings, so he in turn killed his mother and Dawn.

Despite the home’s tragic history, newlyweds George and Cathy Lutz purchased the home.  They fled the home in terror 23 days later, leaving behind all of their personal belongings, claiming they were driving out by hostile supernatural forces.  What happened in those 23 days has been the topic of much debate.

The Lutz asked William Weber, DeFeo’s attorney, to contact Ronald DeFeo and ask if he experienced similar events.  George Lutz asked paranormal researcher, Laura DiDio, to verify their claims.  Laura DiDio introduced the Lutzes to Lorraine and Edward Warren.  During his first visit, Ed claims he encountered an inhuman presence pushing him to the floor in an unbearable weight.  He believed the presence was not a ghost by a demonic force.

The Warrens, along with DiDio and a TV news crew, returned to the home with psychics, who conducted séances.  Marvin Scott reported on events of the night but he did not experience any extraordinary events. More experts were brought to the home to offer their explanations.  Hans Holzer who claimed there was an Indian burial ground beneath the home, which caused a very angry manifestation.

Stephen Kaplan, a self proclaimed parapsychologist, intended to debunk the story, confronting the Warrens on multiple occasions, which resulted in a personal bitter conflict.   William Weber contends the Lutzes planned to deceive the public with an elaborate scheme hatched before they purchased the home.  He sued the Lutzes and the production company claiming many of the situations: oozing walls, bleeding faucets, swarms of flies, were his ideas. The Lutzes were asked to take polygraph tests, which they both passed.