10 Horror Movie Moments More Terrifying When You Know The Truth

One of Poltergeist's most unforgettable moments occurs when Diane Freeling (JoBeth Williams) slips into her swimming pool, and because being immersed in muddy water apparently isn't gross enough, she's soon "greeted" by a bunch of skeletons buried beneath it.

Ever since the film's release there's been persistent discussions about the so-called "Poltergeist curse," that the production was assailed by so much bad luck it must surely have been the result of a pissed off spirit.

But one of these dubious claims actually ended up being true, that without actress JoBeth Williams' knowledge, the skeleton "props" used for the harrowing sequence were in fact totally real.

In a 2008 TV interview, Williams said:

"You have to understand that this sequence took probably four or five days to shoot. So I was in mud and goop all day every day for like four or five days with skeletons all around me [as I was] screaming. In my innocence and naiveté, I assumed that these were not real skeletons. I assumed that they were prop skeletons made out of plastic or rubber. I found out - as did the whole crew - that they were using real skeletons, because it's far too expensive to make fake skeletons out of rubber. And I think everybody got real creeped out by the idea of that."

Knowing that Williams was bobbing around in the muddy slop with actual human remains for a few days just makes an already bone-chilling scene even more sinister.