I’ve been banging this article around for awhile now because truthfully I didn’t know where to start.
Amityville isn’t exactly a big secret. It’s probably the most famous haunting in the country whether it is or it isn’t a haunting. Everyone knows the “facts” of the Amityville case. Ronnie DeFeo, George and Kathy Lutze, William Weber and Jay Anson. But what about Stephen Kaplan?
The late Dr. Stephen Kaplan, founder of the Parapsychology Institute of America and the Vampire Research Center, was a well-known author on the paranormal and radio personality. He was far and away the loudest voice among those who doubt the truth of the Amityville story.
Dr. Kaplan said that on February 16, 1976 he received a call from George Lutz. He had heard Dr. Kaplan on Spectrum with Joel Martin, a popular radio talk show on WBAB radio in New York. The Lutzes had recently abandoned their home in Amityville and wanted the Parapsychology Institute of America, who were the pre-eminent paranormal research group in Greater New York City at the time, to come and investigate the house.
The Institute tentatively agreed and the investigation was scheduled. The next time they spoke, Lutz asked Kaplan about the fee that would be involved, and Kaplan’s response was his standard. There was never any fee for their services, but they would publish their findings regardless of outcome. In other words, if the story was a hoax, the Institute would make that public.
Lutz cancelled the investigation, and Dr. Kaplan or the Institute never heard from him again.
George and Kathy Lutz claimed Kaplan’s credentials didn’t check out, beginning with the fact that he wasn’t a doctor. In reality, along with being a widely known paranormal investigator who was elected to the Parapsychology Hall of Fame in 1982, Kaplan was in fact a doctor, having earned a PhD in Sociology from Pacific University after obtaining BA in Sociology and MS’s in Education and Interdisciplinary Studies from City College of New York and SUNY (Stony Brook).
While I consider Dr. Kaplan’s book The Amityville Horror Conspiracy the definitive source, let’s set him aside for a moment so you don’t get the idea he’s the only detractor.
In my opinion, step one in looking at the story in its entirety is to add the Ocean Avenue house to the long list of allegedly haunted locations that were only haunted to those who wrote a book on the haunting. No other residents of the house have ever witnessed any paranormal activity.
The late Rick Moran, founder of ASUP (the Association of the Study of Unexplained Phenomena) compiled a list of historical errors and other discrepancies beginning with the fact that the Montaukett Tribe referenced in the book never actually lived in the Amityville area at all, but were native to the eastern tip of Long Island about 70 miles away (Moran).
Moran also found that while there was a prominent Ketchum family in the area, there is no evidence to support the idea that John Ketchum, if in fact there was a John Ketchum, or any other members of that family practiced witchcraft or the black arts.
Joe Nickell (who I’ve written about before) also had a long list of issues with the story, although Nickell tended to stay more in the present than did Moran.
Nickell visited the house and spent significant time with James and Barbara Cromarty, who moved into the house in 1977, lived there for 10 years and stated that the only issues they ever had related to the paranormal were the unwanted visitors who trampled their property day and night.
Nickell’s issues with the story include weather records indicating that there was no snow on Long Island on the night the Lutzes found the infamous cloven hoof prints in the snow, an inspection done personally and with the Cromarties of the door hardware proving that no matter what the Lutzes claimed about violent damage, the front door hardware (hinges, etc.) is all original, and the fact that during the 28 days the Lutzes live on Ocean Avenue the police were never once called to the house despite claims that they were summoned repeatedly.
In fact both the detective and priest named in the book claim that their involvement with the case bears no resemblance to the accounts in The Amityville Horror.
In the end the smoking gun lies in the hands of Ronnie DeFeo’s attorney William Weber, much as it was in the hands of Ray Garton in the Connecticut case.
Weber eventually admitted that he, along with the Lutzes, "created this horror story over many bottles of wine." The house was never really haunted he said. The Lutzes claims were simply made up, and Jay Anson exaggerated them further in his book. By the time the Hollywood people were done with it any bits of truth that may have existed at one time were completely gone.
While Anson and the Lutzes made a lot of money from the book and movie, Weber’s motive was to use the paranormal claims to get his client a new trial.
George Lutz, divorced from Kathy in the late eighties, still claims the events in the book are “Mostly True” but no longer attempts to provide any evidence.
Getting back to Dr. Stephen Kaplan, I’ll just recommend you pick up The Amityville Horror Conspiracy. It’s a good read and is far more detailed than I could ever be here.
He interviews many of the principles in the case, including father Ralph Pecararo, who denies virtually all of the claims in the Anson book, and several Amityville police officers, some of whom have sued Jay Anson over the use of their names related to occurrences that never actually took place.
He had the distinction of being one of several individuals who Ed Warren physically threatened during joint media appearances.
