There you are, sitting at a table with a group of friends, fingers on the planchette. You’re ready to communicate with the great beyond – but wait! You never know what you’ll find when dealing with the mysterious spirit board.

You have to be careful, you know. Here are five ominous signs that your Ouija session may be heading in an unfortunate direction…

The Planchette Moves Through the Alphabet or Numbers, Hits the Corners, or Makes a Figure 8

If the planchette begins to move across the board, through the alphabet or the numbers, without any regard to answering your questions, it’s probably time to close up shop.

According to the Museum of Talking Boards’ list of Ouijastitions, this may be a sign that whatever spirit — or demon — you’re communicating with is trying to break out.

Likewise, if the planchette motions to the board’s four corners, this is an indication that the entity you’re speaking with is undoubtedly evil. And worse, if it makes a figure 8 or moves in circles, that evil spirit is kindly letting you know that it now has control of the board.

On the other hand, it may just be attempting to mess with you. Some entities enjoy “playing around” or drawing random patterns on the board, or perhaps drawing symbols in an attempt to trick the user into believing it is a powerful spirit.

The Planchette Flies or Falls

A bit of plastic moves around the Ouija board, so what? You can handle that. But then…

“The last experience I had with a quija board, the plachett flew across the room, smashing against the wall, of it’s own power. They ARE a doorway, and unless you know how to [interrogate] the spirit, you have no idea what so ever who or what is communicating with you. You’ve opened a door, and called them through.” – hotwitch2/Reddit

Another Ouijasition: if the planchette falls from the Ouija board, an entity may escape. A portal may open.

Time Goes Missing

Things have been pretty tame, so far. The planchette moved around a bit and you dropped it once, but you know — everything seems under control. Then something unexpected happens.

Reddit user lenoresden knows all about this. One night many years ago, she and a friend were using a Ouija board when they began to get “some very strange” messages from a spirit claiming to be from Malaysia. “He was here to protect us,” she wrote. But all was not as it seemed.

In the blink of an eye, several hours passed. “The next thing we know its 7a.m!” she wrote, “We lost 10 hours of our life. Neither of us remember anything about it.” Her friend swore to never use a Ouija board again. And while lenoresden did, her later experiences didn’t compare to what happened that night.

Where did the time go? There are those who believe that, in order to communicate or perform in any manner, entities on the other side must draw energy from their surroundings. And in the case of a Ouija board session, that energy comes from the individuals using the board. That means you.

Perhaps the lost time in this story was the result of a possession…

Terror Strikes Beyond the Board

Okay, well, that’s enough. Let’s put the Ouija board away and leave this spirit communication business to the experts. Wait, did you hear something?

“The board would disappear for days on end, then show up in places you never would have put it. I became obsessed with it. Then it was a black mass in the corner of the room. Or the silhouette of a man watching you from the doorway. After that it escalated pretty quickly. I had my hair pulled. Fingers pricked. Scratched. Choked. Held down in bed while this thing whispered in my ear in what could have only been Latin…” – [deleted]/Reddit

Sometimes, the effects of using a Ouija board linger long after it’s been put away, or so I’ve read. Call it a little side effect of opening up a hell portal in your living room. And that’s why you always leave a note end the session correctly.

Zozo Makes an Appearance

Was the #CharlieCharlieChallenge a marketing ploy? A simple game gone viral? Maybe, maybe not. Seriously, I don’t know, because I missed the whole thing. But Charlie isn’t the only demonic entity that people have tried to conjure into our world. In the beginning, there was Zozo.

Zozo is known to be, well, evil. So if you see the planchette begin to spell out Z-O-Z-O or Z-A-Z-A or even M-A-M-A, you might want to think about putting an end to that conversation.

Not convinced? Still want to give it a try? Check out my post on Zozo before you do.

// Interested in more weird Ouija stories? Check out this list of 23 “true” tales over at Thought Catalog, where I discovered a couple of the Reddit links featured above.