‘Poltergeist’ star’s family fights back against ‘ridiculous’ conspiracy theories 38 years after her death

It has been 38 years since Heather O’Rourke’s death, yet her family continues to endure the shadow of painful rumors that have refused to fade.

The child star, who rose to fame as Carol Anne Freeling in 1982’s “Poltergeist,” died in 1988 from complications of intestinal stenosis. She was just 12 years old and preparing for the release of “Poltergeist III.”

Now, O’Rourke is the subject of a new documentary, “Heather O’Rourke: She Was Here,” which features rare interviews with her family, friends and co-stars. They firmly reject the hurtful conspiracy theories that have persisted in the decades since her death.

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“Rumors have affected Tammy a lot — that’s Heather’s sister,” filmmaker Nick Bailey told Fox News Digital. 

“Tammy initially was on a podcast that I had and was talking about the hurt that it had done to herself and her daughters. She has two daughters, and they would be on the internet trying to defend Heather.”

The misinformation was overwhelming. One social media post falsely claimed that O’Rourke was killed by a Hollywood pedophile ring. Another alleged that former child star Macaulay Culkin had encountered someone who said their shoes were made from O’Rourke’s skin. The grotesque rumors have left her loved ones outraged and deeply shaken.

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“What Heather’s mother, Kathleen, can’t get used to are rumors of abuse,” said Bailey. “Those are the painful ones because they’re just so made-up and ridiculous. And I will say for the record that the author of the post has since redacted all mentions on his website about those rumors because it was just a made-up story to get clicks. After we pointed out to them how hurtful it was to the family, I think that made that person think, ‘Wow, I’m hurting people with my words, and maybe I need to be more careful.’”

“That’s our message to everybody, to the people who are keyboard warriors, I guess they’re called, who will just write things and not know if they’re factual or not,” Bailey continued.

“It does affect people, and it hurts people. And it just makes for the pain to become very real again, from losing Heather to now having to deal with these ridiculous stories. These are the things that were put upon this family that never should have been, which is why we made the film in the first place.”

“It’s really taking a toll on the people involved, as well as the memory of Heather,” he said. “And for Kathleen, the grief never goes away.”

One myth that has followed the family for years is the so-called “Poltergeist Curse.” The legend took hold after four actors connected to the ’80s film trilogy — O’Rourke, Dominique Dunne, Julian Beck and Will Sampson — died during or after filming.

“It’s a lot of unfortunate circumstances,” said Bailey. “So many times, those things are explained, whether somebody was in poor health or it was a very random accident. But to blame a curse on the deaths of actors in a film, I think that [people] are just attributing something supernatural to a horror movie because it’s really easy, right? It’s an easy tie-in. But it’s just not real. It’s a bunch of unfortunate circumstances that surrounded people who happened to be in a movie.”

O’Rourke was originally diagnosed with Crohn’s disease brought on by a parasite. However, it wasn’t until hours before her death that an intestinal blockage was discovered, which, according to Bailey, was due to a birth defect that was explained in the film.

“So about a year before Heather got sick, [her mom] started noticing that Heather’s feet were swelling up,” said Bailey.

“She would have to go down the long mountain drive on Big Bear, a 40-minute drive, and go to the local hospitals. They first found a condition in the water, so they thought it was all attributed to that.”

“But the problems persisted,” he noted. “Heather’s stomach would hurt. She had puffy feet. That’s when they moved to San Diego to be closer to medical care. She got diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, and she didn’t end up having Crohn’s disease.”

In the film, Kathleen tearfully recounts how she desperately sought medical help, determined to uncover what was wrong with her child. Meanwhile, O’Rourke kept a brave smile on her face, eager to step onto set and lose herself in make-believe before the cameras.

“The one thing I can say about the medical care Heather received versus what’s available today is that the technology has obviously advanced in 30-plus years,” said Bailey. “If her problems had happened today, I think they would have been caught with modern ultrasounds and MRIs. I’m not a medical professional, but technology has improved so much that this kind of thing likely wouldn’t be missed.”

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“Back in 1988, I think they were doing their best to figure out what was wrong with the technology they had available,” Bailey added.

In the documentary, Kathleen reveals that for years she carried a crushing sense of guilt over her daughter’s death, agonizing over whether there was anything she could have done differently to save her. The conspiracy theories have only deepened that wound.

“Kathleen is just a sweet woman who only wants to share her daughter’s story,” said Bailey. “These rumors have really affected the family. The biggest thing Kathleen wants people to know is that they’re real people. And when people write things on the internet, they need to think about how this will affect the family or anybody who knew Heather. Even now, whenever Kathleen speaks about Heather, it’s still very hurtful for her. It’s painful to relive the loss of your child every day. And Heather was loved.”

Today, Bailey hopes to set the record straight, but also show what might have been.

“They always said Heather was an old soul,” he said. “She was wise beyond her years. She knew at a very young age that she wanted to be a producer and a director. Even at seven years old, there’s an interview we have in the documentary where she talks about exactly what she wants to be. And everybody that we talked to said she would have been an amazing director someday. She loved holding a camera.”

“That’s all she wanted to do on ‘Poltergeist III,’” said Bailey. “Little 12-year-old Heather, all she wanted to do was sit in Gary Sherman’s director’s chair and watch him direct that film. She was mesmerized. She wanted to be on set all the time. I believe Heather would’ve absolutely been not only a great actress, but she probably would’ve been following in the footsteps of Drew Barrymore.”

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“It’s sad,” Bailey reflected. “I wish Heather were here. I wish we were making this film with her instead of about her.”

“Heather O’Rourke: She Was Here” is available on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Fandango at Home and Google Play.