Buried alive

I have very few fears in this world. My vertigo kicks in when I am inside a tall building and looking down (or looking up, for that matter). I also have a fear of being buried alive. In movies where there is a black screen and someone strikes a lighter or match to unveil that they are inside a box that is 6 feet under, I lose it. Most people remember the scene in “Kill Bill Vol. 2” when Uma Thurman wakes up and must punch her way out. The 1988 Dutch thriller, “The Vanishing,” directed by George Sluizer, depicts a man obsessed with his girlfriend’s disappearance who won’t rest until he knows what happened to her. He volunteers to drink a drugged cup of coffee with the promise that, when he wakes up, he will know. He wakes up inside of a coffin with only a lighter.

In March of 1990, KRNQ-FM radio disc jockey Lee Martin was lowered 6 feet underground in the parking lot of Merle Hay Mall while entombed inside a coffin. This wasn’t an ordinary coffin like Houdini or Todd Browning would have used for a stunt like this. It was 7 feet by 3 feet by 3 feet and had a special air channel, a microphone and a small camera to monitor his condition. He was set up to broadcast out of the coffin for the next 24 hours.

The stunt was part of an anti-drug campaign that had a tagline, “I’m going to get out of this thing. People who mess around with drugs aren’t.” It was also used as a fundraiser for the now-defunct Our Primary Purpose nonprofit that was a drug and alcohol abuse treatment center for young adults.

What I found most interesting was that Lee Martin didn’t do this all himself. A promotions company specialized in this sort of gimmick. In fact, there were multiple companies dating back to the 1950s that helped coordinate “burial stunts.” Circus sideshows had fallen on hard times, and some of the experts found enterprising ideas to keep the money flowing.

“Kill Bill: Vol. 2”

Businesses like car dealerships, drive-in movie theaters and shopping centers would engage in these stunts to bring in new business. The local police attempted to stop one man in Cincinnati who not only would be buried alive but would have the company of a rattlesnake, a boa constrictor, two water moccasins and some bull snakes. If I wanted to see hell, I would stick my head in the fireplace.

These stunts would sometimes involve sealing a bikini-clad woman inside 5,000 pounds of ice for 24 hours. Supposedly, she was hypnotized by a scientist and would just stand inside the ice and wave her hand without feeling any pain. The scientist also claimed that her bodily functions were drastically slowed down. At the end of the 24 hours, she would appear fine. Something tells me that was not a real woman inside. P.T. Barnum said it long ago, “There is a sucker born every minute.”

These stunts eventually lost popularity, and showmanship had to shift to exploding piñatas filled with cash or dropping turkeys from helicopters. Today, I don’t know anyone who has the courage to pull something like this off. Maybe all the great circus carnies of our time are gone? Maybe business owners lack the imagination needed to pull things like this off? Who knows.

Kristian Day is a filmmaker and writer based in Des Moines. He also hosts the syndicated Iowa Basement Tapes radio program on 98.9 FM KFMG. Instagram: @kristianday | Twitter: @kristianmday