It seemed too good to be true: a five-bedroom Dutch Colonial-style house for only $80,000? In fact, it was, if Jay Anson is to be believed. Two years later, Anson published The Amityville Horror, a “nonfiction” account of the 28 days that the Lutzes stayed in the house.

Two years after that, Anson’s book became a movie starring James Brolin and Margot Kidder. Audiences were able to see the horrors that Anson had described. Floating red eyes. Blood sluicing down walls. That swarm of flies that frightened off Father Delaney. 

Was it all true? Of the house’s supernatural activity, no evidence beyond the Lutzes’ testimony has ever turned up. But that didn’t stop the story from popularizing the “true hauntings” genre in American literature/film/television. In this fifth collection of Halloween information sources, I will discuss the best true hauntings sites on the internet.

Snopes: “Was ‘Amityville Horror’ Based on a True Story?”

Almost since the book’s 1977 publication, skeptics have attacked the narrative, arguing that the haunting was a fiction. Yet the house does have a troubled history. On the night of Nov. 13, 1974, Ronald and Louise DeFeo, along with four of their children, were shot and killed in their beds. The only survivor was the fifth child, Ronald Jr. (“Butch”), who was convicted of the murders and sent to prison. This article examines that backstory in detail.

YouTube: “Amityville Horror: The George Lutz Interview—You Decide”

It’s easy for fans of the movie The Amityville Horror (or one of its many sequels) to forget that the house, haunted or not, was a real place, and real people lived in it. It is unclear when this interview with one of those people, George Lutz, was recorded, but it’s fascinating to hear him tell his story and to see pictures of the house from the 1970s.

YouTube: “Amityville Horror! Ed and Lorraine Warren’s Most Famous Case!”

If you’re a fan of the Conjuring Universe, you know the names Ed and Lorraine Warren, a husband-and-wife team of paranormal investigators played in those films by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga. What you might not know is that the Warrens were real people, and one of their most famous cases was the Amityville house (another was the creepy doll Annabelle, who has her own movie and prequel). In this video, the couple discusses that case in depth.

All That’s Interesting: “Inside the Infamous Story of Ed Warren and the Paranormal Empire That He and His Wife Built”

Was Ed Warren actually a “demonologist”? Was his wife Lorraine really a clairvoyant? Are the cases they investigated true? Or was it all a cash grab? The Warrens were well-regarded during their lifetimes, but in recent years, critics have questioned many elements of their stories. This article reviews the couple’s career in an attempt to get at the truth. 

New England Society for Psychic Research (NESPR)

One of the Warrens’ lasting accomplishments was the creation of the New England Society for Psychic Research. Founded in 1952 and now led by the Warrens’ daughter, Judy, and son-in-law, Tony, NESPR is “continuing the legacy and work of the Warrens through their passionate involvement in paranormal phenomena and desire to help families afflicted by haunting phenomena.”

The Hollywood Reporter: “25 Horror Films Inspired by Real-Life Events”

The Amityville Horror. The Conjuring. Annabelle. These are just some of the horror films that are based on actual occurrences. This site discusses several others, some of which are surprising. Did you know, for instance, that A Nightmare on Elm Street “was inspired by newspaper articles from the Los Angeles Times about young male Southeast Asian refugees who died in their sleep”?

The Paranormal Database

The British Isles have been occupied by humans for nearly a million years. That’s a million years’ worth of deaths—and, possibly, a million years’ worth of ghosts. This site catalogs those hauntings, focusing not just on big cities—London, Edinburgh, Dublin—but on small towns and rural areas as well. (My favorite: the green cat of Balbriggan in County Dublin, Ireland.)

HISTORY.com: “History of Ghost Stories”

Why do we tell ghost stories? How far back does the practice go? According to this article, the Roman statesman Pliny the Younger in the 1st century A.D. wrote that “the specter of an old man with a long beard, rattling chains, was haunting his house in Athens.” (I’ll be visiting Athens on vacation later this year. Gulp!)

Ghost Hunting Theories

This site by screenwriter and author Sharon Day is one of the most comprehensive ghost-related sites I’ve come across. It includes everything from horror movie reviews to discussions of real unexplained phenomena, such as Skinwalker Ranch, which many people have heard of, and less familiar ones like Massachusetts’ Bridgewater Triangle, which boasts “UFOs, poltergeists, Bigfoot, giant snakes, [and] thunderbirds. …”

HauntedHouses.com

I had a grad school professor whose personality was … colorful. An amateur ghost hunter, he played recordings for us that he made in a cemetery of voices speaking from beyond the grave. (It was just white noise, if you ask me.) You can hear similar recordings on this site, as well as find lists of each state’s haunted houses, jails, and other structures.

HowStuffWorks: “12 Real Haunted Houses That’ll Give You Nightmares”

The Winchester Mystery House. The Lizzie Borden House. Blickling Hall. The LaLaurie House. These are a few of the ominous dwellings profiled in this article. The most dubious entry is The White House. According to the article, when President Woodrow Wilson’s wife tried to have the Rose Garden dug up, the ghost of Dolley Madison “appeared and instructed the workers not to tear up her beloved garden. …” I mean, if that were true, this wouldn’t have happened. 

Haunt Jaunts

Another extensive site combining news, such as the sale of Ed and Lorraine Warren’s old house—along with their collection of cursed objects (including Annabelle!)—with analysis, like this look at the inspiration behind the Creature From the Black Lagoon. 

A&E: “What Happens to a Murder House?”

Maybe George and Kathy Lutz were telling the truth about the terror they faced in their Amityville abode. Maybe they weren’t. What is indisputable, of course, is that a tragedy occurred in that house. When tragedies happen, are a property’s sellers required to disclose them? Can murder make a house more valuable? These and other questions are answered in this fascinating article.