49 Years Later, This Most Chilling Ghost Story Still Changes the Horror Genre Forever
A haunting with lasting reach
The Amityville Horror tells of the Lutz family moving into a Long Island house and leaving after 28 days, saying supernatural forces had tormented them. Jay Anson’s book was released in 1977, and its haunted-house premise remains influential in horror.
Ghost stories long predate formal horror novels, with roots in Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt. Oral traditions and written works have carried the form forward, including The Haunting of Hill House and The Woman in Black.
A bestseller before the films
The book became a pop culture phenomenon before its movie franchise began. It reached the New York Times bestseller list after publication and stayed there for 42 weeks.
Its publisher, Prentice-Hall, ordered 13 hardcover printings in the first six months. The first film arrived in 1979, and by 1981 the book had been printed 37 times. Its journalistic style and presentation as a true story helped drive its success.
Fact, fiction and fear at home
The house is real, and a brutal murder took place there a year before the Lutzes moved in. The couple bought the home, stayed for 28 days and said ghosts and paranormal events drove them away. Ed and Lorraine Warren also visited and described it as haunted.
The account remains disputed: there is substantial evidence of a hoax and little evidence supporting the haunting. Still, the book made the possibility feel real to readers, turning the home from a refuge into a potential source of danger.
Key points
- The Amityville Horror was published in 1977 and follows the Lutz family’s 28 days in a Long Island home.
- The book remained on the New York Times bestseller list for 42 weeks.
- The haunting is widely disputed, with substantial evidence pointing to a hoax.
- Its framing as a true story helped blur the boundary between reality and fiction in horror.