You all know what I'm talking about: the fabled Ouija board. Maybe you've used it before or just heard creepy stories about it from your friends. The oft-asked question is, does the Ouija board really work? And does it really let you talk to spirits? Well, I ventured out to investigate!

Firstly, what is the Ouija, exactly? For those of you who don't know, it's a wooden (or cardboard) board with the alphabet (and some numbers) drawn on it. There's also that triangular-shaped thing, which is called a Planchette. I know it sounds strange -- who is weird enough to invent such a thing? Let's see...

Apparently Elijah Bond, Charles Kennard, and E.C. Reiche were the first to patent the board in America in the late 1880s, according to http://www.museumoftalkingboards.com/history.html. In the beginning it was sold as a novelty item, or used as a parlor game. After the unexpected (and somewhat overwhelming) success of the board, the three men sold it to the Parker Brothers in 1966. The Parker Brothers have manufactured many new types of boards (a glow in the dark one came out last year!) and have had -- and continued to have -- astonishing success.

This is all well and good, but how does the Ouija board work? After a couple failed searches on Google, I finally found a website which I hoped would give me a reliable answer. From http://skepdic.com/ouija.html, a website for skeptics, the explanation of the Ouija is as follows: "Those using the board either consciously or unconsciously select what is read." So what does that mean in English? Basically, it means that it has no affiliation with spirits and you are subconsciously (that means doing something without knowing you are doing it) moving the planchette.

Actually, I agree with this. I was freaked out by the movie "The Ring" and believed that a girl would be hiding in my closet, but I think this Ouija thing is going a little too far.

In the end, it's up to you. Are you an aspiring medium who's using the Ouija as your main tool? Or are you just looking for some fun? The Ouija *seems* to be a harmless piece of cardboard, but with Halloween so close, there's no telling what could happen!

Gone to trick-or-treat,

Naarf