Safety Coffins and the Fear of Being Buried Alive
Taphophobia [from the Greek taphos (meaning grave or tomb) and phobos (fear)] is the irrational fear of being buried alive, especially as a result of being incorrectly pronounced dead. Anxieties around this were particularly high during the 19th century, and the ever-morose Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) tapped into societal dread with tales like “The Cask of Amontillado” (1846), “The Fall of the House of Usher” (1839), and “The Premature Burial” (1844).
In the latter, the unnamed narrator lives with this perpetual fear due to his increasingly frequent episodes of catalepsy, the curious medical condition from which he suffers. His affliction causes him to randomly fall into a state of extreme muscular rigidity, fixed posture, decreased sensitivity to pain, and overall lack of response to external stimuli, which could ostensibly be indistinguishable from death. The narrator is especially afraid of having a spell while away from his home, which he refuses to leave as his disorder worsens. He eventually constructs his own tomb, outfitted with measures which would allow him to signal for help in the worst case scenario.
Due to real-life concerns, there were multiple patents issued in Europe and the U.S. during the 1800s and 1900s for odd contraptions like these, known as “safety coffins.” Designs (and practicality) varied greatly, with some including add-ons like glass lids, air tubes, bells, whistles, and other alarm systems, though the common purpose was to allow an individual who had been mistakenly buried to communicate with potential rescuers above-ground.
Considering the time period, which was before the advent of modern medical techniques that could accurately confirm death, the fear of being buried alive wasn’t actually all that irrational…because it has happened.
The New York Times reported one such case on February 21, 1885. In Buncombe County, North Carolina, the exhumed body of a man known only as Jenkins was found to be lying on its stomach. Much of the man’s hair had been pulled out, and desperate scratch marks covered the inside of the coffin.
Another Times article, this time concerning a girl from Woodstock, Ontario, with the surname Collins, appeared on January 18, 1886. She had been found in her coffin with her knees tucked under her body, and her burial shroud reportedly “torn into shreds.”
Argentine heiress and socialite Rufina Cambaceres is known as “the girl who died twice.” While preparing to attend an opera performance in 1902, she collapsed, and showed no discernible vital signs when she was found. Cambaceres was reportedly declared dead by three different doctors, due to either a heart attack or stroke. She was buried in La Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires the next day, which was her 19th birthday.
A few days after the funeral, a caretaker found that Cambaceres’ coffin had been moved within the crypt and its lid was broken in several places. He initially suspected grave robbery, but upon looking closer, he discovered scratch marks both on the inside of the lid and covering Rufina’s face. Ultimately, Cambaceres is thought to have died from either shock, exhaustion, or asphyxiation after awakening to find herself in a coffin. The reason for her collapse is usually given as catalepsy, though its underlying cause is still unclear.
Urban legends abound and the actual number of people who have fallen victim to this grisly fate throughout history cannot be known, but English social reformer William Tebb (and noted anti-vaxxer) offered a compilation of accounts in 1905’s Premature Burial and How It May Be Prevented. Co-authored with William Perry Vollum, the book reported 219 cases of near live burial, 149 actual live burials, 10 instances of live dissection, and 2 cases of people waking up in the process of being embalmed. Tebb himself was preoccupied with being buried alive and had co-founded the London Association for the Prevention of Premature Burial in 1896. His will specified that “unmistakable evidence of decomposition” must be present before disposal, and when Tebb died in 1917, his cremation was delayed for a week.
Other notable figures with such concerns include George Washington, whose last request was reportedly that his body not be put into a vault, but laid out for three days. Composer Frédéric Chopin instructed that his heart be cut out and Hans Christian Andersen wanted his arteries sliced, to make sure that they were indeed dead before being interred.
Today, advancements in medical technology have quelled fears about premature internment, though taphophobia may still be common in some parts of the world.
