​From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Jay Anson (4 November 1921 – 12 March 1980) was an American author whose most famous work was The Amityville Horror. After the runaway success of that novel, he wrote 666, which also dealt with a haunted house. He died in 1980. His work, The Amityville Horror, was sold as "a true story", and it was based on the reported experiences of George Lutz and... see more