My friend told me a story about her brother in law, Kevin. On his fourteenth birthday, he and his friends decided to go to a graveyard to play with a Ouija board just for the fun of it. A Ouija board is a game used to communicate with spirits by asking it questions. Rumor has it that messing with those objects allows good or bad spirits to go through a passage of some sort and connect with human life at any time. He did not expect anything to happen but after two months odd occurrences began to affect him.
As cliché as it may sound, Kevin started uttering nonsense demonic sounds as he scratched himself while sleeping. Unable to control this possession, he told his mother and was taken to a Curandero (Spanish for a cure person). The lady was able to cleanse him so those surreal events would stop happening to him.
Many years’ later odd situations came up again only after Kevin had a growing family. His five-year-old daughter started playing with an imaginary friend. She told her parents that she was seeing a man in her closet. They hurried over and saw no one there. Apparently the man left though the girl was still in contact with him soon after. She started to learn about things he liked and hated like any normal developing friendship. They were constantly playing games with one another and talking. It was weird since the girl was honest and could tell the difference between physical beings and made up characters. This lasted until they moved out of their apartment into an older house.
At the family’s new home, Kevin’s sister in law moved in. They bought a twin sized bed for a room just down the hall from the master bedroom. That night Kevin, his wife, and daughter shared a room while their sister slept alone. It was around 2:30 am when she laid down to sleep. As she opened her eyes for a bit, she saw that there was a dark shadow of a man in the room. It frightened her so she pulled the covers over her head trying to sleep it off. She suddenly felt something cold at the bottom of the bed by her feet, which was odd since she was under her covers. She felt the same cold energy by her face and immediately jumped out of bed, turned on the lights, and left.
Bizarre events kept happening in that house so they moved out. Lights would flicker even when they put in brand new bulbs, doors would creep open without the presence of any breezes or anyone by it. There were even times when Kevin let his baby sleep in the room his sister ran out of. Whenever that would happen she cried so bad and flipped to the corner of her crib.
It seems that since playing with the Ouija board years ago, spirits would still linger around Kevin. If not him, things would affect his family and no matter where they moved unexplainable events would happen. Maybe the Ouija board really opened some unknowing passage that cannot be undone. Whatever the case, Kevin regrets messing with the board game and is still in disbelief over what has happened.
At the family’s new home, Kevin’s sister in law moved in. They bought a twin sized bed for a room just down the hall from the master bedroom. That night Kevin, his wife, and daughter shared a room while their sister slept alone. It was around 2:30 am when she laid down to sleep. As she opened her eyes for a bit, she saw that there was a dark shadow of a man in the room. It frightened her so she pulled the covers over her head trying to sleep it off. She suddenly felt something cold at the bottom of the bed by her feet, which was odd since she was under her covers. She felt the same cold energy by her face and immediately jumped out of bed, turned on the lights, and left.
Bizarre events kept happening in that house so they moved out. Lights would flicker even when they put in brand new bulbs, doors would creep open without the presence of any breezes or anyone by it. There were even times when Kevin let his baby sleep in the room his sister ran out of. Whenever that would happen she cried so bad and flipped to the corner of her crib.
It seems that since playing with the Ouija board years ago, spirits would still linger around Kevin. If not him, things would affect his family and no matter where they moved unexplainable events would happen. Maybe the Ouija board really opened some unknowing passage that cannot be undone. Whatever the case, Kevin regrets messing with the board game and is still in disbelief over what has happened.
I've heard a lots of stories about the Ouija board and it terrfies me to death because I do believe that if you mess with it, evil spirits will always follow you around and cause destruction to your life. This also reminds me of the movie Paranormal Activity, which I got scared of because everything in that movie happens in the bedroom and we all usually go to sleep in our bedroom. My only suggestion is to try to make it scarier.
ReplyDeleteI really liked this story! I wanted to read it faster to see what would happen to Kevin and his family next. I thought it made the story more believable that the style you chose to write in seemed to be exactly as you had heard it without too many details in the way of the actual plot. I also liked how in the beginning of the story you seemed as skeptical as the readers that the Oiuja could actually make ghosts come out, that really added to the realism of the story. Great job!
ReplyDeleteWow, a Ouija board must be scary if it is in the darkness.I have heard many stories about it, and there are spirits like those that possess those boards. I thought the story was exceptional. Great work!
ReplyDeleteYou did a good job giving enough background on the Ouija board so that we would know what you were talking about. I was able to understand what you were talking about, and what was about to happen. Additionally, you used good, descriptive words which helped generate emotional appeals, thus utilizing pathos throughout your essay. I thought that the background on this game, the overall situation, and the cultural connections to Spanish all made this story very believable. Additionally, the fact that this happened to your friend’s brother-in-law makes this seem close-to-home, and one can relate to the origin of the story well.
ReplyDeleteSame as other stories, I've heard many similar stories to this one. And I do believe it. Except the board I know is called the "Luigi" board. Same affects, same story line, same everything. I've met many people who has played the game, but future affects did not happen to them. I'm not sure how they ended the game, but I've heard that if you try to burn the board game, it will end up in your house again. I don't know if its just me, but I do believe in these stories. Good job with your story!
ReplyDeleteI wish you would have told us what his experience with the Ouija board was like considering it's the basis for your story! The connection is very fuzzy right now. Anyways, creepy stuff! I would be scared to hang out at Kevin's house...
