The Amityville Horror
Ratings40
Average rating3.3
15
Ratings40
Average rating3.3
The Amityville Horror is a book by American author Jay Anson, published in September 1977. It is also the basis of a series of films released from 1979 onward. The book is claimed to be based on the paranormal experiences of the Lutz family, but has led to controversy and lawsuits over its truthfulness.
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Also contained in:
- [Sarah Bernhardt And Her World / My Mother/My Self / Snow / The Amityville Horror / The Guggenheims][1]
Reviews with the most likes.
I've seen most of the movies based on this book but I had never read the book. I decided to listen to it on audible and see how much different it was from the movies. I've never thought of this as a true story and still don't but as a fiction book it is fairly decent. A few differences from the movies but overall very familiar. A decent read.
If you look at this as the work of fiction it so clearly is, it's not bad. It's actually pretty gripping in places, even if it starts to feel a little repetitive and padded out as the days of the Lutz family's stay at Amityville pile on. Overall, I'm torn - it was a solid read and I don't regret it, but I also feel like it's a cash grab that shouldn't exist in the first place. I'll go 3/5 because, as a story, the good mostly outweighs the bad. It's decent schlock.
Reads like the transcript of a dramatized podcast about a family and their experience in a haunted house.
The horror classic that I'd never gotten round to reading. I suspect it would have made more of an impact on me if I'd read it in my teens because reading it at forty-one, it all seems faintly ridiculous. I laughed out loud at several points and was left feeling more bemused than terrified. Still, the writing was good and the intertwining narratives well crafted. Definitely one of those rare cases of the movie being better than the book.
