Some people think the Lutzes’ story is nothing more than a money-making hoax. They feel the Lutzes simply moved in to a house with a tragic past and took advantage of its notoriety.

Others point out that looking back on the situation in retrospect is the only way this theory of a hoax makes any sense. No one knew the book would spark with the public and become a world-wide bestseller. No one knew the movie would be a hit. And with both the book and film, the Lutzes got only a tiny share of the profits, while Jay Anson and the film producers became millionaires. If this was a hoax, then money would be the goal, and they would have made sure they got the lion’s share of the profits from any book or film venture. That would have been one of the first plans of action.

In the History’s Mysteries documentary, George estimates they made a little over $250,000 from the book and around $160,000 from the film.

In a 2002 interview with Art Bell, George estimated they received around $300,000 after taxes and lawyer fees and such.

If Weber claimed that he helped to concoct the story, he is admitting that he knew the story was false. If he knew the story was false, then why would he include clauses in his contract with the Lutzes that stated they must be truthful and submit to a polygraph test?

And if Weber knew the story was fake, why did he hire Hans Holzer to investigate the house in early 1977?

Also, assuming the haunting was a hoax - wouldn’t it be unethical for an attorney to be a part of a scheme to defraud the public in this manner? If you believe Weber, then he was involved in creating a hoax in order to defraud the public. If you don’t believe Weber, then he is lying about helping concoct a hoax with the Lutzes. Is Weber a winner either way in this?

When Jay Anson agreed to write the book, they wanted to do extensive interviews with the Lutzes. However, the Lutzes didn’t want to relive their experiences again - it was too painful. They wanted to try and put it in the past, get the house fixed, and move on with their lives.

The Lutzes made an agreement with Anson that they would hand over the audio tapes that they made, along with the research they had on the property. Anson would then have access to the other people involved in the case, such as Father Ray and the Warrens.

Anson was able to interview the other people involved, but they didn’t know every detail of every day the Lutzes spent in that house - and the Lutzes’ audio recordings were conversations amongst themselves, meant only for themselves, where they remembered incidents here and there, in no particular order. The tapes were not a totally detailed account of the 28 days the Lutzes spent in that house.

Jay Anson went through the arduous task of trying to piece together the story, and at the same time make it readable in a novelistic style. In doing so, he appears to have gotten some facts wrong and embellished certain items, such as taking Danny to the hospital when his hand was crushed (when they didn’t do so in real life) and the slime oozing from the walls (in fact this came from a mysterious green oily substance which appeared in spots on the rugs, which was scraped up and disposed of).
Given all this, Jay Anson’s book is still mainly an accurate account of the Lutzes’ experiences, despite the discrepancies between his book and the events as told in later interviews by the Lutzes, themselves.

Another set of discrepancies people sometimes point to come from within Anson’s book, itself - from the initial hardcover edition to the later paperback versions. Some have claimed there have been hundreds of changes between these editions, and that such changes were obviously made to cover up holes in a false story. However these items are small details, such as the make and model of Father Ray’s car and the location of Father Ray’s mother’s house.

One of the producers of the History Channel’s excellent documentary on the subject went through several editions of Anson’s book to search for such discrepancies. Instead of the hundreds that some claim, he could find only 12.

American International Pictures felt the book didn’t translate all that well to the big screen. They brought in their own screenwriter and made the movie in the fashion they wanted. Once signing over the movie rights to AIP, the Lutzes had no control over the content.

AIP seemed more interested in making what they considered a good movie rather than one that was totally faithful to the real life events. Some agree with this philosophy, others don’t.

Yes, parts of the story should not be manufactured in a non-fiction book. However it is largely unclear whether the events in question in the book were deliberately manufactured by Anson, or if he simply misunderstood some of the facts.

On an ABCNEWS.com online chat, George stated that “there were different galleys sent out to us that we worked hard to correct. But ultimately, the control of the content was in the hands of the publisher and the author.”

Not necessarily. You are suggesting that whatever entity might be in the house must attack every person that enters the house, or perform on some sort of schedule.

No one knows for sure why the post-Lutz family occupants have not reported any paranormal activity. One possibility could be that the house was never haunted; but just as possible is the likelihood that the entity in the house is dormant, or hibernating, or that perhaps the later day occupants of the house are not as “open” to the paranormal events in the house as the Lutzes were. George and Kathy were practicing Transcendental Meditation at the time - a practice that Kathy believes may have opened up their minds to become more sensitive to certain phenomena.

Unknown. Possibly they saw the same inaccuracies in Jay Anson’s book as was noted above, or possibly they are trying to protect the privacy of individuals involved, or perhaps they truly feel the events did not take place.

