How the Amityville Horror Worked

# Stuff You Should Know: The Amityville Horror

In this creepy-crawling episode, Josh and Chuck dig into one of America's most famous haunted house stories—the Amityville Horror. They start with the tragic but very real crime that occurred in 1974 when Ronnie DeFeo Jr. murdered his entire family in their home, then trace how the Lutz family's terrifying experiences in that same house a year later became a massive cultural phenomenon through a bestselling book, talk show appearances, and a blockbuster 1979 film. But here's where it gets interesting: the guys aren't just retelling the spooky stuff—they're actively poking holes in the whole thing and uncovering contradictions, financial motivations, and suspicious details that suggest maybe not everything about this "true story" adds up quite the way we've been told.