The Amityville Horror recap

George and Kathy Lutz buy a waterfront house in Amityville where Ronald DeFeo Jr. murdered six members of his family the previous year. They move in with Kathy's three children and soon report a growing pattern of unexplained events: a priest hears an order to leave, rooms remain unnaturally cold, flies gather in winter, foul substances appear, doors and windows move or break, and George wakes repeatedly around the hour of the killings. Five-year-old Missy talks to an unseen pig-like friend named Jodie, while George becomes increasingly angry and obsessed with keeping the fire burning. Apparent levitation, physical marks, and visions erode the family's ability to dismiss the incidents. On their twenty-eighth night, an overwhelming eruption of noises and movement drives them out. They abandon the house and most belongings, later saying the phenomena cease. Subsequent paranormal investigators report troubling experiences but no conclusive explanation.

George and Kathy Lutz find an unusually affordable Dutch Colonial house at 112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville, Long Island. The price reflects its history: about a year earlier, Ronald DeFeo Jr. shot his parents and four siblings there. After discussing the crime, the Lutzes decide the house itself is not responsible and purchase it. They move in during December with Kathy's children Daniel, Christopher, and Missy, their dog Harry, and furniture left from the former occupants. Father Mancuso comes to bless the home. Alone in an upstairs room, he hears a forceful voice order him to leave. He departs without completing a normal conversation with the family and soon becomes seriously ill. At the house, George begins feeling an intense cold that the heating system does not resolve and spends increasing amounts of time feeding the fireplace.

The family's new routine deteriorates. George repeatedly wakes at about 3:15 in the morning, near the time associated with the DeFeo killings, and checks the boathouse or grounds. His attention narrows to the cold and the fire, and his temper toward Kathy and the children worsens. Unseasonal swarms of flies gather in an upstairs sewing room despite the winter weather. Father Mancuso tries to contact the Lutzes but suffers fever, pain, and other interruptions that keep his warning from reaching them clearly. Doors, locks, and windows fail in ways George cannot readily account for, while unexpected odors and stains add to the disorder. Missy begins talking about Jodie, an invisible companion she describes as a very large pig. Her parents initially treat the story as ordinary childhood imagination.

Events become harder to explain as maintenance problems or stress. George and Kathy discover damage to heavy doors and fixtures, and the children are blamed for incidents they deny causing. George continues waking at the same early hour and grows increasingly detached from his work and prior habits. Kathy feels unseen contact and senses presences in the rooms. Missy's conversations with Jodie persist, and descriptions of glowing red eyes acquire physical force when figures or eyes appear at windows. Father Mancuso remains reluctant to enter the house again but becomes more certain that the family faces a spiritual danger. Attempts at prayer or blessing bring agitation rather than calm. The combined loss of sleep, repeated cold, and conflict isolates the Lutzes even when friends or relatives visit.

The disturbances now threaten the family directly. George and Kathy report bodily sensations, sudden changes in appearance, and episodes suggesting that beds or people are being lifted. George sees Kathy briefly as an aged woman, while Kathy is frightened by changes in her husband's face and behavior. Marks and blackened or foul material appear in the house. George discovers a small concealed red-painted room in the basement that does not appear on the plans and that Harry reacts to with fear. Research and conversations about the property's past deepen the family's belief that the site is connected to violence beyond the DeFeo murders. They attempt to resist through prayer, but the response seems to be louder voices and greater disruption. Their remaining explanations based on coincidence, vandalism, or exhaustion no longer feel adequate to them.

On the twenty-eighth night after the move, the reported activity reaches its crisis. Violent banging, movement within the house, and apparent attacks awaken and terrify the Lutz family. George and Kathy struggle to gather Daniel, Christopher, Missy, and Harry while events around them make remaining in the rooms seem dangerous. They finally drive away, leaving furniture and most other possessions behind. Although they later retrieve essentials, they never resume living at 112 Ocean Avenue. Away from Amityville, the family reports that the disturbances stop, and Father Mancuso's condition improves when he is no longer trying to intervene directly. Paranormal investigators later enter the vacant property. They describe oppressive sensations and other anomalies, and a photograph appears to show a childlike figure, but no investigation settles what occurred. The Lutzes maintain that they fled a hostile presence after twenty-eight days and escaped only by abandoning the house.

After twenty-eight days in the house, the disturbances culminate in a night of violent sounds, apparent movement, and terror affecting the whole family. George and Kathy gather Daniel, Christopher, Missy, and Harry and drive away, abandoning most of their possessions. They briefly return for essential belongings but do not resume living at 112 Ocean Avenue. The Lutzes relocate and say that the phenomena stop once they are away from the property. Father Mancuso remains convinced that something hostile was present, although distance relieves the attacks and illness associated with his involvement. Later investigators, including people experienced with alleged hauntings, visit the empty house and report disturbing impressions and an unsettling photograph, but their findings do not provide a settled explanation. The account closes with the family maintaining that flight was necessary and that their twenty-eight-day residence ended only when they left the house behind.