The Amityville Horror by Jay Anson
‘Based on a True Story’: this book has it, Paranormal
Activity did, and The Exorcism of Emily Rose does.
However, only Emily Rose is actually based on a true story, and even that is a
story adaptation and not a documentary. So, is The Amityville Horror
actually a true tale? Honestly, that’s not what I care about. What matters is
if this is a good haunting story or not, and the answer is about as (un)clear
as the truth of the original tale.
One thing that was really nice about this book was
that it didn’t shy away from the visceral bodily reactions characters had to
the ghosts. Instead of only focusing on the mental toll the haunting took on
the family, we also get the dad having horrifying diarrhea that’s exacerbated
by holy water, and we get the priest who blessed the demonic house with open,
bleeding, pussy sores on his hands. Now, I’m not normally a fan physical
attacks in ghost books, but the constant return to the dad having to run to the
bathroom was hilarious. It was probably meant more so to lean into the
gross-out factor of some horror (and make for a better movie), but it served
instead for some humor with your horror. I normally watch the movies for class
with friends, but this is the first audiobook I’ve streamed. Let me tell you,
for days now they have been making jokes that this is the best example of
‘ghost diarrhea’ in a book they’ve ever read. Also, it’s the only example of
it. But the book did it’s job being memorable because days later they are still
talking about it, so there’s something to be said for that.
But
then the story becomes overwhelming with too many horror tropes. I was enjoying
the ghosts and cold and sleepwalking possession, but then the author threw in a
secret demonic worship lair, a pig man, and hoofprints in the snow, green ooze from the walls, and that’s
when they lost me. Up until then, the book was very over the top, but kept me
reading with an enjoyable ghost story. But as soon as they started throwing in
demonic possession and saying the land was haunted even before the house, it
became too much of a menagerie of different haunting tropes. Is this a
traumatized spirit, a demon, a haunted house, or something else?
It’s
plausible the book is a true retelling,
but it’s also possible it was a ploy for publicity. If people can overlook so
many horror tropes then they are gullible thinking this book is true. But I say
that as a writer, not as a historian or a lawyer. But a lot of readers and viewers
like the idea of story based on reality because it makes it more scary and
plays on humans’ fear of the unknown. Humans fear the unknown but are also
curious about it, so movies or books that give them that sense of something beyond
their realm of possibility and control is enticing.
Overall:
I would read another book rather than reread this, but it’s good to know where
the phrase ‘the walls oozed green slime’ comes from.
Let me warn you if the bodily reactions and physical attacks bother you; The Exorcist is going to have your head literally spinning ;)
ReplyDeleteFor your comment on readers or viewers, they are only as smart as their research takes them. I go beyond to look into everything that claims to be based on real events after I finish it. Many people just accept it as real and go blab about it. As humans, even if we don't think it is true, that tagline drags us all in.
The book itself was paced fine. It was a quick tone to read through. It was just exhausting to get through with one ghost trope after another. If someone wants to read a book with every single paranormal trope smashed in one, I'll recommend this one.
-Alexis
The thing is, the bodily reactions and physical attacks in this book didn't bother me. But in something like Hell House they did. So I'm not sure where I fall on the spectrum of what is acceptable to my mind or to, so I'm interested to see what I think of The Exorcist.
DeleteI think you are right about readers. A lot of people I know don't bother looking things up in books they read, whether it says based on a true story or not. For example, in my thesis the main character isn't a species from Scottish myth, but all the rest of the creatures are. Some people I know would just assume the main character is a real creature drawn from those myths rather than looking more into it.
Hi Maddy, I love your discussion about the humor in the book’s haunting. “Ghost diarrhea” is hilarious! Completely agree that the book was a potpourri of haunted happenings that stretched credulity. It’s possible to get away with hundreds of flies in a room or green slime, but maybe not both. I wasn’t a fan of the pig man either. As I said in my post, I had trouble getting into this book since I knew from the beginning that it wasn’t true. The most valuable question, aside from whether or not it was a good story, is - why did it become a bestseller? Why didn’t more people question its veracity? Since the book was written so long ago, people were not used to these kinds of stories and that must be what accounts for its popularity. Even if I had not known the story was a hoax, I don’t think the writing would have done anything to convince me that the story was true. It was quite stiff.
ReplyDeleteMy apologies for this not being a very long post. We are on vacation and I am writing this voice-to-text on my iPad.
Hate the ooze ... and all the focus on the inconsistencies in that one element of the story. Does it really matter if the color was green, greenish-black, or blood red? Does it matter if ooze flowed out of the keyholes, poured down the walls, or crept up the stairs? It's dumb. And it makes no sense. (Well, maybe the Hollywood blood version makes a little sense. But still, yuck.)
ReplyDeleteYou know, I totally forgot about the ghost diarrhea by the time I finished the book. Maybe I blocked it out. But now I'm laughing my arse off. So let's get this straight. For 28 days, George was not going to work, not bathing, cranking up the heat, and riding the porcelain pony? Yummy. And Kathy didn't divorce him until the 80's? I wouldn't have lasted 28 days in the marriage, let alone the house. I'd rather sleep in Missy's room with the demon pig and the invisible friend than snuggle up in bed next to that steaming smelly psycho.
Oh, and since you mention streaming the audiobook version of this title, let me take a moment to go off-topic and tell you about my latest happy discovery. I just finished The Exorcist 40th Anniversary Edition read by the author. I'd seen the movie (roughly a thousand years ago) but never read the book. To be honest, I wasn't looking forward to it. Especially when I read the first page of the prologue. Yawn. But I have a ton of unused credits on Audible (due to no commutes to work since mid-March), so I decided to give it a try while working on mind-numbing Excel analysis for the day job. Wow, wow, WOW!! Blatty's voice is magical and mesmerizing. If you haven't read the book yet, I strongly recommend the audiobook. I actually cried at the end. And I KNEW how it ended.