A John Waddington Ltd. edition of the classic William Fuld Ouija board, including original plastic planchette and box.

William Fuld began producing Ouija boards in 1892, two years after Elijah Bond filed the first patent for a ‘talking board‘. After Fuld’s death in 1927, his children continued production until 24th February 1966, when William Fuld Inc. and all its assets were sold to Parker Brothers. Shortly afterwards, an agreement was made with the British board game manufacturer Waddingtons to produce products for the British consumer. It was in 1968 that Waddingtons released their first Ouija board, the design of which was nearly identical to the 1960s’ Fuld boards which were, by this point, hugely popular in the United States.

haunted history

This particular example was acquired by Laura and Erik Rowton in January 2024. Purchased from an online marketplace for display alongside other vintage paranormal collectables, within four days the Ouija board found itself removed from the Rowtons’ home. Horrific nightmares had plagued the couple (and even their pets!) since it had entered the house. Wondering if the board was to blame, they banished the item to an outbuilding on their property. That night, peace was restored.

Intrigued as to the board’s history, Laura proceeded to contact the seller. She asked if they had ever used the board personally. The seller had not, and explained that ‘t was in a batch of stuff bought from an auction house’ for the purpose of resale. Whilst she did not believe she or her partner had experienced anything because of the board, she did reveal something interesting: that she experienced strange ‘dreams’ whilst the board was in her home. Laura had not mentioned her own dreams to the seller, merely that she had had ‘strange activity since it arrived’.

The board was thus nicknamed ‘The Nightmare Board’ by the couple.

the nightmares

The content of the nightmares associated with the board included dark figures and eerie funeral processions. On one occasion, Laura found herself starting to enter sleep paralysis when she woke in the middle of the night, with eyes closed, feeling as though someone was in the room watching her and Erik sleep.

Erik had a bad dream the first night the board came into the house. Of course, these things happen and we thought nothing of it. He reported the same the second night. It wasn’t until the third night when I suffered very vivid, back-to-back nightmares which ended in me waking up screaming that we seriously began to consider that something might be wrong.

Laura Rowton

Oddly, even one of the couples’ cats experienced disturbed sleep whilst the board was in the house. An otherwise extremely peaceful and sleep-loving animal, he started trembling and yowling in his sleep, alerting Laura and Erik who proceeded to wake him up.

I knew we needed to get this board out of the house.

Erik Rowton

ONGOING ACTIVITY

In addition to nightmares, other inexplicable activity has been reported in proximity to the board, including feelings of unease and dread. The sound and sensation of movement, as well as the feeling of a heavy presence, have also been experienced.