Aggregate Death

1981: David Allen Kirwan, a 24-year-old, died from third-degree burns after attempting to rescue a friend’s dog from the 200 °F (93 °C) water in Celestine Pool, a hot spring at Yellowstone National Park on 20 July 1981.

1981: Boris Sagal, a film director, died while shooting the TV miniseries World War III when he walked into the tail rotor blade of a helicopter and was nearly decapitated.

1982: David Grundman was killed near Lake Pleasant, Arizona, U.S., while shooting at cacti with his shotgun. After he fired several shots at a 26 ft (8 m) tall Saguaro Cactus from extremely close range, a 4 ft (1.2 m) limb of the cactus detached and fell on him, crushing him.

1983: Truls Hellevik, a diver undergoing decompression aboard the oil rig Byford Dolphin was accidentally exposed to an eight-Atmosphere change in air pressure, leading to instantaneous massive-expansion of his internal bodily gasses, causing him to explode into many small parts which rained down upon the rig; official investigation of the incident led to changes in some diving-bell resurfacing procedures.

1993: Garry Hoy, a 38-year-old lawyer in Toronto, Canada, fell to his death on 9 July 1993, after he threw himself against a window on the 24th floor of the Toronto-Dominion Centre in an attempt to prove to a group of visitors that the glass was “unbreakable,” a demonstration he had done many times before. The glass did not break, but popped out of the window frame, causing Hoy to plummet 24 stories to his death.

1997: Karen Wetterhahn, a professor of chemistry at Dartmouth College, died of mercury poisoning ten months after a few drops of dimethylmercury landed on her protective gloves. Although Wetterhahn had been following the required procedures for handling the chemical, it still permeated her gloves and skin within seconds. As a result of her death, regulations were altered.

1999: Jon Desborough, a physical education teacher at Liverpool College, died when he slipped and fell onto the blunt end of a javelin he was retrieving. The javelin passed through his eye socket and into his brain, causing severe brain damage and putting him into a coma. He died a month later.

2007: Jennifer Strange, a 28-year-old woman from Sacramento, California, U.S., died of water intoxication while trying to win a Nintendo Wii console in a KDND 107.9 “The End” radio station’s “Hold Your Wee for a Wii” contest, which involved drinking increasingly large quantities of water without urinating.

2007: Humberto Hernandez, a 24-year-old Oakland, California, U.S., resident, was killed after being struck in the face by an airborne fire hydrant while walking. A passing car had struck the fire hydrant and the water pressure shot the hydrant at Hernandez with enough force to kill him.

2008: David Phyall, 50, the last resident in a block of flats due to be demolished in Bishopstoke, near Southampton, Hampshire, England, decapitated himself with a chainsaw to highlight the injustice of being forced to move out.

2009: Taylor Mitchell, a Canadian folk singer, was attacked and killed by three coyotes, the only recorded adult person to have been killed by this species.

2010: Mike Edwards, British founding member and cellist for the band ELO, died when a large round bale of hay rolled down a hill and smashed his van while he was out driving.

2011: Jose Luis Ochoa, 35, died after being stabbed in the leg at an illegal cockfight in Tulare County, California U.S., by one of the birds that had a knife attached to its limb.

2012: Edward Archbold, 32, a man of West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., died after winning a cockroach eating contest. The cause of death was determined to be accidental choking due to “arthropod body parts.”

2013: Takuya Nagaya, 23, from Japan, started to slither on the floor and talk about becoming a snake. His mother took this to mean that he had been possessed by a snake demon and called for her husband, 53-year-old Katsumi Nagaya, who spent the next two days physically beating his son in an attempt to exorcise the demon. This killed Takuya.

2013: An unnamed Belarusian fisherman, 60, was killed by a beaver while attempting to grab the animal to have his picture taken with it. The beaver bit the man, severing a large artery in his leg.

2013: João Maria de Souza, 45, of Caratinga, Brazil, was killed while asleep, by a cow that fell through the roof of his house onto his bed.