ReplyDeleteOh the Ouija boards! I like how you told about Kevin's experiences from messing with the Ouija boards; however, I felt like you were listing off what happened rather than going into a more detailed position. I was still intrigued by your story and was always guessing what was going to happen next. Well done!
ReplyDeleteThis is why I will never touch a Ouija board! I have heard stories them that have negative outcomes, and this story just adds to my own paranoia. I loved your descriptions, as they made me feel uneasy. I hope I never experience what Kevin did, so that strengthens the use of emotion contrasting disbelief. Well done.
ReplyDeleteThis story has a lot of "creepy" events which helped the argument by appealing to pathos, because the reader can have a visual of what was really happening. Something that hurt the argument was the very first sentence, it seemed that there was a lot of hear-say and that can hurt an argument because you the writer were not actually there.
ReplyDelete"As cliché as it may sound" Take this line out! It takes away your credibility of the story. I like the degree of this, meaning it's not too out of the ordinary that it is something I wouldn't question happening. Ouija boards are no joke, I refuse to ever touch one. This is a very relatable story, one of my friends played with one and she was throwing up the next 3 days after that, weird! Great story though, I enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteFor anyone who's reading this story and doesn't know anything about Ouija, your first paragraph explained it all. You use great logos to describe the story as to make it more believable, such as the logic of things happened to each and everyone in Kevin's family...You also appeal to the reader's emotions by describing how Kevin's sister in law got scared and left, and then his baby cried every time she was put into the room...I was scared at those parts! Good Job, Somarrey!
ReplyDeleteGood story I like the way you started off with important information of the board and other background info. The beginning is believable with the man as a kid playing around in the graveyard, and then throughout the story you go all the way through his life with unusual events happening. I like how you added certain characters throughout the story which help make the story more believable because of witnesses going through the events with him. Great story I enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteI liked the beginning with the Oujia board. It was a good start because it's something that's really sketchy to me too. I'm not too sure if you needed the description of a Oujia board because it's something that just about everyone knows. Towards the bottom of your story, you talked about Kevin's sister out of no where, I may have missed something, but it got me confused. It brought out some facts that I heard about it in the past which strengthens the logos.
ReplyDelete"She started to learn about things he liked and hated like any normal developing friendship."
ReplyDeleteTake out the 'like'. It feels as if l am talking to someone who constantly says "like".
"...she cried so bad and flipped to the corner of her crib."
What do you mean by flipped? I always read a story like a movie playing in my mind... When i reread that sentence, I just keep thinking that the baby is doing weird, crazy flips until the baby reaches the corner of the crib..
You did a really great job! By letting the reader know right away what a Ouija board is, it helps set up the story and clear up and questions. Also you did a great job explaining the occurrences, they supported the fact that there might be a sprit without actually saying it. It kind of left it up to the reader to decide! I really liked your story!
ReplyDeleteCool story! I like talking about Ouiga boards I find them interesting and always can seem to hear good stories about them. I like how descriptive you are throughout the whole paper when you are talking about the paranormal events which had occurred.
ReplyDeleteUtilizing a sort of branch story form really helped to make the story more interesting. While first reading it, the tale seemed a tad disconnected so, I reread it and it made much more sense. It's so curious that whatever this presence around Kevin might be (whether it be spirits or something more logically explained) still haunt him.
ReplyDeleteYour story is interesting, but is very all over the place and hard to follow. It almost seems as if there are three stories in one. You should focus on one story and maybe make more connections to your main topic. Other than that i enjoyed reading this story.
ReplyDeleteYour story was really nice, and I could really relate to the part where you talked about kevin going to people who help cleanse those who have been effected by unknown things such as sprites. Where I came from there are such people that say they can so such things, or cure people with madness. I though maybe you could focus on just how the Kevin's little girl was effected about the sprite, or maybe just focus on the sister in law. That kinda made your story all over the place. But over all i enjoyed your story.
ReplyDeleteThis story was pretty creepy. I thought that you did a good job transitioning from event to event. The events that you described did a good job of proving your argument. Kind of reminds me of paranormal activity II. I would never play with Ouija board just from reading this story. The ideas of your story flowed very well. I think you could have a better title.
ReplyDeleteit's really eerie how it seemed in both instances with Kevin's daughter and his sister in law both of them came in contact with a spirit who was a man. It was also kinda odd since you called his daughter at age 5 considerably rational and when I think of 5 year old children I think of hyper active balls of energy with imaginary friends who play make believe. It was also interesting how as his life progressed after his Ouija board experience, the spiritual interactions decreased in their scary factor. Hopefully, the encounters gradually lessen until no more happen.
ReplyDeleteAt first I thought that oh Kevin was going to get possessed and kill his family as if another version of "Paranormal Activity". So really the introduction almost lost me but i like how it changed! It was interesting to me on how the demon or spirit befriended his daughter years later as if trying to find a way back to kevin and using his daughter as a gateway. Also it makes it more believable because this mysterious man was also sighted by the sister in law. Good story!
ReplyDeleteI've heard of many similar ghost stories like this before. And people said, it is kind of Paranormal Activity. Great details and informative language. The format is little odd. But other than that it scared me. Great job!
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