Be honest, is there a secret ending? I put the board you get near the end where its supposed to go, but still got the same ending. Now one of the boards for the upside down cross paterns is stuck in place..
Since you are asking and this is the spoiler thread, yes there is a way to not die. There are three doors that close behind you (closet, trapdoor (stone), statue) each can be prevented from closing.
Regarding the upside down cross pattern: I just saw that it is possible to get the piece of wood one on the left stuck once the statue is open and you rotate it further, but this is a collider issue, not part of the gameplay.