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Buried Alive (Hardback)

A History of Premature Burials and Accidental Interments

P&S History > Reference P&S History > Social History World History

By AJ Griffiths-Jones
Imprint: Pen & Sword History
Pages: 240
Illustrations: 20 mono illustrations
ISBN: 9781036111700
Published: 13th December 2024

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The macabre meets the factual in this spine-chilling exploration of humanity's darkest fear: being buried alive. From ancient folklore to modern medical marvels, Buried Alive delves deep into the annals of history, uncovering tales of premature interment and miraculous escapes.

Imagine the horror of waking up in a coffin, surrounded by suffocating darkness, with no hope of escape. Drawing on historical records and eyewitness accounts, this book reveals the grim reality of those who were inadvertently entombed before their time. From cases of war, where whole battalions have been covered in earth whilst still living, to ritual and superstition, from voodoo to suttee in Haiti and India, as well as the immurement in walls or errant monks and convent sisters. Less-known cases of burials of the living, through murderous intentions and natural disasters are also told, alongside tales of fakirs and hypnotists whose challenges were to have themselves put into a grave and left for days.

Amidst tales of terror, this book also celebrates the resilience and heroism of those who defied death's grasp, providing a wealth of historical detail and many cases which have never before appeared in print. From the invention of bell-rigged coffins to the formation of societies dedicated to preventing premature burials, discover the remarkable measures taken to combat this age-old fear.

Through meticulous research and a gripping narrative, Buried Alive separates fact from fiction, shedding light on the truth behind centuries of taphophobia. This book is a haunting reminder of the fragility of life and the enduring power of human resilience in the face of our deepest fears.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

I absolutely LOVED this book!!
The stories of those who were buried alive, either intentionally or unintentionally are so bizarre! I could not stop reading, and this was one of those books that will freak you out, yet morbidly keep you fully engaged.

These stories range from ancient to the more present day, and are full of as much detail as is available. Reading before bed may cause your dreams to be a bit wacky, but once you start reading, you will not want to put this book down.

Wander through these pages, and see if you have a fear of being buried alive! There were some methods that were used to ensure that a person was "truly dead" (and here I have visions of BRING OUT YOUR DEAD playing), and some were truly weird. I can see the wanting to be sure, but goodness, don't try these at home folks.

Enjoy! I loved this book - from its weird to its accidental oopses.

NetGalley, Rebecca Hill

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Buried Alive by AJ Griffiths-Jones is a bone-chilling book details loads of premature burials, accidental interments, live burial/sacrificial rites, murder, and deliberate live burials to make and break records. Premanture burials have struck terror into the minds of so many for thousands of years. Taphophobia is the fear of being buried and waking up alive and has affected thousands of people throughout history. In fact, the American Society for Prevention of Premature Burial was necessitated. I understand that, especially when medical technology was not as advanced as it is today. People appeared dead in comatose and apopletic states and death-ike trances. Some poor souls were paralyzed and couldn't move, silent witnesses to their own funerals. Others were fortunate to signal to passersby by screams they were alive and were revived and lived days, months or years after.

This book is so riveting, disturbing and gripping it was impossible to put down, yet at times it was necessary for my own sanity! The author describes "dead-houses", miners, safety coffins, wills bequeathing money to someone who would stab or sever arteries to ensure death, left notes to housekeepers with similar instructions and also to have several doctors examine their body, and the Greek method. Ways of determining death are discussed as well.

The story of a vault opened to bury someone years after a woman was buried there is terrifying. Her skeleton sat at the entrance...and fingers were missing. A man was removed from his coffin, clothing shredded and bloody in a desperate attempt to escape.

If you are intrigued by the macabre and weirdly fascinating, this book is for you.

NetGalley, Brenda Carleton

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

AJ Griffiths-Jones does a great job in keeping the reader engaged and had the research to back it up.

NetGalley, Kathryn McLeer

About AJ Griffiths-Jones

A.J. Griffiths-Jones is a criminal researcher and genealogist with a passion for history and unsolvable mysteries. The author of a host of fictional novels, she also loves to travel and spent ten years working in China as Language Training Manager for an international bank. Nowadays you will find A.J. at home in a Turkish town on the Aegean coast, where she lives with her husband David and adopted street cat, Pebbles.

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