“Such is the condition of humanity, and so uncertain is men’s judgment, that they cannot determine even death itself.” - Pliny the Elder In the 18th and 19th centuries, a specter haunted the minds of the living—it lingered in limbo, where darkness weighs heavy, and the air is thin. If found in its confines, no course of action nor thrash of panic could save you. You were as good as dead. How morbid it must be to realize the very reason you’re trapped in this nightmare at all is because everyone you know already believes you to be dead— entombed in a world where the line between life and the grave is weaker than your last gasp of breath. Your fate echoes above the tolling of the church bells or the screams of the undead. You’ve just been buried alive. I’m Kate Naglieri. Welcome to The Bygone Society Show. Death is Uncertain - Proverb Legal death was once a murky concept. It was not based on the certainties of modern medicine but on practices that often…faltered. You have to remember, Traditional Western Medicine of the 18th century gave way to the tentative strides of Early Modern Medicine in the 19th century, but both were built on the bones of stolen bodies – thanks to the common practice of grave-robbing – as well as morally-questionable experimentation, and rudimentary practices. Coupled with frequent epidemics like cholera, smallpox and influenza, and a thick sense of superstition, mortality stalked the populace like a silent and ever-present predator. The fear of being buried alive gripped the collective consciousness, as science struggled to distinguish life versus its dark twin – where anyone, regardless of age or gender or standing, could be found in its cold resting place. The Universal Terror of Premature Burial Taphophobia, or the fear of being buried alive because of incorrectly being pronounced dead, was a common fear, even among the historically famous. First President of the United States George Washington was so fearful of being prematurely buried that he instructed his secretary Tobias Lear while on his deathbed, saying: “Have me decently buried; and do not let my body be put into the Vault in less than three days after I am dead.” Washington wasn’t alone in his fears. Edgar Allan Poe, the Master of Macabre, feared premature burial so much, he wrote the Gothic short story, The Premature Burial. I love a no-frills title. Here’s a passage that vividly illustrates Poe’s imagined experience of being buried alive: “It may be asserted, without hesitation, that no event is so terribly well adapted to inspire the supremeness of bodily and of mental distress, as is burial before death. The unendurable oppression of the lungs -- the stifling fumes from the damp earth -- the clinging to the death garments -- the rigid embrace of the narrow house -- the blackness of the absolute Night -- the silence like a sea that overwhelms -- the unseen but palpable presence of the Conqueror Worm.” Frequent references to premature burial in literary works embedded the concept deeply into societal consciousness, turning it into a naturalized element of Gothic culture and conversation. For example, Washington Irving’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” features the Headless Horseman, a ghost of a Hessian soldier who was buried alive. Or take the Tale of Enoch Crosby, a spy for the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, who was captured and buried alive by the British. According to legend, he managed to escape his grave and continued to serve as a spy. And then there’s the true story of Margorie McCall, a woman from Lurgan, Ireland. She fell ill with a fever and was declared dead in the late 17th century. She was buried swiftly to prevent the spread of disease, and was interred wearing a valuable ring that grave robbers set out to steal. When the robbers attempted to remove the ring by cutting off Margorie’s finger, she awoke from her ca
