(pb; 1982: a.k.a. The Amityville Horror Part II)
From the back cover
“When the Lutz family left the house in Amityville, New York, the terror did not end. Through the next four years wherever they went, the inescapable Evil followed them. Now the victims of the most publicized house-haunting of the century have agreed to reveal the harrowing details of their continuing ordeal. Learn about:
“The hooded figure with glowing red eyes that nearly trapped George Lutz inside the house on the day of their departure.
“The vast invisible power that battered their van as they drove away.
“The mysterious levitation and whipping that Kathy Lutz endured.
“The pig-spirit that only young Amy could see and that dogged her very footsteps.”
Review
Caveat: possible (minor) spoilers in this review.
Billed as nonfiction like its predecessor book, The Amityville Horror by Jay Anson, this─like the first book─should be read as a work of fiction. Jones, knowing this, wrote the Lutzes’ supposed experiences as a fictional tale.
As a work of over-the-top horror fiction, Amityville II is a fun B-flick read. The first book established that the demon that plagued some of the residents of 112 Ocean Avenue was a free-range hell-creature, something Jones runs wild with in the second book─the demonic energy follows George and Kathy Lutz when they move across the country, taking various forms in their lives: e.g., Jodie, the impish pig-monster “invisible friend” that speaks only to the Lutzes’ four-year-old daughter; George’s bad luck with jobs he should’ve easily landed; recurring black, swarming flies; George’s nightly 3:15 a.m. wake-up freakouts; when their dog becomes possessed with hyper-focused beaver-like energy and speedily chews away the thick base of a tree he’s leashed to.
The fun and wowness of Amityville II‘s first half takes on a defensive tone in the second. This is a surprising shift because the Lutzes, early on, admit they─had they not experienced the Amityville house─wouldn’t believe what they were saying either. However, in the second half, they shocked─shocked!─when people are skeptical (“cynical,” according to the Lutzes) when their ordeal becomes a bestselling book and blockbuster film.
At this point Amityville II is practically an all-caps WE’RE NOT LYING/CONVERT TO CATHOLICISM OR BE DAMNED work.
At best, the Lutzes come off as dysfunctional, overemotional dupes, led astray by Ed and Lorraine Warren (briefly mentioned as the renamed “Davies and Laura Harding”). The Warrens, like their next-generation familial “paranormal investigators,” are well-known con artists whose media legacy includes The Conjuring and Annabelle film series.
At worst, the Lutzes come off as scam artists.
Obviously, readers will decide for themselves what the Lutzes are.
Their couple-therapy, easy-peasy exorcism (which, according to the open-ended book, may or may not have solved their pesky demon problem) is a smug, jaunty and underwhelming finish to a mostly fun, mixed-tone and melodramatic fictional horror work. Not only that, its ending leaves key “twist” situations unresolved, e.g., the demon supposedly coming after the children, not the adult Lutzes.
It is recommended if you don’t take it seriously.
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The first movie sequel to the original 1979 Amityville film is not based on Jones’s book. Titled Amityville II: The Possession, the second flick in the ten-film franchise is based on Hans Holzer’s book. Holzer’s work is about the DeFeos, the family that lived in the house just before the Lutzes. As trashy horror flicks go, it’s a darker-than-usual terror film, with a great cast. It was released on September 24, 1982
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