February 1, 1988: The Death of Heather O'Rourke

February 1, 1988: Heather O'Rourke dies from an attack of Crohn's disease. She was only 12 years old. Poltergeist III was about to be released, and it was her last film.

Heather Michele O'Rourke was born on December 27, 1975 in San Diego. She was cast as Carol Anne Freeling in Poltergeist in 1982. She was then cast as Heather Pfister on Happy Days. Naturally, she was brought back for Poltergeist II: The Other Side in 1986: Her initial tagline, "They're he-ere!" became, "They're ba-ack!" In 1987, she filmed Poltergeist III.

Here's the freaky part. The first Poltergeist film, which made her famous, included a poster for the 1988 Super Bowl -- under that name, with no Roman numerals. This was almost certainly to provide evidence that the boy in the room was a football fan, without having to pay the NFL big licensing fees. Except the movie came out in 1982, and there's no other indication that the movie was not taking place in 1982.

You say a poster showing the year that turned out to be Heather's death isn't freaky? Try this: The 1988 Super Bowl -- Super Bowl XXII -- was played on January 31, 1988, and while it was underway, Heather had her Crohn's attack, and was taken to the hospital. She died the next day, following 2 cardiac arrests, her cause of death later being ruled as congenital stenosis of the intestine, complicated by septic shock.

Still not freaky enough? Guess where Heather was from, and was living at the time. San Diego. Where was that Super Bowl being played? Jack Murphy Stadium, in San Diego.

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February 1, 1988 was a Monday. In the Super Bowl in question, the Washington Redskins beat the Denver Broncos, 42-10.

Baseball was out of season. There was 1 game in the NBA: The Boston Celtics beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 100-85 at the Boston Garden.

And there were 2 games in the NHL. The Washington Capitals beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 1-0 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland. Kelly Miller scored the winning goal with 1:33 left in overtime. And the Buffalo Sabres and the Winnipeg Jets played to a tie, 4-4 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.