Father Ray has gone on record saying his experiences in the house were real; and in an interview on Coast to Coast, Father Malachi Martin stated that the Amityville house was one of the “most haunted places in all of America,” and stated that the Church knew all about it.

Stephen Kaplan referred to himself as a parapsychologist. He was one of the first people George contacted, hoping he could help them in their efforts to rid the house of whatever was there.

Kaplan apparently told the media that he was to become involved with the Amityville case. The Lutzes were angered about the unwanted publicity, were leery about him referring to himself as a “vampirologist” (as that didn’t sound like someone who could help “cleanse” their house) and were suspicious when Kaplans credentials didn’t seem to check out. Because of all this, the Lutzes decided to pass on Kaplan’s offer to help.

Kaplan, on the other hand, said the Lutzes were afraid of his claim that he would expose them if he found out their story was a hoax.

Immediately after being turned down by the Lutzes, Kaplan told a Long Island newspaper that he believes the haunting was a hoax. He released a book some 20 years later titled “The Amityville Horror Conspiracy.” Unfortunately he suffered a heart attack and passed away shortly before the book’s release.

Ric Osuna operated a website in 1999 centered around the Amityville Horror. Ric was a believer in the case, and his website displayed a good deal of information and photos on the haunting.

Ric was involved in the History Channel documentaries, and through that he met George & Kathy Lutz (as well as other people involved in the case). Through this meeting, Ric became involved in a possible book project with George. It was around this time that Ric reportedly claimed he had proof the haunting actually happened.

A short time later, Ric had a falling out with George Lutz, and resigned from the book project - deciding, instead, to write his own book on the DeFeo murders. Ric was now reportedly claiming that he had proof the Lutzes’ story was a hoax, and that he’d show this proof in his upcoming book.

According to Ric’s book - The Night the DeFeos Died - he started to doubt George’s credibility when things seemingly didn’t match up. Ric cites comments reportedly made by George at the 1976 Press Conference that things in their house didn’t fly around the room and that they heard no wailing noises as you’d see in a typical haunted house movie. This contradicted statements George made in an interview given to Ric. [George has claimed that there have been many instances where he has been misquoted in the press - a fact that Ric already knew, as he stated as much in a post he made on an Amityville internet forum, dated July 24, 2000.]

Another reason Ric sites for not believing George is based on some photos George showed Ric of the house, some two months after the family fled. Ric stated these photos showed no slime on the walls or blood on the stairs as shown in the book and movie.

Some find this the most troubling reason Ric gives for not believing the Lutzes, as Ric ran an Amityville website (which apparently so well done that the producers of the History Channel documentary brought him on board to help out) and should have known that the slime on the walls was an invention of Anson’s book, and that the blood on the stairs was an invention of the filmmakers. Some feel that this shows a clearly transparent attack by Ric.

Another reason Ric gives for ending his relationship with George was that George was apparently more interested in making money off of fictional Amityville sequels rather than in “setting the record straight” [regarding their original story as told in Anson’s book].

Ric’s book was published some time later, but contained no proof of a hoax. It was mainly centered around a person who called herself “Geraldine DeFeo,” who claimed to be married to Ronnie DeFeo, and to have inside information on William Weber, and George & Kathy Lutz showing the haunting was a hoax.

According to The Night the DeFeos Died, Geraldine claimed she was married to Ronnie DeFeo in the early 1970s, before the murders took place. However, there are no records of them being married prior to the later 1980s. To this date there is seemingly no evidence that she even knew the DeFeo family during the 1970s.

According to Ric’s book, Geraldine was present at a local bar in the Fall of 1975 with William Weber [Ronnie’s recently appointed lawyer] and George & Kathy Lutz, who were putting together the hoax (which included moving into the Amityville house and claiming how they felt murderous and uneasy feelings while there). She also claims to have been told by Father Ray that the voice he heard telling him to “Get out” of the house was, in fact, George’s voice on a tape recorder.

Geraldine’s version of events doesn’t seem to match those of William Weber (who also claims the Lutzes’ story is a hoax). Furthermore, Ronnie DeFeo (who also claims the Lutzes’ story is a hoax) states he never met Geraldine until 1985.

Unknown, though it is strange referring to them as “kids” when they are all grown adults approaching middle age. Chris has promised a documentary and/or website telling his version of events (perhaps in conjunction with his brother Dan), but nothing has come of it yet.

George understands why they might not want to come public “because of all the distortion that happens when you begin to talk about this kind of thing.” I imagine being ridiculed and seeing George & Kathy being called liars and frauds would cause them to think twice before speaking in public.