Overview. The first film to be inspired by the story of the Amityville haunting, The Amityville Horror (1979) chronicles the events of Jay Anson's novel, in which the Lutz family finds their new home in Amityville, New York, to be haunted; the house had been the site of a mass murder by Ronald DeFeo Jr. in 1974.

The Conjuring franchise has been no different, with Conjuring 2 referencing The Amityville Horror, Conjuring 3 duplicating an iconic shot from The Exorcist, and, as the series has progressed, references being made to prior entries in the franchise that serve to tie the universe together.