Ouijazilla in Salem

A couple weekends ago, I visited the Salem Witch Board Museum. While I was there I saw an upcoming event:the unveiling of the world's largest Ouija board, Ouijazilla! Not even an overcast drizzly day was going to keep me away. 

Or maybe it was the perfect weather?

Ouijazilla is the passion project of Rick "Ormortis" Schreck, VP of the Talking Board Historical Society. He spent over a year constructing it and you can see some "making of" pics at Ouijazilla.com. Also there, you can see the hearse that he added a pull out Ouija board to the back of.

You'll have to pardon me for being a bit remiss in my role as reporter for the event but I don't recall the exact measurements of the board. It's made up of 99 smaller plywood boards. The crates at the top of this photo (below the flag) are how it was packed for its trip to Salem. TransAmerican drove it here from NJ. This may also be the only Ouija board you ever see that sold sponsored ad space!

This may give a better idea how big each of the 99 pieces are, note the feet in the top right. If you look close you can see where the boards meet up.

It wasn't the greatest weather leading into the weekend and I don't envy the folks that had to put Ouijazilla together.

The planchette does move! Schreck had to add a fourth column in the middle for support so it wouldn't dip. After the event, for a small donation, they would take a photo of you on the board or sitting on the planchette.

Here is Schreck talking about creating Ouijazilla. He told a story about how got inspired by Stranger Things and created a Christmas light Ouija on the side of his house one Halloween. He rigged up a control so people could ask the house questions and he could blink the lights in reply.

People next to the planchette for scale.

Ripley's Believe it or Not covered the event and posted a video on their Facebook page. (The sound is very low for the first 3 minutes or so.) They also posted an article online about it. I can't imagine Ouijazilla is going to stay on display very long so I'm glad I got to see it.

If you're on Instagram, check out #Ouijazilla for more pics.

This is from the Salem Visitor Center, not too far from the Commons where Ouijazilla is.

If you decide to visit the other Countdown to Halloween bloggers, bring your Death Certificate and click below.