I had a friend who told me that his house was haunted. He’d lived there for years at this large and very old house at 409 L Street in Atchison, Kansas. He described, quite matter-of-factly, the sounds of footsteps they heard repeatedly when no one else was in the home. After a few times checking the upstairs, he and his brother just gave up. He said there were cold spots around the house and that often, before something happened, they’d get a strange feeling of dread, the kind where the hairs on the back of your head stood on end.
The fellow in the study they named “George.” He was named after George Dygal (don’t know the right spelling), a kid who hanged himself in the attic. His ancient teacher told his class the story, a tragedy that hit in her early years of teaching. My friend (Mark) acknowledged that the apparition in the study was in his sixties and wore reading glasses—certainly not a kid, but the name stuck nevertheless.
They opened their home to foreign exchange students, and one of the French students who rented from them didn’t take long in seeing George. In fact, he didn’t believe the family when they told him he’d seen a spirit, and he went back to the study to check and, sure enough, no one was there. That’s when the student, and some of his friends, came up with the idea of using a Ouija Board. Matthew, one of Mark’s friends, thought it’d be a great idea and so they moved to the basement and tried the student’s board.
At first nothing happened. The marker just sat there. According to Mark it eventually began to move in a circle and the board flew off the table. One of the participants then asked the board, “Are you angry?”
YES!...M
“Who are you angry at?”
M...YES!...M...YES!
“Are you angry at Matthew?”
NO!...M...NO!...M...NO!
“Are you angry at Mark?”
M...YES!...M...YES!
At this point the board became too difficult to control, but Mark said he was spooked. He wanted out of the circle and asked, instead, if he could be the recorder? So he exchanged places with the guy who had been the recorder and the undertaking was begun anew. This time it began to spell out a girl’s name, supposedly age 7 or 12. While he was writing, he told me, he began to feel dizzy. He said it was if someone had pushed him backward in the chair and then everything went black.
When he came to, he said, he was on the floor and was surrounded by the members of the circle. His face hurt and he noticed the table had been overturned. The student yelled at him to “stay down” and drew back a fist to warn him that failing to comply would be met with force. Still a bit dizzy, he asked for assistance in standing up. After they were sure he was okay, they told him that he had screamed and yelled something to the effect of, “Scared you, didn’t I?” Jumping up, laughing, he upset the table and launched himself at the group. Strangely strong for his size he began swinging blindly and did so until the French student decked him. Then he came to.
He never tried it again, though he did drive the students to a nearby cemetery to try the board again. This time he stayed in the car. He said they told him they got some responses, but nothing intelligent. The leader of the group asked if they could have another session in Mark’s home and he told them no. As it was now late morning, he wondered aloud if the whole thing was some anomaly. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he said, all four doors of his old car suddenly locked, and this was before power locks.
Anyway, he never let the board back into his house, and even though he still heard and saw strange things at night (such as a phenomenon that appeared to be car lights on the wall, but when you held you hand up in front of them, you wouldn’t see a shadow. The lights also moved like car lights and he and his brother both looked out the windows to see if a car was lurking outside. But there was nothing. One time the family left on vacation and Mark talked a friend into staying at the house. Nothing had happened for a long time, but the friend called the next morning to say he was out of there. Seems he was awakened by car lights on the wall and he thought the family had returned. He listened for the sound of the front door being unlocked, but nothing. Why was the car just idling? He looked out the window to see if he recognized the family car and was amazed to see nothing. Then he saw the lights moving as if a car was backing out of the driveway. This stalwart then did what any able bodied man would do in a similar situation. He got back in bed and pulled the sheets over his head and stayed until morning.
I’m sure many people could use a board and nothing would happen, but I also wouldn’t be surprised if someone had a negative experience. I’ve never had a personal experience with a Ouija Board, but I did have an experience with a woman I’m sure was possessed. Her husband also thought the same thing. But, let the skeptics remain skeptical. We actually need them.