Sadly Dr. Kaplan passed away on June 9, 1995
Amityville isn’t exactly a big secret. It’s probably the most famous haunting in the country whether it is or it isn’t a haunting. Everyone knows the “facts” of the Amityville case. Ronnie DeFeo, George and Kathy Lutze, William Weber and Jay Anson. But what about Stephen Kaplan?
The late Dr. Stephen Kaplan, founder of the Parapsychology Institute of America and the Vampire Research Center, was a well-known author on the paranormal and radio personality. He was far and away the loudest voice among those who doubt the truth of the Amityville story.
Dr. Kaplan said that on February 16, 1976 he received a call from George Lutz. He had heard Dr. Kaplan on Spectrum with Joel Martin, a popular radio talk show on WBAB radio in New York. The Lutzes had recently abandoned their home in Amityville and wanted the Parapsychology Institute of America, who were the pre-eminent paranormal research group in Greater New York City at the time, to come and investigate the house.
The Institute tentatively agreed and the investigation was scheduled. The next time they spoke, Lutz asked Kaplan about the fee that would be involved, and Kaplan’s response was his standard. There was never any fee for their services, but they would publish their findings regardless of outcome. In other words, if the story was a hoax, the Institute would make that public.
Lutz cancelled the investigation, and Dr. Kaplan or the Institute never heard from him again.
George and Kathy Lutz claimed Kaplan’s credentials didn’t check out, beginning with the fact that he wasn’t a doctor. In reality, along with being a widely known paranormal investigator who was elected to the Parapsychology Hall of Fame in 1982, Kaplan was in fact a doctor, having earned a PhD in Sociology from Pacific University after obtaining BA in Sociology and MS’s in Education and Interdisciplinary Studies from City College of New York and SUNY (Stony Brook).
While I consider Dr. Kaplan’s book The Amityville Horror Conspiracy the definitive source, let’s set him aside for a moment so you don’t get the idea he’s the only detractor.
In my opinion, step one in looking at the story in its entirety is to add the Ocean Avenue house to the long list of allegedly haunted locations that were only haunted to those who wrote a book on the haunting. No other residents of the house have ever witnessed any paranormal activity.
The late Rick Moran, founder of ASUP (the Association of the Study of Unexplained Phenomena) compiled a list of historical errors and other discrepancies beginning with the fact that the Montaukett Tribe referenced in the book never actually lived in the Amityville area at all, but were native to the eastern tip of Long Island about 70 miles away (Moran).
Moran also found that while there was a prominent Ketchum family in the area, there is no evidence to support the idea that John Ketchum, if in fact there was a John Ketchum, or any other members of that family practiced witchcraft or the black arts.
Joe Nickell (who I’ve written about before) also had a long list of issues with the story, although Nickell tended to stay more in the present than did Moran.
Nickell visited the house and spent significant time with James and Barbara Cromarty, who moved into the house in 1977, lived there for 10 years and stated that the only issues they ever had related to the paranormal were the unwanted visitors who trampled their property day and night.
Nickell’s issues with the story include weather records indicating that there was no snow on Long Island on the night the Lutzes found the infamous cloven hoof prints in the snow, an inspection done personally and with the Cromarties of the door hardware proving that no matter what the Lutzes claimed about violent damage, the front door hardware (hinges, etc.) is all original, and the fact that during the 28 days the Lutzes live on Ocean Avenue the police were never once called to the house despite claims that they were summoned repeatedly.
In fact both the detective and priest named in the book claim that their involvement with the case bears no resemblance to the accounts in The Amityville Horror.
In the end the smoking gun lies in the hands of Ronnie DeFeo’s attorney William Weber, much as it was in the hands of Ray Garton in the Connecticut case.
Weber eventually admitted that he, along with the Lutzes, "created this horror story over many bottles of wine." The house was never really haunted he said. The Lutzes claims were simply made up, and Jay Anson exaggerated them further in his book. By the time the Hollywood people were done with it any bits of truth that may have existed at one time were completely gone.
While Anson and the Lutzes made a lot of money from the book and movie, Weber’s motive was to use the paranormal claims to get his client a new trial.
George Lutz, divorced from Kathy in the late eighties, still claims the events in the book are “Mostly True” but no longer attempts to provide any evidence.
Getting back to Dr. Stephen Kaplan, I’ll just recommend you pick up The Amityville Horror Conspiracy. It’s a good read and is far more detailed than I could ever be here.
He interviews many of the principles in the case, including father Ralph Pecararo, who denies virtually all of the claims in the Anson book, and several Amityville police officers, some of whom have sued Jay Anson over the use of their names related to occurrences that never actually took place.
He had the distinction of being one of several individuals who Ed Warren physically threatened during joint media appearances.
Sadly Dr. Kaplan passed away on June 9, 1995