The Amityville Murders — 112 Ocean Avenue

atmospheric · unverified

Following the 1974 murders, the house was depicted in the 1977 book "The Amityville Horror: A True Story" and later films as the site of a violent haunting (disputed). These haunting claims have been extensively contested: a 1979 court ruling in connected litigation described the book as substantially a work of fiction, and DeFeo's defence attorney later stated the haunting narrative had been constructed (disputed). PRN records the haunting account only as a disputed and commercialised claim and makes no assertion that the property is paranormally active.

Area: 112 Ocean Avenue, Amityville, New York

atmospheric · contested

Ronald DeFeo Jr. later claimed he heard voices directing the 1974 murders; part of the disputed "possession" narrative advanced by Hans Holzer, not evidence of paranormal activity.

Area: 112 Ocean Avenue, Amityville, New York

atmospheric · contested

The Lutz family reported unexplained noises, odours and temperature anomalies during a 28-day stay in 1975-76, the basis of The Amityville Horror; later owners reported nothing unusual and critics alleged elements were fabricated.

Area: 112 Ocean Avenue, Amityville, New York (Lutz occupancy)

atmospheric · contested

Investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren later publicly supported the haunting narrative; their involvement is documented but contested by skeptics.

Area: 112 Ocean Avenue, Amityville, New York (Warren investigation)

visual · contested

During the March 1976 Warren/ASPR investigation, an infrared photograph taken on the staircase of 112 Ocean Avenue reportedly captured what was interpreted by the Warrens and their associates as a small, glowing-eyed figure on the stairs — subsequently nicknamed 'the boy ghost.' The image was widely published and scrutinised; sceptical analysts including investigator Joe Nickell (writing in 'The Skeptical Inquirer,' 1997) argued it showed a member of the investigation team. This photograph is one of the most cited photographic paranormal claims in American haunting history and is documented as primary evidence by the Warrens in Brittle's 'The Demonologist' (1980) and discussed in depth in the 2021 'Shock Docs' episode. Presented here as a documented photographic claim made by named investigators, with noted sceptical counter-analysis.

Area: Staircase and upper landing, 112 Ocean Avenue — 'Demonic Face' ASPR photograph, 1976

atmospheric · contested

Father Ralph Pecoraro — a close friend of the Lutz family, fictionalised as 'Father Mancuso' in the 1977 Anson book — reportedly told the Lutzes that during his initial blessing visit to 112 Ocean Avenue in December 1975 he heard a powerful male voice tell him to 'Get out!' from an empty room. He reportedly became physically ill after the visit and subsequently suffered repeated maladies attributed, in his own account as relayed by the Lutzes to Anson, to his spiritual engagement with the house. Pecoraro's experience was central to the original case narrative; in later years — as documented by journalist Ric Osuna in 'The Night the DeFeos Died' (Xlibris, 2002) and by the Syfy investigation programme 'Ghost Hunters' S3E09 ('Amityville Horror House,' aired 2006) — investigators debated whether Pecoraro's account was an independently corroborated paranormal datum or derived from conversations with the Lutzes. The 'Get out!' report is distinctive in that it comes from a named third party with no financial stake in the case at the time.

Area: St. Francis of Assisi Church, Amityville, New York — priest's reported experience of paranormal disturbance, 1976

auditory · unverified

The Discovery+ programme 'Shock Docs: The Amityville Horror House,' released in October 2021 and hosted by Steve Shippy, featured an investigation of the property at what is now renumbered 108 Ocean Avenue. Steve Shippy, accompanied by psychic medium Cindy Kaza, reported receiving an anomalous auditory response via a spirit-box device that was interpreted as naming one of the DeFeo victims. Kaza stated she perceived the energy of a commanding, oppressive male presence that she felt was not the DeFeo family members but rather what she described as a darker, attached entity. The episode also revisits the Warren investigation material and interviews locals about lingering neighbourhood unease. Presented here as reported investigator claims in a named, dated television programme.

Area: 112 Ocean Avenue, Amityville — Shock Docs 'The Amityville Horror House' (2021), investigation by Steve Shippy

atmospheric · contested

Ed and Lorraine Warren conducted a psychic investigation of 112 Ocean Avenue in 1976, shortly after the Lutzes fled, accompanied by members of the American Society for Psychical Research (ASPR), including researcher William Roll. During this investigation, the Warrens reportedly held a séance in the basement. Lorraine Warren later stated in multiple interviews — including with the BBC documentary 'Amityville: Horror or Hoax?' (2000) and in Gerald Brittle's 1980 book 'The Demonologist' — that she perceived a powerful, malevolent non-human presence in the house and that she heard what she described as demonic voices telling the investigators to leave. Ed Warren stated he believed the house had been the site of a genuine demonic infestation, not merely a haunting. Both the séance and the ASPR photographic session (which produced the widely reproduced 'boy ghost' photo, later contested) occurred during this visit. All claims presented as the Warrens' reported testimony in named published and broadcast sources.

Area: 112 Ocean Avenue, Amityville — Warren séance and psychic investigation, 1976

visual · contested

George and Kathy Lutz reported in contemporaneous accounts — first told to Father Ralph Pecoraro (publicly identified as 'Father Mancuso' in the 1977 Anson book) and subsequently retold in multiple interviews — that their young daughter Missy claimed a pig-like entity she called 'Jodie' appeared at the second-floor window of the house, glowing red-eyed, during the Lutz occupancy in winter 1975–76. The pig entity became one of the most distinctive and widely repeated claims in the Amityville case, featured in the 2005 remake film and extensively discussed in the documentary 'My Amityville Horror' (Eric Walter, 2012), in which Daniel Lutz (the eldest Lutz child) discussed the visionary experiences he witnessed as a child, including this entity. Hans Holzer additionally examined the claim in a 1979 psychic investigation context. All reported as claims made by named witnesses in named sources.

Area: Second-floor sewing room / guest room, 112 Ocean Avenue, Amityville — reported apparition of 'Jodie' the pig

visual · contested

Jay Anson's 1977 account 'The Amityville Horror: A True Story' (Prentice-Hall) describes a small, previously unknown room discovered behind a false wall in the basement of 112 Ocean Avenue — painted entirely in red and not shown on any house plans. George Lutz reportedly called it 'the red room' and stated the family dog refused to go near it. Subsequent investigators and paranormal commentators, including parapsychologist Hans Holzer in his 1979 book 'Murder in Amityville,' have characterised this space as potentially a focal point for demonic or residual energy, linking its hidden nature to occult concealment. The 'red room' has become one of the most widely cited physical details in Amityville supernatural lore and features in virtually all Amityville ghost-tour and paranormal-investigation commentary, including the Travel Channel's 2010 'My Ghost Story' episode on the property. All claims regarding the room's paranormal significance are reported here as claims made in named published sources.

Area: 112 Ocean Avenue, Amityville, New York — 'red room' / hidden basement storage area, as described in Jay Anson's 1977 book