Episode 97 - Exploding Casket Syndrome & Other Kooky Cemetery Facts

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In this episode Jennie and Dianne learn about some of the craziest phenomenons that happen in cemeteries, such as exploding casket syndrome and what happens when a body is too big for a casket. They also discuss how the American civil war transformed traditional coffins to the more ornate caskets we see today and they delve into the fear of being buried alive. This fear of being buried alive led one man to design an ordinary extraordinary grave in Evergreen Cemetery in New Haven, Vermont and was often a subject of macabre author Edgar Allan Poe.  "To be buried while alive is, beyond question, the most terrific of these extremes which has ever fallen to the lot of mere mortality." 

Resources used to research this episode include:
Miller, T. (2022, January 8). Why Are Legs Covered In a Casket at a Funeral? [Mortician Explains] . https://afteryourtime.com/. Retrieved August 14, 2022, from https://afteryourtime.com/why-are-legs-covered-in-a-casket/#:~:text=Funeral%20directors%20and%20embalmers%20never,joint%20%E2%80%93%20but%20that's%20about%20it

Noel, A. (n.d.). Why Do They Cover the Legs in a Casket? The Answer . https://4funeral.com/. Retrieved August 14, 2022, from https://4funeral.com/why-do-they-cover-the-legs-in-a-casket/

Marcombe, A. (2021, October 8). Where Is The Headstone Placed On A Grave? . https://funeralcircle.com/. Retrieved August 14, 2022, from https://funeralcircle.com/headstoneplacement/

Hayes, S. (2017, July 26). From Coffins to Caskets: An American History. http://www.coffinworks.org/. Retrieved August 14, 2022, from http://www.coffinworks.org/from-coffins-to-caskets-an-american-history/

 People Feared Being Buried Alive So Much They Invented These Special Safety Coffins . https://www.smithsonianmag.com/. Retrieved August 14, 2022, from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/sponsored/people-feared-being-buried-alive-so-much-they-invented-these-special-safety-coffins-180970627/

Alexander , W. (2011, August 4). Was a Man Buried Alive in Vermont or Simply a Dead Ringer? . https://vermonter.com/. Retrieved August 14, 2022, from https://vermonter.com/premature-burial-in-vermont/

Marquard, B. (1982, May 27). Beating The Grim Reaper . https://voca58.org/. Retrieved August 14, 2022, from https://voca58.org/Feature_Timothy_Smith.html

Poe, E. A. (n.d.). The Premature Burial. https://etc.usf.edu/. Retrieved August 14, 2022, from https://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/147/the-works-of-edgar-allan-poe/5360/the-premature-burial/

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