Being Buried Alive Isn't So Grand

No phobia of being buried alive (called taphephobia) has ever been taken this far.

In Hirolandia, Brazil, 73-year-old Freud de Melo built his own custom tomb that would hopefully guard against this possibility. The tomb includes a TV, water pitcher, fruit pantry, and two makeshift megaphones. The roof of the tomb also has four vents through which fresh air flows. Obviously, this is far beyond a conventional resting place. Even less normal was his plans for the tomb: it would become a part of the eccentric tourist park that he ran in Brazil.

Mr. de Melo tested out his idea recently by laying in the tomb and shouting through the megaphones: "Help me! Come quick! I've been buried alive!" His voice resonated through the entire countryside, assuring Mr. de Melo that in the event he actually became buried alive, he would be found and rescued quickly.

Mr. de Melo described his fear when asked about his custom tomb: "I have awful, awful nightmares of trying to dig myself out from underground."

Being buried alive was a common occurrence in the old days. In St. Augustine, Florida, little bells would be strung up above ground with a small piece of rope running through the ground and into the coffin of the deceased. During a time of disease, it was difficult to tell hundreds of years ago whether a person was dead or simply in a coma. The bell would ensure that a live person was not accidentally buried; if they woke up in their coffin, they could pull on the string and ring the bell, which could be heard loud and clear. This is where the term "saved by the bell" comes from.

Even George Washington was slightly uneased by the possibility of waking up in his own tomb. He left instructions that his body was not to be buried until three days later, "just in case." In foreign hotels, Hans Christian Andersen, the Danish writer, would leave notes reading "I am not dead" on his bedside so anyone who walked in would not get the wrong idea.

The most recent and memorable recorded case of someone being buried alive was in 2001. A 39-year-old woman from Massachusetts was reported dead by apparent suicide. Parlor director John Matarese soon discovered, however, that she was in fact still alive. Eerily enough, he heard her gurgling and struggling in the body bag and proceeded to call 911.