2014: Oscar Otero Aguilar, 21, of Mexico City, Mexico, accidentally shot himself in the head while posing for a “selfie” with a loaded gun.

2014: Peng Fan, a chef in Foshan, Southern China, was bitten by a cobra’s severed head, which he had cut off 20 minutes prior. Fan had set the head aside while using the body to prepare a soup. According to investigating police, the case was “highly unusual”. The chef might have had a severe reaction to the bite.

In certain parts of the country (specifically Pennsylvania, California, Virginia and New Orleans), there a higher percentage of people who claim they live in houses with ghostly residents.  In some parts of the country, it’s actually a selling point to claim that your house is “NOT HAUNTED!”

And in states like California, it’s actually required by law to disclose if there’s “others” living in a residence.

Some people though, feel like it’s their duty to disclose.  Here’s a brief snippet from Zillow’s blog:

Greg Leeson didn’t want to call his house haunted, so in his listing, he went for a nonchalant tone:

“Slightly haunted. Nothing serious, though,” he wrote.

“When I was writing it, I had been thinking about it, and I went back and forth,” Leeson explained. “The way I worded it — I was trying to keep it light. I have been reading online, and people saying you are supposed to disclose it. I don’t know the laws here, but thought better safe than sorry.”

Turns out Leeson didn’t technically need to disclose a haunting — even a slight one. Pennsylvania real estate law requires sellers to disclose all material defects they are aware of, says real estate agent and former lawyer Frank L. DeFazio of the Center City Team in Philadelphia.

“Knowledge of psychological impairments such as deaths, murders and haunted houses are not required [material] disclosures under Pennsylvania law,” he explained. “How do you disclose a haunting? Even if court says yes it is a material defect, you have to prove it actually exists. How [do you] prove it? Call Ghostbusters?”

Owner Leeson isn’t even entirely sure that his 1901 home is haunted; he says he believes more in a scientific explanation for things. However, he does admit there are some oddities that have occurred in the Dunmore, PA Victorian, currently listed for $144,000.

He described occasionally hearing voices in his daughter’s room when she was an infant.

“It sounded like there was a person in the room with her talking. We’d go in, and she was just sitting there. But she normally cried constantly,” he said. “Doors slam shut, but it’s an old house. It’s not that often. I used to have roommates, and my wife’s friend swears the house is possessed. I have other friends that come over and say it’s the most calming house they’ve been in.”

Even if Leeson isn’t convinced the home is haunted, describing it as so has been good publicity. He decided to list the home as for sale by owner. His plan was to always try listing it formally with an agent if it didn’t sell, but with the amount of interest the home has garnered, he likely won’t need to go that route.

“I’ve gotten a lot of offers,” he said. “I guess any publicity is good publicity. I think it’s helping in the long run. It’s a nice house. If it’s getting it out there and a buyer likes the house, they probably won’t be dissuaded.”

 

Via Zillow

And then there’s some real estate companies that attempt to capitalize on hauntings: 

If you think haunted houses are impossible to sell, then you’re in for the fright of your life.

“There are buyers out there that think it’s cool to own a home that may have ghosts,” real estate agent Cindi Hagley told ABC News’ “20/20.”

Based in California, Hagley runs Past Life Homes, specializing in the selling of so-called “stigmatized properties,” and that includes haunted houses.

“Right now we are in a seller’s market in almost all of northern California,” Hagley said. “You can have a dead body swinging from the chandelier, and I’m still going to have ten offers on the phone.”

Hagley said plenty of houses for sale come with supposed tenants of the supernatural type, who have allegedly lived there for hundreds of years. In some states including California, realtors are required by law to tell buyers if a home purportedly has ghostly inhabitants.

Even after telling potential buyers that the house is haunted, Hagley said many are still interested.

“Some don’t care. Some expect a huge discount,” said Hagley.

A Realtor.com survey found that 62 percent of Americans would consider buying a haunted house, while 35 percent think they’ve lived in a haunted house.

 

Via ABC NEWS

So, do you live in a haunted house?  And, if you could, would you buy a haunted house?