10 Things You Didn't Know About Poltergeist

What made the script producing of Poltergeist easier was how it was not based on any original source material. This allowed for more creative freedom when it came to building the story and narrative. However, starting off as a failed attempt of a sequel to Spielberg’s Close Encounters of a Third Kind, the plot was inspired as a real-life occurrence in Denver, Colorado.

In the late 1800s, when Denver was expanding, there was a graveyard where the city government wanted to put in a grand city park, similar to Central Park, New York. The city put out notices for bids to relocate the cemetery and went with the lowest bidder. During the project, the contractor realised that he had seriously underestimated the workload and simply started moving just the headstones.

After the job was complete, the city started building the slated structure, and were nearing the finish, when one of the contractor's employees told the secret. The contractor was arrested but the damage was done. The city, unable to tear down the building and dig up the cemetery again, left it as it was and just finished the project, leaving the unmarked graves as they were.

The park is named Cheesman Park, and the graves sit under the Greek Pavilion on the east end of the park and extend south to 8th Avenue.