13 American Murder Houses

Builder John Moynahan built this Dutch Colonial for his growing family in the 1920s. According to the Long Island Village Voice, Moynahan built his house sideways because he didn't like mowing the lawn. The home became infamous with the coupling of the 1974 DeFeo murders, and the alleged paranormal terror endured by subsequent owners George and Kathy Lutze. The Lutzes bought the six-bedroom house at a bargain rate about a year after Ronald DeFeo Jr. used a shotgun to kill his family at the urging of dark shadows and voices in the house. After the Lutzes deserted the place in 1976, they reported everything from DeFeo's dark shadows and voices, to black slime oozing through keyholes and swarms of flies. One book and two major motion pictures later, the address and trademark attic windows have been changed. The Amityville Horror House is now privately owned and in residential use by owners who don't care for thrill-seeking visitors.