Walk down Ocean Avenue in Amityville today and you might miss it. The house looks different now. The iconic "eye" windows—those quarter-moon panes that stared out like a jack-o'-lantern in the 1970s—are gone, replaced by square ones. The address has even been changed to discourage the looky-loos who clog the street every Halloween. But despite the new siding and the manicured lawn, the fascination with what happened inside 112 Ocean Avenue hasn't faded. It’s a strange mix of true crime tragedy and supernatural folklore that has been blurred by decades of paperbacks and B-movies.
Most people think they know the story. They think of walls bleeding green slime or swarms of flies in the dead of winter. Honestly? The real history is much heavier and, in some ways, far more unsettling than a ghost story. It’s a tale of two families: one that met a violent end and another that claimed to have fled from pure evil.
The Night the Music Stopped: The DeFeo Tragedy
Before the haunting became a global brand, 112 Ocean Avenue was just a large, Dutch Colonial home owned by the DeFeo family. Ronald "Big Ronnie" DeFeo Sr. was a successful, if volatile, man who worked at his father-in-law's Buick dealership. He lived there with his wife, Louise, and their five children. By all outward appearances, they were a wealthy, suburban family living the American dream on the South Shore of Long Island.
But the reality inside the home was fractured. Ronald "Butch" DeFeo Jr., the eldest son, had a deeply strained relationship with his father. There were reports of physical altercations and a growing dependence on drugs. On November 13, 1974, at approximately 3:15 AM, the tension broke in the most violent way possible.
Butch took a .35-caliber Marlin rifle and systematically shot his parents and his four siblings—Dawn, Allison, Marc, and John Matthew—as they slept in their beds. He then showered, dressed for work, and discarded his bloody clothes and the weapon in a storm drain. Later that day, he burst into Henry’s Bar, shouting that someone had shot his family.
The crime scene was bizarre. All six victims were found face-down in their beds with no signs of a struggle or sedation. Neighbors didn't hear the shots, even though the Marlin rifle didn't have a silencer. This specific detail—the lack of noise and the uniform positioning of the bodies—is what birthed the first whispers that something "other" might have been at play inside 112 Ocean Avenue.
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The Lutz Residency: 28 Days of Panic
Thirteen months after the murders, George and Kathleen Lutz bought the house for a bargain price of $80,000. They knew the history. They even had the house blessed by a priest, Father Ray Pecoraro, before moving in. What happened next is either one of the greatest paranormal accounts in history or one of the most successful real estate exit strategies ever devised.
According to the Lutzes, the atmosphere shifted almost immediately. George began waking up at 3:15 AM every night—the exact time of the DeFeo murders. They reported cold spots, strange odors like rotting perfume, and "Jodie," a demonic pig-like entity with glowing red eyes that their daughter, Missy, claimed to have befriended.
The physical descriptions of the interior during this time are legendary. George claimed he found a "Red Room" behind the basement paneling—a small, hidden space that the dogs supposedly refused to go near. He described the walls sweating a viscous substance and doors being ripped off their hinges. After 28 days, the family fled, leaving all their furniture and belongings behind. They never returned.
Fact Checking the Supernatural: What the Research Shows
If you dig into the archives, the "haunting" starts to look a bit different. Researchers like Rick Moran and the late paranormal investigator Lou Gentile spent years picking apart the Lutz claims.
For starters, the "Red Room" wasn't some occult portal. It was a pipe well, a common architectural feature in homes of that era used for access to plumbing. It’s small, cramped, and painted red, but hardly a gateway to the abyss. As for the swarms of flies? While the Lutzes claimed they appeared in the dead of winter, local weather records show the temperatures were well below freezing, making a massive insect infestation biologically improbable.
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Then there’s the legal side. William Weber, Butch DeFeo’s defense attorney, eventually admitted to a journalist for New York Magazine that he, George, and Kathy Lutz "created this horror story over many bottles of wine." They were looking for a way to capitalize on the notoriety of the house. DeFeo wanted a new trial based on "demonic possession," and the Lutzes needed a way out of a mortgage they were reportedly struggling to pay.
