The Bizarre Story of the Amityville Horror

Some hauntings have managed to become something more over the years, propelling themselves into a realm that akes them almost a legend or piece of folklore more than anything else, their sheer popularity infusing them with a life of their own to become truly iconic. Perhaps no other supposed haunting on record has reaches the pantheon of these great cases to such heights as the story of the Amytiville Horror, a harrowing story of ghosts and demons which has become none of the most legendary, and indeed controversial, hauntings the world has ever seen.

Like many of the spookiest hauntings on record, this tale starts with a brutal murder. The Defeo family were well respected members of their community in Amityville, Long Island, New York, in the United States, and their upscale home at 112 Ocean Avenue started out as what appeared to be a happy one, with the house shared by Ronald and Louise DeFeo and their five children, and with nothing seemingly out of order. They were well-off, well like by their neighbors, and it seemed they were living the American dream. Yet appearances can be deceiving, and there were dark clouds hanging over this family and a whirling violence stirring beneath their peaceful veneer.

The evening of November 13, 1974 started out as a typical quiet one for this well-to-do suburban neighborhood, but at approximately 3 AM the quiet would be smashed by the sound of police sirens speeding through to stop at the DeFeo house. The scene awaiting them within this previously seemingly happy household was the stuff of nightmares. There, lying face down in their beds, were 6 members of the DeFeo family, all dead and with gunshot wounds to the head from a high powered rifle, ruthlessly shot in their sleep. The oldest son, Ronald DeFeo Jr., was arrested and convicted of the massacre, at first trying to pin the murders on a mafia hit man before coming clean when the evidence didn’t mesh and the murder weapon was found. He would later blame his father’s domestic abuse for his violent actions, not helped by the fact that he had had a history of drug use, antisocial personality disorder, and short-temperedness, and according to relatives he had constantly fought with his father. After a failed insanity plea, he was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison on 6 counts of second degree murder, leaving the normally quiet community in shock and awe.

Translated titles:
La extraña historia del horror de Amityville

Die bizarre Geschichte des Amityville-Horrors

L'histoire bizarre de l'horreur d'Amityville

Historia e çuditshme e tmerrit të Amityville

阿米特维尔恐怖的奇异故事

Bizarní příběh hrůzy Amityville

Ang Kakatawang Kwento ng Amityville Horror

La bizzarra storia dell'orrore di Amityville

Amityville Korkusunun Tuhaf Hikayesi

एमिटविल हॉरर की विचित्र कहानी