Halloween is a holiday totally based on scary stuff and things that go bump in the night!
After all, there’s something kind of fun about having the stuffing scared out of you, and it’s even more fun to scare the daylights out of someone else.
Our cultural love of all things scary means that people will come out in droves to see horror movies, and that otherworldly slumber party games, like light-as-a-feather, will never go out of style.
But in recent years, people have gotten increasingly upset about the symbolism of the Ouija board.
Most recently, that anger and fear boiled over on the internet, when foodie website Delish posted a tutorial video on a Ouija board sheet cake.
The video inspired a lot of controversy on the web, so now we’re taking a look into the history of the Ouija board, and how it got a reputation for really bringing evil into a home.
Scroll through below to learn more!
[H/T: Delish]
Ouija boards have a long history as a spooky parlor game that's especially perfect around Halloween.
That's probably why the cookery website, Delish, was inspired to share a video tutorial for making a sheet cake that doubles as a Ouija board — perfect for Halloween parties!
Surprisingly, however, the video inspired a lot of controversy online, and many fans of the site tuned in with the opinion that the Ouija board might let evil spirits into the home.
The cake itself is pretty simple to make: It's just an ordinary sheet cake in the flavor of your choosing.
Then, depending on your level of artistic skills, you can use pourable frosting to ice it, and carefully stencil out the basic Ouija board pattern onto the surface.
If you aren't the Michelangelo of bakers, you can also just call a bakery that does photo cakes and have them make a sheet of printable frosting for you.
This service typically runs between $10-$20, and you can just roll the frosting sheet out onto the layer cake once you have it.
However, despite it being a very typical cake recipe, the post received some very strong responses.
Under the recipe video, one woman wrote, "I haven't touched a Ouija board since I was 14 and I never plan to either… cake or not!"
Another was more equivocal, writing, "I won't dare play the game, but I will eat this cake."
Meanwhile, plenty of other commenters took the opposite stance, one writing, "Even if no spirits show up, at least there's cake afterwards."
For many, the ouija board is just a simple game, used for fun entertainment.
In fact, according to Hasbro, which makes the most popular version of the Ouija board, the instructions to use it are as follows: "Gather around the board, if you dare, and unlock secrets from a mysterious and mystifying world. You have questions, and the spirit world has answers — and the uncanny Ouija board is your way to get them."
However, according to many occult believers, the Ouija board — and any cake made to look like it — is actually a portal to a demonic world, or even to the Devil himself.
After looking into the history of the Ouija board, we were surprised to learn that the rumor of demons and evil lurking inside is actually pretty recent — it started with one of the most famous horror movies of all time: The Exorcist.
In the 1973 movie, a preteen girl named Regan plays with a Ouija board, and becomes possessed by a demon, which causes her to act out violently and sew death and mayhem all around.
The movie was partially inspired by a possibly true story about a boy, identified as Roland or Robbie, who began displaying a violent temper after his aunt (who had used Ouija boards often) passed away.
These two stories, one fictional and one hearsay, built up a fearsome legend!
When Ouija boards first started out, they were just used as a parlor game, and weren't associated at all with the spirit world.
Then, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, there was a trend around spiritualism, where people would meet in groups to hold seances and try to contact the dead.
The Ouija board became a popular tool for people who believed that the board could help them communicate with the dead.
Nowadays, people are still very divided on the topic of Ouija boards.
Lots of folks think that they're a load of hooey, some think that they're a fascinating and potentially supernatural pastime, and still others think that they're deeply dangerous — it all depends!
What's your opinion on Ouija boards? Have you ever, or would you ever, use one?
Would you ever eat a Ouija board cake at a spooky-themed party?
Let us know in the comments below, and don't forget to SHARE so your friends can weigh in!
