In 1974, Ronald DeFeo Jr. shot and killed his parents and four younger siblings at the picturesque home known as the Amityville Horror, and was sentenced in 1975 to serve six sentences of 25 years to life. George and Kathy Lutz moved into the house on December 18, 1975. They remained in the house for one month before fleeing, citing hauntings, demons, and other unexplained disturbances.
Jay Anson's 1977 book The Amityville Horror chronicles the paranormal events leading up to their departure from the Lutzes' perspective. The book became a bestseller, and was the basis for two movies, in 1979 and 2005. Kaplan's The Amityville Horror Conspiracy counters Anson's work, and argues that Lutz deliberately defrauded the public.
According to Kaplan, on February 16, 1976, shortly after the Lutzes abandoned the house, Kaplan received a phone call from George Lutz. At the time, Kaplan was the executive director of the Parapsychology Institute of America on Long Island, and a frequent guest on the WBAB radio program Spectrum with Joel Martin.[citation needed] Lutz requested that Kaplan and his associates at the Parapsychology Institute investigate the home. As Kaplan recalled in The Amityville Horror Conspiracy, this initial conversation immediately aroused his suspicions as to the validity of Lutz's claim that the house was haunted.[2] Kaplan claims Lutz asked about a fee for the group's services and Kaplan told him that they did not charge for the investigation but that "if the story is a hoax...the public will know". Shortly after, Lutz called and canceled the investigation.
George and Kathleen Lutz claimed that Kaplan's credentials did not check out and that his claims to be a vampirologist made them wary of any involvement with the case. Kaplan also held a PhD that was from a non-traditional college. Ed and Lorraine Warren had defended themselves with this when questioned about the Amityville Horror Conspiracy.[3]
The respective claims of the Kaplans and the Lutz family are the subject of a documentary, Amityville: Horror or Hoax, distributed by the History Channel.[4]
AAPHR (Association to Advance Parapsychology and Hypnosis Research) Appreciation Award in recognition of outstanding contributions to the First National Parapsychology Convention, October 14, 1978.
The Rev. Dr. Montague Summers Memorial Award, Count Dracula Society, 1977
Dudley Wright Commemorative Award for special achievements in promoting the field of Vampirology, Journal of Vampirism, 1978
Albert Einstein Award, Success, Inc., PA
Parapsychology Hall of Fame, 1982
AAPHR Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Award for outstanding research, October 21, 1983
stephen, kaplan, paranormal, investigator, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, stephen, kaplan, paranorm. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Stephen Kaplan paranormal investigator news newspapers books scholar JSTOR March 2021 Learn how and when to remove this message Stephen Kaplan September 19 1940 June 9 1995 was an American paranormal investigator vampirologist and founder director of the Vampire Research Center and the Parapsychology Institute of America both of which were founded in Suffolk County New York and subsequently relocated to Elmhurst Queens He was also an author and radio commentator and a prominent skeptic of the alleged Amityville Horror hauntings Kaplan lived in Suffolk County New York and worked for the New York City Board of Education 1 His overview of the Amityville Horror became the basis for the film Amityville 3 D that chronicles his attempt to prove the story was a hoax Stephen KaplanBornStephen Kaplan 1940 09 19 September 19 1940Bronx New York USDiedJune 9 1995 1995 06 09 aged 54 Maspeth Queens NYEducationCity College of New York SUNY at Stony Brook and Pacific CollegeOccupation s Teacher ParapsychologistKnown forThe Amityville Horror Conspiracy Contents 1 Amityville Horror dispute 2 Awards 3 Education 4 Bibliography 5 ReferencesAmityville Horror dispute editIn 1974 Ronald DeFeo Jr shot and killed his parents and four younger siblings at the picturesque home known as the Amityville Horror and was sentenced in 1975 to serve six sentences of 25 years to life George and Kathy Lutz moved into the house on December 18 1975 They remained in the house for one month before fleeing citing hauntings demons and other unexplained disturbances Jay Anson s 1977 book The Amityville Horror chronicles the paranormal events leading up to their departure from the Lutzes perspective The book became a bestseller and was the basis for two movies in 1979 and 2005 Kaplan s The Amityville Horror Conspiracy counters Anson s work and argues that Lutz deliberately defrauded the public According to Kaplan on February 16 1976 shortly after the Lutzes abandoned the house Kaplan received a phone call from George Lutz At the time Kaplan was the executive director of the Parapsychology Institute of America on Long Island and a frequent guest on the WBAB radio program Spectrum with Joel Martin citation needed Lutz requested that Kaplan and his associates at the Parapsychology Institute investigate the home As Kaplan recalled in The Amityville Horror Conspiracy this initial conversation immediately aroused his suspicions as to the validity of Lutz s claim that the house was haunted 2 Kaplan claims Lutz asked about a fee for the group s services and Kaplan told him that they did not charge for the investigation but that if the story is a hoax the public will know Shortly after Lutz called and canceled the investigation George and Kathleen Lutz claimed that Kaplan s credentials did not check out and that his claims to be a vampirologist made them wary of any involvement with the case Kaplan also held a PhD that was from a non traditional college Ed and Lorraine Warren had defended themselves with this when questioned about the Amityville Horror Conspiracy 3 The respective claims of the Kaplans and the Lutz family are the subject of a documentary Amityville Horror or Hoax distributed by the History Channel 4 Awards editThis section does not cite any sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed May 2010 Learn how and when to remove this message AAPHR Association to Advance Parapsychology and Hypnosis Research Appreciation Award in recognition of outstanding contributions to the First National Parapsychology Convention October 14 1978 The Rev Dr Montague Summers Memorial Award Count Dracula Society 1977 Dudley Wright Commemorative Award for special achievements in promoting the field of Vampirology Journal of Vampirism 1978 Albert Einstein Award Success Inc PA Parapsychology Hall of Fame 1982 AAPHR Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Award for outstanding research October 21 1983 Hypnosis Hall of Fame 1987Education editCity College of New York BA in Sociology City College of New York MS in Education SUNY at Stony Brook MS in Interdisciplinary Studies Pacific College PhD in SociologyBibliography editKaplan Stephen In Pursuit of Premature Gods amp Contemporary Vampires Self published 1st Edition 1976 Kaplan Stephen as told to Carole Kane Vampires Are Palm Springs ETC Publications 1984 ISBN 0 88280 103 1 ISBN 978 0 88280 103 2 Kaplan Stephen and Kaplan Roxanne Salch The Amityville Horror Conspiracy Toad Hall 1st Edition 1995 ISBN 0 9637498 0 3 ISBN 9780963749802References edit DS Stephen Kaplan info Natural innovations com 1996 09 30 Retrieved 2013 09 02 Lynott Douglas B 1976 02 16 The Real Life Amityville Horror The Murder of the DeFeo Family Epilogue Crime Library on truTV com Crimelibrary com Archived from the original on 2014 04 03 Retrieved 2013 09 02 A letter to the Warrens regarding Amityville Ghostresearch org Retrieved 2013 09 02 Amityville Horror or Hoax at IMDb nbsp Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Stephen Kaplan paranormal investigator amp oldid 1176196256, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
