[HKitten]

I've got my party coming up this weekend and I've decided it might be fun to have something for people to do in the living room. I've got the Atmosfearfx unliving portraits playing on one wall but that's not going to keep people amused for more than a few minutes haha I have a big coffee table in the middle of the room, so I've been looking at games to put on that, and the obvious one is a ouija board.

The thing that concerns me is, will it freak people out too much? I know they can be a bit taboo. I don't personally believe in ghosts or poltergeists, but it's a lot easier to say that in daylight! Has anyone ever used one in their party?

 

[Gym Whourlfeld]

I would make my own board with silly things on it and impossible possibility s. Some odd, scary things have happened with Ouija boards. sometimes.
There was one for sale in a drug store that was a "Glow-In-Dark" Oui-ja board. "Turn out the lights, Kids, and play Oui-Ja board!" It said on the box.
This item vanished from the shelf, but then odd things had begun happening in that store too. (Maybe the new owner got Spooked? Blamed the "board"?.

 

[dee14399]

here is the table I made. We had it up at our party. Everyone liked it but they would not play it.

 

[ChrisW]

Put it out - it's Halloween. Even if people don't play with it, it'll be a conversation started for sure.

 

[halloweenjon]

I don't want to offend anyone with this but I always find it extremely silly when people say things like, "I'm not superstitous or anything but I don't mess with Ouija boards, man. No way." Like, dude, it's a Hasbro toy.

 

[Tzaddi93]

This Ouija board is on my coffee table pretty much year round. It's certainly a conversation piece - looks very eerie in person. For our Halloween parties and other special occasions, I'll swap out the hand that's resting on the board with a wood planchette. Had our party this past Saturday with about 45 people. Small group of them were using the Ouija board while other's watched. No one seemed to mind / no one complained. I had other devilish games going on in various rooms. Maybe my guests just know I'm a freak and wouldn't be there if they weren't as well...

 

[dee14399]

Love your Ouija board Tzaddi93

 

[Tzaddi93]

Love your Ouija board Tzaddi93

Thank you!
I really like your table - I've been wanting to make one for the library as a permanent piece of furniture.
I have a collection of oddities / antiques in there and always figured a nice Ouija table would complement the room. Just need to find the time…

 

[HKitten]

I love the ouija tables you guys have

Halloweenjon, I don't entirely get it either. Also to be fair I do have one friend who is very spiritual and absolutely does believe in ghosts, so there's a possibility that she would be freaked out... or she might love it, I'm not sure!

I'm going to get a cheap one from ebay this year I think and see how it goes down. I'm also going to do a separate game, a version of tempt your fate using a magic 8 ball, so there's something else fun for the more superstitious.

 

[Tzaddi93]

In addition to the Ouija, I also did a version of the Fate game this year - went over really well, was amazed how many people really got into the game.
One of the Fate Cards had people playing a 'Lightning Reaction Electric Shock Game'. That took on a life of its own for a good 30-45 minutes as people began challenging each other. Ultimately I think they stopped playing that one only when the batteries were drained.

I placed the Fate Cards inside a strange old box I have that has a hole cut into one end (see photo). Players would reach into the box and select their fate... Just to be a tad more evil, I used double sided tape and hung some long black hair cut from wig to the inside lid - it brushed across people’s hands as they reached in/out. Really creeped a few people out.

 

[halloweenjon]

So how did you shock people?

 

[Tzaddi93]

So how did you shock people?

http://www.amazon.com/Lightning-Reaction-Reloaded-Shocking-Game/dp/B0006B2Q50/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1414620417&sr=8-2&keywords=shock+game

 

[Rasmirin]

I had one out at my party this past weekend, and people loved it. Even if they didn't use it, it made for some GREAT photo ops!

 

[Alina Rodina]

Super spooky design) Nice table

 

[Alina Rodina]

If you are thinking how to invite people, you can make a video invitation. Here is idea, that I like

 

[dawnski]

We had a seance room with a Ouija board and a tipping table. The adults and kids loved it. Several tried it out just for fun. I think anyone that uptight about a Ouija board wouldn't go to a Halloween party anyway.

 

[theworstwitch]

I never thought much about ouija boards, they are a game sold in toy stores after all! Then my in laws said they couldn't believe people let kids play with them

 

[Jezebel82]

I guess I'm the odd one out but ouija boards freak me out. I grew up living next to two cemeteries so not much freaks me out, but toy or not, ouija boards definitely do. I've loved Halloween since I was a little kid so I asked for one for my birthday one year. One day me, my brother and neighbor were playing with it and it told us that my brother was going to die on his birthday by being electrocuted in our pool. Now granted my neighbor was definitely a jerky kid so it certainly could have been him messing with us, but it was so specific and I had nightmares about it for years. I would worry about my brother every year on his birthday until we passed the date the board gave us. Nothing ever happened, but those bad feelings are now permanently associated with ouija boards for me. That being said, if I were at a party where the host had one out it wouldn't bother me, but I wouldn't participate and I will never own one again.

 

[dawnski]

Ha, Jezebel, your neighbor really was a little jerk. The guiding force of Ouija, tipping tables, dowsing rods, etc. is the ideomotor effect. In regards to that and other seance trickery, I would suggest to HFers the entertaining and informative book Paranormality by Richard Wiseman. http://psychcentral.com/lib/paranormality-why-we-see-what-isnt-there/00010796

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=221lInw7Wj0

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/apr/27/ouija-boards-dowsing-rods-bomb-detectors

 

[ChrisW]

Here's a thread I started a while back about my experience with a Ouija board...bears repeating?
http://www.halloweenforum.com/general-halloween/75346-christmas-ghost-story.html?highlight=