While the film's "found footage" style is incredibly convincing, the short answer is Paranormal Activity is not real . It is a purely fictional horror film written, directed, and edited by Oren Peli.

The film belongs to the "found footage" genre, a style popularized by The Blair Witch Project in 1999. The premise of the genre is that the film you are watching is recovered footage from a camera found at the scene of a tragedy. While the camera work (shaky zooms, out-of-focus shots, and lack of soundtrack) mimics a home movie, the narrative is entirely scripted.

Here are some features that can be used to discuss the question of whether the film "Paranormal Activity" is real: