Summer Rewind - Poltergeist

Welcome to the Ghostly Summer Rewind! While we take a short break from new episodes this summer, we’re reaching back into the vault to re-release five of our favorite episodes.

This episode originally aired back in the summer of 2019. Quick heads-up: you may notice the sound quality and formatting aren’t quite up to our current standards — we’ve learned a lot since then! We hope you’ll excuse the rougher edges and just enjoy the story. Whether you’re hearing it for the first time or revisiting an old favorite, thanks for spending part of your summer with us. New episodes return this fall!

In Ghostly’s seventeenth episode, Pat and Rebecca explore the curse of Poltergeist, the 1982 movie by Steven Spielberg and Tobe Hooper and its sequels. Legend says that the movie was cursed because of its dark subject matter and use of real skeletons in the original movie. Several actors suffered untimely deaths, including two of its main stars, Dominque Dunne and Heather O’Rourke. Other paranormal claims include lightening strikes, mechanical clowns attacking children, and an exorcism. Do all these events add up to a curse? As always, you the listener get to decide.

What happened on the set of the Poltergeist movies that led people to believe it was cursed? What happened to Dominique Dunne? How did Heather O’Rourke die? What claims did JoBeth Williams, who played the mother make about the film? Did she and others experience poltergeist activity? What is a poltergeist? Why was there an exorcism performed on the set of the second movie? Is there a Poltergeist curse?  

Listen to hear Pat give a basic plot overview along with a brief history of the movie and the details of the deaths of two of the main stars, Dominque Dunne and Heather O’Rouke.

WARNING: There are some graphic details of domestic abuse when discussing Dominque Dunne’s tragic death. If you or anyone you know is suffering from domestic abuse, please call 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or visit https://www.thehotline.org/

After the history, listen to Rebecca tell the ghost story of what it was like to work on the film. It is a terrifying tale that would be a nightmare for any actor – or anyone.

Then listen to the Great Debate! Rebecca and Pat go through all the stories and evidence of the curse of Poltergeist, including the deaths, the almost deaths, and just all-around potential paranormal activity, and debate what’s true and what’s just folklore. Listen to all sides and decide what you believe.

Be sure to stay for the whole episode to hear the “Closing Arguments” to help you make your choice before voting.

Also included in this episode are, as always, poll results from our previous episode on Waverly Hills Sanatorium. (Check out the episode here if you haven’t had a chance to listen yet).

Done listening to the episode? Please subscribe to Ghostly and give us a rating on iTunes or any podcast app where they let you J. Tell your friends! Then you can debate the truth yourselves! Word of mouth is one of the best ways to grow our audience, so we can do all the amazing things we have planned for this year. And be sure to find us on all social media at Ghostly Podcast.

Then visit our website, www.ghostlypodcast.com, to see the pictures talked about in the episode, learn more about Ghostly, and, of course, give us your opinion on our polls on Facebook.  

We want to hear from you! We want your ghost stories or even your non-stories if you later realized you saw nothing paranormal. We would also love your suggestions for stories to cover in the future. Email us both at info@ghostlypodcast.com or individually at pat@ghostlypodcast.com or rebecca@ghostlypodcast.com  Follow us on Facebook and Instagram at GhostlyPodcast

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/poltergeist-curse

https://www.ranker.com/list/victims-of-the-poltergeist-curse/melissa-brinks?page=3

https://www.biography.com/news/the-poltergeist-curse-its-heeere

http://www.the13thfloor.tv/2015/12/22/the-shocking-history-of-the-poltergeist-curse/

https://www.popsugar.com/entertainment/Poltergeist-Curse-True-Story-37392582

https://www.complex.com/pop-culture/2015/05/poltergeist-curse-continues-to-haunt-people-in-real-life

Music for this episode was performed by Michael Rivers

Intro: III. Allegro moderato from Gargoyles by Lowell Liebermann

Outro: Dream Images (Love-Death Music) by George Crumb

Bumper: Ghost Waltz by Lowell Liebermann