The Amityville Horror: 11/12/08

The 1970s seems to have been the decade for the horror genre, especially ones focusing on demonic possessions. Mix horror genre with true crime and you'll end up in a gray area that includes The Amityville Horror by Jay Anson. The book reads like a novel and the Wikipedia entry calls it a novel but the Library of Congress categorizes it as non-fiction, specifically demonology (case-studies) and parapsychology (New York) and its call number is BF1517.U6 A57.

So what are facts? In December 1975 the Lutz family moved into a 1924 farm house in Amityville that had been the scene of a grisly murder. In January of 1976 they moved out the house citing demonic activity as the reason for their short stay. Over the course of the book Jay Anson lists out a number of clues that point at paranormal and perhaps even demonic activity. Except for the white hooded figure at the end which may very well have been invented to prove a point the rest of the book's events seem pretty common place.

The house still exists, by the way, though the front facade has been changed as has the address. It even has it's own wiki entry.

Like the Lutz's, my family and I are living in a fixer upper. We've had our own series of strange events in our home but we've managed to stay nearly five years. Since my home shares a lot of things in common, I thought I'd make a check list to see if my house is haunted.

Signs your house might be haunted:

1. Fly infestation even in winter?
2. Strange cold spots?
3. Strange sounds at night?
4. Waking up at the same time each night?
5. A pet who likes to sleep all day?
6. A crucifix turning itself upside down?
7. Strange hidey holes under the stairs?
8. The smell of excrement? (you bet... we have a diaper pail)
9. Misbehaving toilets?
10. A broken banister?
11. Random and bizarre damage to doors and windows?
12. Other things randomly breaking?
13. Other strange smells?

Twelve out of thirteen signs, I guess my house is haunted. Or it could just be old and not well maintained. How about your house? How does it hold up against the Amityville test?

Comments (2)

Comment #1: Friday, November, 14, 2008 at 15:24:22

Callista

Nope not haunted here. We often have some excrement smell but with one in diapers, the other potty training and a dog that goes in the house, it's not a wonder.

Comment #2: Saturday, November 15, 2008 at 10:19:22

Pussreboots

The diapers, potty training and dog will certainly get you a checkmark for that one. Next year we'll be potty training again.