TURN OFF THE lights, light some candles and incense, and sit with a friend with the Ouija board between you. Place your fingers lightly on the planchette, ask your question... and wait. What will happen? Will the mysterious talking oracle give you an answer? Will it spell out something silly? Or will it give you a response that will frighten you to your core?

Many people believe that the Ouija board and similar talking boards can open a portal of sorts to other dimensions, and that there’s a danger that evil, non-human entities can come through to frighten, wreak havoc, and even possess.

Personally, I think the Ouija is generally harmless to well-intentioned users, and I also suspect that it might provide a means for us to tap into our own subconscious, even to the point where psychic and telekinetic phenomena can manifest. This can sometimes produce some truly scary experiences.

Consider these tales of the Ouija that readers swear are true.

FIRST TIME

Most of us were in our early teens when we first tried our hands at the Ouija board. DeeDee was 13, and prior to this experience she had never even heard of the Ouija. While she was visiting at a friend’s house just a few blocks away, her friend told her about an interesting board game that would allow them to talk to spirits, and that the spirits could use them as mediums to communicate. “Since I was pretty young, I thought it sounded pretty cool,” DeeDee says, “so I said, ‘Let’s try it.’”

DeeDee admits that she was pretty scared during the first few attempts with the board, but she was compelled to keep playing. “So we played again,” she says.

“But this time the planchette moved so slowly we couldn't tell what the ‘spirit’ was trying to say. So I, being stupid and young, started yelling and cussing at the Ouija board to move faster. Suddenly, there was a burst of energy in the planchette, and it moved so fast we could hardly follow it.”

DeeDee’s friend asked the board to please slow down. In response, the planchette shot up to the word NO. “Then it moved so fast it flew off the board,” DeeDee remembers, “and we screamed and ran away.”

In spite of this experience, DeeDee was so intrigued by the Ouija board that she bought one for herself. She invited her friend to her house, where they played the Ouija in her room. DeeDee was more cautious this time, however, and hung a cross on the wall next to the board. “And then we asked something you should never ask,” DeeDee says. “We asked it to show us a sign it was present.

“Nothing happened for a few minutes. Then, sure enough, the cross next to the board fell down next to us. We screamed bloody murder because the cross was not within reach to be knocked over accidentally, so surely it was a paranormal experience. Ever since then, I have felt a presence in my room that never goes away. Please listen to me when I say you really should not play this game. It has haunted me ever since then.”

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