Are The Boards Haunted? Ghost Hunting at The Salem Witch Board Museum

We chose a cold February night for this once-in-a-blue-moon opportunity to investigate The Salem Witch Board Museum in Salem, MA. It was the perfect setting; the streets were dark, aside from a few streetlights; there were no pirates or clowns or the hustle and bustle of the fall crowds. It was quiet, just the hearty Salem residents (ourselves included) and a few cars passing through. As paranormal investigators, we like it that way. People often tease that ghosts must only come out at night because that is usually when we investigate. The truth is spirits can make themselves known at any time of day; however, it's quiet at night. It's much easier to distinguish a noise out of place while the surrounding world sleeps soundly.

We were excited to investigate this location for a few reasons. Having lived in Salem for several years, we stopped being "tourists" long ago. If you live here, you know just how hard it is to drive anywhere, so you become accustomed to avoiding the downtown area during the busy times of the year if you are able. No, seriously, just don't drive down there if you don't NEED to. That's excellent advice... Anyway, we had heard of the "ouija board museum" and wanted to check it out. I happen to be a bit of a board collector myself, well, so I thought until I met John.

John Kozik is the owner of The Salem Witch Board Museum. When you arrive for your tour, which I highly recommend, he will give you the history of the boards, how they have changed over the years, and the many superstitions surrounding spirit boards. If you are lucky, he will regale you with a story or two of boards sent to him by unsuspecting people who found themselves blaming the boards for the bad luck they were experiencing. We found ourselves wrapped up in his stories and asking for more and more. We couldn't help but ask ourselves if there was any truth in these superstitions that people so strongly believe. Do these boards hold any energy? He has boards that are over 100 years old. If ever a spirit board were to be "haunted,"...

The idea of these boards being haunted got the ghost hunter in me really excited. I needed some time alone with them. I needed to convince John to let me into his museum after hours. As I began to inquire about spirits, John surprised me with stories of the building. Surprisingly, the building itself is reported to be haunted. As soon as he moved into the space, he began to have locals asking him if he had had any experiences there. There were reports it could have been a funeral home at one point, but we couldn't confirm this. John told us stories as recent as just that week of people having experiences. Some guests had reported taking pictures in the building that were clear when they were taken, but when revisited outside the building, they were blurry. Guests have said someone whispering in their ear, and others have been drawn to one specific board encased in glass on the wall - The Stranger Things Board. Some have reported feeling ill when walking to one side of the room near this board. All of these cases had me questioning - Could this be related to energy in the boards? Is there an entity in the building? Possibly a combination of the two. Or, could it be that the superstition is so strong around these boards that anxiety becomes a factor when people are around these boards, causing people to feel ill?

Coincidentally, Ouija boards have a strong history in Salem. Parker Brothers became an economic mainstay of Salem when it opened its manufacturing facility in 1885. In 1966, they purchased the rights to produce the Ouija board and began manufacturing the boards right in their Bridge Street factory. This history, combined with the spooky ambiance of Salem, makes this the perfect place to host a museum dedicated to these highly debated and feared artboards.

So on this cold February night we would finally have our chance to be alone with the boards in this building that has stories of being haunted. Now, if this were a made-for-TV movie, here is where I could start telling you about all the crazy demonic activity that occurred that left us running for our lives out of the building. That's just not real. I hate to burst any bubbles but that isn't what any real haunting looks like. Truth be told, ghost hunting is, more often than not, a very boring hobby. It's about 2% adrenaline rush and 98% talking to yourself. But oh that 2% can be really worth it!

For our investigation, we brought a number of tools with us to see if we could explain the activity guests may be experiencing or capture some of this activity ourselves. First, we were able to establish that the electrical wires in the wall were putting off a fair amount of EMF (electromagnetic frequency). It was particularly high in the wall behind a chair that many people have said to feel uneasy around. We know that high EMF can make people feel unwell. Is it possible that some are so sensitive to it that they immediately feel the effect? Next, we laid out several tools. We put out a rem-pod and a trip-wire, which are devices used to capture free-floating EMF (which isn't a normal occurrence). We took the Stranger Things board out of the case and set it on what is called a "trip tray." The trip tray is a metal tray set to an alarm that will go off if there is any vibration or movement on or near the object on its tray. We had a recorder going to see if we could catch any sounds that weren't audible at the time (EVPs - electronic voice phenomenon). Finally, we used some good old-fashioned Ouija boards to see if we could make some connections.

Throughout the night, unfortunately, we didn't capture any anomalies on the equipment we had out or any sounds on the recorder. We were, however, able to make contact with what seemed like a very intelligent spirit on the Ouija board. After some playful movements around the board, we decided to go live and see if we could capture our Ouija session live. It would seem the spirit we were communicating with had some cold feet. As soon as we turned the camera on the planchette refused to move. It rocked, and it shook, almost like it wanted to move but it just wouldn't. Finally, we were frustrated and shut the recording down. At the end of the night we decided to give it one more try and that is when he came out strong. We made contact with a spirit who spelled his name out - S E T H. Seth said that he lived in Salem and died in the 1960's. We asked if he minded us coming to visit and he said that we were welcome and could come back anytime. Although we don't know his connection to the property or even if he has one, he seemed to be happy and enjoying his time at the Ouija board museum. It's possible he was just passing through or maybe he is the one that others are picking up on? We won't know for sure. What we do know for sure is, the Ouija board museum is a must see spooky attraction, whether you like ghosts or not. You can even pick up a board or two to take home with you and try it for yourself. Superstition is not included...