Summer Rewind - Poltergeist

Was the Movie Poltergeist Cursed?

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.

Questions explored in this episode:

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 folkl