Living in a Landmark: The Post-Lutz Years
The most damning evidence against the haunting of inside 112 Ocean Avenue might be the people who have lived there since. Since 1976, several families have owned the home.
The Cromartys, who moved in after the Lutzes, lived there for a decade. They sued the Lutzes and the book’s publisher for harassment, tired of the tourists and the sensationalized lies. They reported absolutely zero paranormal activity. No ghosts. No 3 AM wake-up calls. Just a lot of people trespassing on their lawn.
The subsequent owners—the Fraginals, the O’Neills, and most recently, the D'Antonios—have echoed this. They describe the house as beautiful, peaceful, and filled with light. Peter O'Neil, who owned the home in the late 1980s, famously said the only thing scary about the house was the constant stream of tourists.
The Physical Layout and Design
The house itself is a classic 1927 Dutch Colonial. It spans about 3,600 square feet and sits on a prime waterfront lot with a boathouse. If you were to walk through the front door today, you’d find a spacious center-hall layout.
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- First Floor: Features a large living room, a formal dining room, and an enclosed sunporch that offers views of the Amityville Creek. The kitchen has been renovated multiple times since the 70s, moving away from the dark wood aesthetics of the DeFeo era.
- Second Floor: This is where the tragedy occurred. There are five bedrooms. The master suite, where Big Ronnie and Louise died, is expansive. The hallway leads to the smaller rooms where the children slept.
- The Attic: This was once the "playroom" for the DeFeo kids. In the Lutz version of the story, this was a site of intense activity. Today, it’s a finished space that most owners use for storage or as an extra bedroom.
The basement remains the most "famous" part of the interior because of the Red Room. It’s a standard New York basement—concrete floors, utility pipes, and storage nooks. It’s functional, not frightening.
Why the Myth Persists
Why are we still talking about this specific house when there are thousands of tragic crime scenes across the country? It’s the perfect storm of timing and media. The Amityville Horror book by Jay Anson was released in 1977, right when the "Satanic Panic" was beginning to brew in America. The 1979 film cemented the imagery of the house—especially those windows—into the collective psyche.
We love the idea that evil can hide in the mundane. A beautiful house by the water with a dark secret is a compelling narrative. It taps into our deep-seated fears about the safety of the home and the stability of the family unit.
But we have to remember the victims. The DeFeo children weren't characters in a ghost story; they were real people whose lives were cut short. Transforming their place of death into a "spook show" often glosses over the grim reality of domestic violence and mental health struggles that led to that night in 1974.
Actionable Insights for the Curious
If you’re planning to explore the history of 112 Ocean Avenue, do it with a grain of salt and a lot of respect.
- Respect the Privacy: The house is a private residence in a quiet neighborhood. The current owners are not running a museum. Do not trespass or park outside for long periods. Local police are very active in the area specifically to prevent "Amityville" related disturbances.
- Check the Sources: If you want the real story, read the trial transcripts of Ronald DeFeo Jr. or the investigative work of Ric Osuna in The Night the DeFeos Died. These provide a much clearer picture of the family dynamics and the legal proceedings than any "paranormal" book.
- Visit the Local Museum: The Amityville Historical Society offers a wealth of information about the village’s history that has nothing to do with ghosts. It puts the house in context as part of a vibrant, historic community.
- Understand the Architecture: Look into Dutch Colonial Revival architecture. Understanding the design trends of the late 1920s can help you identify what parts of the house are original and what were modified to suit the "horror" aesthetic in later years.
The true story of inside 112 Ocean Avenue is one of human tragedy followed by a very human desire for fame and fortune. The house isn't a monster; it's just wood and stone. It has survived much more than just a 28-day haunting—it has survived the weight of a legend that it never asked for.