The Amityville Horror

Rating:
Summary: Forget the movie!
Review: I don't believe this is a true story, but that doesn't change the fact that this is a truly scary book! It's a good easy read and well worth your time and money. If your lookin' for a good scare, this book will deliver the chills! Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: Good fiction
Review: This book is not true, contrary to all those who believe in this nonsense. The Amityville Horror was proven a hoax almost from the beginning. However, it is a good horror story if you read it for what it is- fiction.

Rating:
Summary: ()<---insert little giggle here
Review: This book still makes me laugh even today. You gotta love it. I read it when it first came out so I had to be 13-14 somewhere in there. I still have the first edition hard cover!! A little beat up but I still read it every once and awhile. I might put it on ebay when the new updated movie comes out this April (2005). The book will be reissued then. But we all know this book was a joke, but it is still fun if you want a fast book to read in a few hours of "free time". Another few you might want to see if you can get is High Hopes, The Night The Defeo's Died they shold be read first then do Amityville Horror, and then read The Amityville Horror Conspiracy last. When you read all those in that order you get a whole overview of the truth with the fiction, and the AHC brings it all to a close and it is very entertaining I will say that the first two books aqre horrifying more so then the fiction Amityville Horror. Those other two gave me nightmares and scafred me so bad one night I really didn't sleep well, aybe because it's the "true" story. Very scary. But this book gets 5 stars because it is a fun and basicly mindless read for a rainy day...with thunder and lighting!

Rating:
Summary: Frightening, hoax or not
Review: This is the scariest book I've ever read. And I don't scare easily. However, I was a teenager when I read it, so that probably has something to do with it.

I had a hard time sleeping that night. I couldn't shake feelings of dread for the next few days. The overpowering malice that pervaded the house and assualted those inside was palpable.

Anson, unfortunately, uses exclamation marks from time to time in his exposition. No writer worth his salt EVER uses exclamtion marks in his or her own writing. In the dialog, that's fine. But not in the writing. That's puerile. Which of the following two sentences is more powerful? 1) "Don't do that again." or 2) "Don't do that again!"
See what I'm saying?

And the event itself, was it a hoax? Probably. But that doesn't mean you won't want to leave the lights on all night after reading this. Problem is, with the lights on, when you wake up you'll be able to see the giant pig with glowing red eyes staring at you.

Rating:
Summary: Hoax Is A Horror
Review: Now that we know that the 'Amityville Horror' was a very elaborate and cleverly contrived hoax we can all rest in peace...sort of. This is the story of a young family who move into a house which is apparently possessed by evil. Their stay isn't a happy one; foul smells, bleeding walls, green slime and a very friendly little pig spirt named 'Jodie', all make their presence felt. The Lutz family begin to doubt their own sanity as they are tormented endlessly by the demonic forces which dwell within their new 'dream home'.
This whole story was inspired by the DeFeo murders which took place in the house one year prior to the Lutz's 'ordeal'. The book briefly outlines the crime by making claims that the man who killed his family in the house was under the control of the very same evil influences which, after twenty-eight days of torture, drive the Lutzes from this house. In recent times, we have come to learn that, although the murders did take place in the house, the Lutz story was nothing more than a greedy grab for money and notoriety.
As a piece of fiction, this book by Jay Anson is actually well written! Very entertaining and perfectly symbolic of its day. The seventies was riddled with books and films dealing with demonic possession, the occult and all things evil. This book is right up there with "The Exorcist".
But, alas, the whole story is untrue. And it's unbelievable that people still think the whole thing actually happened. Readers, it never did. But, don't let this put you off reading this excellent piece of entertainment - it's still as gripping as it was in its days as a runaway best seller. Judge for yourself.
Chris Camrik - Sydney, Australia.

Rating:
Summary: SCARY AS HELL!!!
Review: First of all... this is the only book that I have ever read that has literally scared me. It has great descriptions of all of the horrible events that happened in that house, and even away from the house (in the case of the preist.) I honestly had trouble sleeping while I was reading this book and was scared to turn off my lights again for awhile. I think some of the scariness of this book has to do with the fact that it IS a true story. This is a great story and great, fast read. And it is SCARY AS HELL! Much better than the movie! If you like to be scared, get this book!

Rating:
Summary: A True? Story
Review: This book would have been bad enough as a novel but trying to pass this rubish off as true is just plain insulting. This book is about as scary as reading the comic strips and just as silly. Jay Anson (may he rest in peace) should have been ashamed to conspire with the Lutz family on this money making scheme. Not to mention that it made other families lives a living hell due to the deranged fools that came by the house to sight see. Isn't it just a little strange that no other disturbances have been recorded once the Lutz family vacated the premises?