Stephen Kaplan (September 19, 1940 – June 9, 1995) was an American

paranormal Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Nota ...

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 Suffolk County () is the easternmost county in the U.S. state of New York. It is mainly located on the eastern end of Long Island, but also includes several smaller islands. According to the 2020 United States census, the county's populatio ...

and subsequently relocated to

Elmhurst, Queens Elmhurst (formerly Newtown) is a neighborhood in the borough of Queens in New York City. It is bounded by Roosevelt Avenue on the north; the Long Island Expressway on the south; Junction Boulevard on the east; and the New York Connecting Railr ...

. He was also an author and

radio commentator Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

, and a prominent skeptic of the alleged ''

Amityville Horror ''The Amityville Horror'' is a book by American author Jay Anson, published in September 1977. It is also the basis of a series of films released from 1979 onward. The book is based on the claims of paranormal experiences by the Lutz family, b ...

'' hauntings. Kaplan lived in

and worked for the

New York City Board of Education The Panel for Educational Policy of the Department of Education of the City School District of the City of New York, abbreviated as the Panel for Educational Policy and also known as the New York City Board of Education, is the governing body of ...

. His overview of the Amityville Horror became the basis for the film ''

Amityville 3-D ''Amityville 3-D'' (also known as ''Amityville III: The Demon'') is a 1983 supernatural horror film directed by Richard Fleischer and starring Tony Roberts, Tess Harper, Robert Joy, Candy Clark, Lori Loughlin and Meg Ryan. It is the third fi ...

'' that chronicles his attempt to prove the story was a hoax.

Amityville Horror dispute

In 1974,

Ronald DeFeo Jr. Ronald Joseph DeFeo Jr. (September 26, 1951 – March 12, 2021) was an American mass murderer who was tried and convicted for the 1974 killings of his father, mother, two brothers, and two sisters in Amityville, Long Island, New York. Conde ...

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 WBAB (102.3 FM) is a classic rock radio station licensed to Babylon, New York and owned by Cox Radio. The station is also simulcast on WHFM (95.3 FM) licensed to Southampton, New York and serving eastern Long Island. History WBAB first went o ...

radio program ''Spectrum with Joel Martin''. 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. 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 claimed to hold a PhD that he did not actually have. This was not the first time they were questioned, either.

Ed and Lorraine Warren Edward Warren Miney (September 7, 1926 – August 23, 2006) and Lorraine Rita Warren (; January 31, 1927 – April 18, 2019) were American paranormal investigators and authors associated with prominent cases of alleged hauntings. Edward was a ...

had defended themselves with this when questioned about the ''Amityville Horror Conspiracy''. 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.

Awards

* 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, 1987

Education

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a public university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. Founded in 1847, Cit ...

: BA in

Sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...

: MS in

Education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...

*SUNY at Stony Brook: MS in Interdisciplinary Studies *Pacific College: PhD in Sociology

Bibliography

* Kaplan, Stephen. ''In Pursuit of Premature Gods & Contemporary Vampires''. Self-published, (1st Edition 1976). * Kaplan, Stephen. ''Vampires Are''. Palm Springs: ETC Publications, 1984. / * Kaplan, Stephen and Kalpan, Roxanne Salch. ''The Amityville Horror Conspiracy''. Toad Hall, (1st Edition 1995). /

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaplan, Stephen 1940 births 1995 deaths Paranormal investigators American writers on paranormal topics American radio journalists Place of birth missing Place of death missing 20th-century American non-fiction writers The Amityville Horror People from Elmhurst, Queens