New Jersey couple sues landlord over ‘haunted house’

Josue Chinchilla, Michele Callan and her two children moved into an Amityville Horror-type house near where the movie was filmed

A New Jersey couple is suing their landlord for their security deposit claiming they had to flee the house they rented because it is haunted.

Josue Chinchilla, Michele Callan and her two children had only been living in the house for one week when they fled late in the night and rented a hotel room, reports the Asbury Park Press.

The family said they would come home to find their clothes and towels all over the floors, doors would slowly open and slam shut and lights would turn off and on without anyone touching a switch. They could also hear footsteps in the kitchen even though everyone was in bed. That's pretty much all of the most disturbing features from any standard horror film.

Watch the investigation video courtesy of Shore Paranormal Research Society.

Last week, the pair filed the lawsuit against Dr. Richard Lopez, who has an orthodontist practice next to the allegedly haunted house, to get their security deposit of $2,250 back.

Lopez filed a counter suit saying they are breaking their lease and are using "paranormal activity" as a cover for financial troubles. Lopez's attorney David A. Semanchik told the Asbury Park Press his client has been renting the house for more than 10 years and this is the first time anyone has complained about ghosts.

"Frankly, there is something else going on," Semanchik said to the paper. "She is a single mom, she has this fiancé living with her. I think she is in over her head and she can't afford the rent. She needed to show her ex, the father of her kids, that she has a good place for them to live."

Callan said that isn't the case and points to the fact they had to leave a week after moving in.

"I would not have given anyone $4,000 (deposit and rent) to stay somewhere, just to pick up and leave seven days later," Callan said to the Press. "I would not have hired a moving truck, packed and unpacked, had my mother take off time from work to watch the kids. The whole idea was to get a nice, big home for the kids."

Chinchilla initially tried to come up with a reasonable explanation until one night he felt a tug on his sheets and saw his bedding slide off him. Callan claims to have seen a shapeless dark object in the bedroom at the same time.

Marianne Brigando, co-founder of the N.J. Paranormal Investigators of Old Bridge, told the paper the house has more evidence of haunting than any other house they've investigated.

She said something communicated with her investigative team by using light switches to answer no to a question.

Not only does the whole incident sound similar to The Amityville Horror film, but the 1979 version of the movie was actually filmed in Toms River, New Jersey. The same small town near Jersey Shore where this couple's rental house is located. This house and the one used in the 1979 film are about 15 minutes apart.

No matter what happens, Callan told the paper, "There's no way I'm going back there."