Netflix’s ‘The Deliverance’ has grabbed the viewers’ attention with its creepy take on demonic possession and exorcism. The film is based on a spine-chilling true story, making it all the more scary.
The movie does a great job of creating an unsettling atmosphere, but the location of the haunted house differs from where the real events transpired. Here’s everything you need to know about the true demon house and why they changed it.
The Deliverance House Location: From Gary’s 3860 Carolina Street to Pittsburgh’s Chilling Sites
The actual drama in the real world took place in Gary, Indiana, a city filled with interesting pasts wherever you look. In late 2011, Latoya Ammons and her family, which included her three children, and her mother, Rosa Campbell, moved into what was supposedly a regular house in the area, only to encounter some seriously unsettling, supernatural, and creepy stuff.
Reports claimed the house at 3860 Carolina Street was swarming with black flies that couldn’t be killed, even in cold weather. There were also weird and unexplained noises coming from the basement, on top of a spooky shadowy figure often seen pacing in the living room. The scariest part? Ammons’ children apparently displayed unbelievably terrifying behaviors like levitation and walking on walls.
Latoya’s 12-year-old daughter reportedly levitated above her bed. If that wasn’t terrifying enough, her kids were believed to be possessed because of their deepening voices and facial contortions. One child allegedly walked backward up a wall in front of witnesses. Yep, it couldn’t get any scarier!
The claims of possession and weird supernatural stuff were supposedly backed up by a bunch of different people, including doctors, a nurse, and even someone from Indiana’s Child Services. The DCS stepped in and temporarily took Ammons’ three kids after seeing some of the strange things happening.
Six months later, in 2012, the kids were returned to her custody. Pretty soon, there was priest involvement as well, and Reverend Michael Maginot from Merrillville, Indiana, was the one who performed exorcisms on the house.
For the film adaptation, director Lee Daniels decided to switch things up by altering a few details. One of them included his decision to move the setting from Gary, Indiana to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The change meant the movie could showcase a fresh look and vibe, albeit the locations would not match with the real-life story.
In Pittsburg, the crew made use of several spots to capture the creepiness that would justify the original sequence of events. Some of the filming locations included places like the studio on Beulah Road in Churchill Crossings, Taylor Motel in North Versailles, and the McKees Rocks Bridge, among many others. They picked each place to add to the movie’s eerie atmosphere, blending it with a bit of Pittsburg flavor.
Moving the story to Pittsburgh was a smart choice, all things considered. This change let ‘The Deliverance’ take advantage of the city’s unique landscapes and architecture, which definitely helped set the film’s mood. Besides, the lot where the Indiana house once stood is now vacant, with no plans for reconstruction, making it impossible to film in the original house.
Latoya Ammons’ Real Demon House in Gary, Indiana Is Long Gone After Zak Bagans Demolished It
The real “Demon House” in Gary, Indiana, received a lot of attention from paranormal fans after the story became public thanks to the 2014 Indianapolis Star article ‘The exorcisms of Latoya Ammons.’ The piece was written by Marisa Kwiatkowski, chronicling the family’s experiences.
Zak Bagans, the paranormal investigator, bought the place in January 2014, launched an extensive investigation, documented all his findings, and then eventually had the house demolished in 2016, citing safety concerns and the lingering presence of paranormal activity. So, the real house, featured in Bagans’ documentary ‘Demon House’ (2018), may be long gone, but it’ll always be immortal, cementing its place in the annals of paranormal lore.
Meanwhile, the Pittsburg location in the Netflix film ‘The Deliverance’ offers the story a fresh take, adding a new vibe to the unsettling and creepy real-life story. It’s giving the movie a cool, cinematic feel while still paying tribute to the true events.
