EPISODE · May 26, 2026 · 1H 16M
#50- Ouija Believe it? The Strange History of Spirit Communication from Burnt Bones to the Bye Bye Man
from The Spooky Darlings · host Jeannette, Emily, Hayley
Long before it was a party game, humans were obsessed with talking to the dead. This week the Darlings trace the strange history of spirit communication from Shang Dynasty oracle bones to the Fox sisters' famous knocking act, from Roman ring-and-alphabet divination to the planchette-wielding Spiritualists of the 1800s. Then there's the board itself: the 1890 Baltimore patent, outselling Monopoly in year one, and why The Exorcist changed everything. But the story that might haunt you longest comes from Robert Damon Schneck's The Bye Bye Man — a supposedly true account of college students who used an Ouija board to make contact with a living serial killer. Hollywood adapted it into a film and quietly removed the board entirely. We put it back. Plus — the Darlings get personal. Sisters bring stories from their own lives, their friends, and the darkest corners of Reddit, because it turns out everyone has an Ouija board story. Is it a window to the other side, or just your own unconscious mind spelling things out? Come find out...If you dare!Sources:Schneck, Robert Damon. The Bye Bye Man (originally published as The President's Vampire) Penguin Random House, 2004, 2016Hunt, Stoker. Ouija: The Most Dangerous Game. 1985.Weisberg, Barbara. Talking to the Dead: Kate and Maggie Fox and the Rise of Spiritualism. 2004.The Witch's Board: A Comprehensive Guide to the OuijaMarcellinus, Ammianus. Res Gestae. 4th century CE. (Primary source — Roman account of ring-and-alphabet divination)Talking Board Historical Society — Robert Murch. talkingboard.orgMysterium.com — Brandon Hodge. (History of spirit communication tools and planchettes)U.S. Patent No. 446,054 (1891) — Original Ouija board patent filed by Elijah Bond. Available via Google Patents.Carpenter, William Benjamin. "Ideomotor Action." British Journal of Psychiatry, 1852. (Original paper coining the ideomotor effect)Oracle Bone Script — National Palace Museum, Taipei. npm.gov.tw"The Bizarre History of the Ouija Board." Smithsonian Magazine. smithsonianmag.comMessage us!Thanks for listening to The Spooky Darlings! If you have a creepy, strange, or cool story you would like to share email us at [email protected] us on instagram and TikTok @thespookydarlingspodcast for more!Peruse our merch store at https://thespookydarlings.printful.me/
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Long before it was a party game, humans were obsessed with talking to the dead. This week the Darlings trace the strange history of spirit communication from Shang Dynasty oracle bones to the Fox sisters' famous knocking act, from Roman ring-and-alphabet divination to the planchette-wielding Spiritualists of the 1800s. Then there's the board itself: the 1890 Baltimore patent, outselling Monopoly in year one, and why The Exorcist changed everything. But the story that might haunt you longest c...
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#50- Ouija Believe it? The Strange History of Spirit Communication from Burnt Bones to the Bye Bye Man
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