705 // The Poltergeist Curse

Welcome back to Crawlspace. In this new episode, Tim Pilleri & Lance Reenstierna dig into the theory that a dark omen befell several members of the cast and crew of the hit 1982 horror movie, Poltergeist and it's subsequent sequels.
Research links: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/youmightknowherfrom/videos/as-if-filming-the-pool-scene-in-poltergeist-wasnt-terrifying-enough-jobeth-willi/2572553326551516/⁠
⁠https://www.facebook.com/freeway.farrell/posts/said-in-a-zelda-rubinstein-impersonation-from-poltergeist-1982-this-house-is-cle/28687568394188249/⁠
⁠https://www.reddit.com/r/80s/comments/nkf1ud/poltergeist_1982_zelda_rubinstein_as_medium/⁠
⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3Dvl255AvU⁠
⁠https://www.crittical-analysis.com/articles/ij97xzg2aa8g3wii49hegqlg4lpy9s⁠
⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOMjfOQWZz4⁠
⁠https://movie-sounds.org/horror/poltergeist-1982/321843⁠
⁠http://commentaramafilms.blogspot.com/2011/10/great-scene-poltergeist.html⁠
⁠https://www.themirror.com/entertainment/inside-real-life-curse-1982s-1472364⁠
⁠https://poltergeist.fandom.com/wiki/Poltergeist_(franchise)⁠
⁠https://www.youtube.com/shorts/gdrWKOt-cC0⁠
⁠https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/poltergeists-real-life-horror-stars-22581796⁠
⁠https://whatculture.com/film/7-horror-movies-with-creepy-urban-legends?page=5⁠
⁠https://www.truecrimepodcast.com/videos/episode-141-cursed-hollywood-the-poltergeist-curse/⁠
⁠https://geektyrant.com/news/the-crazy-story-behind-the-real-skeletons-that-were-used-in-poltergeist⁠
⁠https://www.reddit.com/r/horror/comments/1bgwaah/what_really_happened_to_heather_orourke_the_star/⁠
⁠https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heather_O%27Rourke⁠
⁠https://medium.com/@zarashabir/a-deadly-love-the-mindless-murder-of-dominique-dunne-c22f0805b60d⁠
⁠https://www.reddit.com/r/creepy/comments/1nm2an5/after_filming_the_pool_scene_in_poltergeist/⁠
⁠https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/poltergeist-real-skeletons-props/⁠
⁠https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2025/nov/03/if-id-known-the-skeletons-were-real-id-have-been-even-more-disgusted-how-we-made-poltergeist⁠
⁠https://www.mentalfloss.com/entertainment/movies/poltergeist-movie-curse-origins⁠
⁠https://www.youtube.com/shorts/zcpTPk7Ah0Y⁠
⁠https://www.themirror.com/entertainment/poltergeist-heather-orourke-autopsy-report-1532389⁠
⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meE8bgrOBTE⁠
⁠https://allthatsinteresting.com/heather-orourke⁠
⁠https://www.mundonow.com/en/death-of-heather-orourke-poltergeist-actress/⁠
⁠https://www.facebook.com/factinate/videos/hollywoods-cursed-little-girl/597777879510118/⁠
⁠https://www.grunge.com/451837/the-sad-discovery-made-in-poltergeist-star-heather-orourkes-autopsy-report/⁠
⁠https://www.poemofquotes.com/quotes/film-tv/poltergeist-ii-the-other-side-quotes⁠
⁠https://www.ranker.com/list/poltergeist-curse/melissa-brinks⁠
⁠https://movieweb.com/surviving-poltergeist-child-star-reflects-on-behind-the-scenes-stories-40-years-later/⁠
⁠https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/creepy-strange-tales-cursed-movies/⁠
⁠https://www.reddit.com/r/MovieDetails/comments/goq5vm/during_the_filming_of_poltergeist_1982_the_clown/⁠
⁠https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/6pfjf2/til_while_filming_poltergeist_robbie_truly_got/⁠
⁠http://www.poltergeist.poltergeistiii.com/really.html⁠
⁠https://collective.world/the-creepiest-scene-in-poltergeist-is-even-scarier-than-you-think/⁠
⁠https://parade.com/news/1982-poltergeist-clown-scene-terrified-viewers-and-ranks⁠
⁠-among-scariest-ever⁠
⁠https://whatculture.com/film/10-things-you-didnt-know-about-poltergeist?page=6⁠
⁠https://encyclopediapsychotika.com/2013/07/04/hes-here-an-interview-with-oliver-robins/⁠
⁠https://theultimaterabbit.com/2016/11/02/oliver-robins-looks-back-on-poltergeist-at-new-beverly-cinema/⁠
⁠https://discover.hubpages.com/entertainment/Matthews-Mysteries-Part-2-The-Poltergeist-Curse⁠
⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WjOFzTTiHY⁠
⁠https://creepyla.com/2007/09/28/poltergeist-actress-says-spielberg-directed-her-scenes/⁠
Check out Quince: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...