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In September of 2011, I interviewed Christopher Lutz on a podcast episode of Supernatural Science. Lutz is a child survivor of the home featured in The Amityville Horror. The Lutz family lasted twenty-eight days before they were driven out of the home amidst tales of bleeding walls and exorcism. Many believed the house was ripe for a haunting of this magnitude because of the horrific crime committed there on November 13, 1974.
Six members of the DeFeo family were shot while they slept by the sole surviving family member Ronald (aka Butch) DeFeo. Ronald was convicted and claimed the devil told him to do it. With Ronald in prison, 112 Ocean Avenue was put up for sale and eventually purchased by Christopher’s stepfather, George.
There are major differences between The Amityville movie and the book. Christopher has waged his own campaign to have the real story told, saying the movie is almost unrecognizable to him. He believes the house was indeed haunted; not by a portal to hell or even the Defeo murders, but by the psychic doors opened by George and his occult practices that seem a deliberate attempt to haunt the home.
During the interview, I couldn’t help but draw similarities between Amityville’s 112 Ocean Avenue and Savannah’s 507 East St. Julian Street. I’m speaking of the Hampton Lillibridge House, which holds the title of, “the most psychically active house in North America”by researchers affiliated with the Rhine Research Center and Duke University.
The three-story New England style house stands out among one of Savannah’s older neighborhoods. Like Amityville, it is surrounded by controversial claims and brags many a tale of the supernatural. The most famous advocate of the Hampton haunting was Jim Williams.
Jim earned his fame while living at the Mercer-Williams House. However, before Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil and the murder trials he endured, Jim owned the Hampton Lillibridge House. It was here his reputation as both a restorer of homes and an occultist emerged.
Jim was said to have made several calls to the authorities while living there, claiming an intruder was inside the home. No intruder was ever located. The crew that moved the home to its current location complained of shadow like beings attempting to push them off the roof and pull them down holes in the floor. At least one worker was killed during the renovations.
Yet another kinship with Amityville is both homes have been exorcised. Some close to Jim recall he was concerned the house was going to either drive him crazy or kill him. At his wits end perhaps, Jim sought the help of the local clergy. Episcopal Bishop, Reverend Albert Rhett Stewart, entered the home on December 7, 1963 and performed a forty-five minute Clearance Ceremony. The rites are similar to an exorcism but reserved for property; the former is performed on a body vexed by an evil spirit. The particulars are inconsequential, however, because it didn’t work. Less than a month later the shadows returned, harassing resident and visitor alike.
Finally, in 1969, Jim moved out of Hampton Lillibridge and into the Williams House. Some people in Savannah speculate the move didn’t help because the shadow activity wasn’t caused by the house itself, but rather his occult collection.
The extent of that collection is anyone’s guess and the particulars are an even deeper mystery. However, his secret meetings with low country conjurer, Lady Minerva, in dark and hidden cemeteries, are well documented.
We also know that after Jim’s death, Sotheby’s sold at auction, a dagger that was reportedly plunged into the Russian mystic Rasputin over two hundred times. The expected price was around $12,000. It sold for $19,000.
Jim was also a Mason, which would make it fair to say he was predisposed to secrecy. Knowing Jim jokingly used the dagger as a letter opener; it isn’t hard to imagine that as he traveled the world bringing back priceless antiques. He had also put his hands in earth, Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark fashion and retrieved choice occult artifacts as well.
In either case, the activity can’t be completely attributed to the occult items. Reports of supernatural activity continued at Hampton Lillibridge, even after the offending articles were removed. On the other hand, I recently spoke with a well-known businessman in Savannah and he told me the current owners do not believe the house is even haunted.
I found it interesting he would say that. The house is apparently up for sale… again… and at a considerable discount.
So far, there are no takers.
write by chavez