5 Ghost Games as Movies
Inspired by the Book Ghost Games by Brooke Mackenzie
What Are Ghost Games?
I’m sure you have heard of some of the viral games for summoning spirits that have been popular on social media, particularly on TikTok and Reddit. I recently read the book Ghost Games by Brooke Mackenzie, and it got me thinking about all the different movies that have a plotline based on these types of games. The book has eight stories sharing how ghost games can go awry.
There are the familiar rituals of Bloody Mary and the Ouija board, but there were also some games that were more obscure to me, like The Closet Game and The Telephone Game. The book was a quick, easy read with a great set of stories that have main characters from a range of ages.
Some brought me back to childhood while others were relevant to my now. If you enjoy spooky stories that are not overly scary or gory, you will enjoy this book. In contrast, though, movies with these storylines are often quite brutal and gory with a plethora of jump scares.
Let’s visit a few.
5 Ghost Games Featured in Movies
The Elevator Game
In this game, you, supposedly, reach another dimension by following very precise directions in an elevator, such as going to certain floors in a specific order and not making eye contact with a woman who enters the elevator.
Once you reach the other dimension, the entity there will try to trick you into staying, so you need to stay vigilant.
This urban legend is said to have originated in South Korea and is blamed, by some, for the disappearance of Elisa Lam from the Cecil Hotel in 2013 where she was later found drowned in a water cistern.
Currently, there is a movie in production based on this ghost game aptly titled The Elevator Game. In it, the main character decides to play the game in an attempt to find his missing sister who was said to be playing the game herself when she disappeared.
The projected release for this movie is sometime in 2023.
The Three Kings Game
Another option for summoning a spirit is The Three Kings Game. This game has an elaborate materials list, including a mug, a fan, two large mirrors, three chairs, an alarm clock, and more.
You must have a backup person to pull you out of a trance if you should end up in one. The directions are very strict with certain activities having to be completed at very specific times, or some type of bodily or spiritual harm will befall you.
In short, you set up three chairs with one being for you to sit in, while the other two are for the mirrors to sit on. You are The King and the mirrors represent The Queen and The Fool.
However, whatever appears in the mirrors, also thinks they are The King, hence the name Three Kings. You must not look at anything that appears in the mirror.
There is a short film with decent production quality on YouTube called Three Kings | Horror Short Film by Good Job Films. In this short, two brothers, brought together by marriage, and both missing their dead parent, decide to perform The Three Kings ritual to contact a lost loved one.
Just like most summoning attempts in the movies, things don’t go as planned. While it wasn’t a particularly scary film, the acting and atmosphere were believable and clever filming techniques were used to imply horrible events were taking place.
Bloody Mary
Who hasn’t heard of Bloody Mary? The ritualistic game was a staple at every junior high slumber party I attended. Standing in front of a mirror in a dark bathroom with a lit candle chanting Bloody Mary’s name three times provided many nights of haunting entertainment.
We were just hoping to see an entity in the mirror. If we would have known of the more sinister expectations of the game, such as getting scratched or being haunted, we may have had second thoughts.
Thankfully, nothing happened to us, but that cannot be said for the victims of Bloody Mary in movies like Bloody Mary (2006), The Legend of Bloody Mary (2008), or Curse of Bloody Mary (2021).
Bloody Mary has even made appearances in a variety of shows, such Supernatural, The X-Files, Ghost Whisperer, and Charmed.
The history behind the game is unknown, but there is speculation that it could be based on the real-life characters of Mary I of England, Elizabeth Bathory, or Mary Worth, all of whom have been charged with brutally killing many people or, in the case of Mary Worth, possibly being a victim of the Witch Trials.
In any case, Bloody Mary has become a cultural icon, continuing to be called upon by young, unsuspecting girls around the world.
The Hide-and-Seek Game, or Hitori Kakurenbo
In English, Hitori Kakurenbo means “one man hide and seek.” In this creepy game, you are literally playing hide-and-seek by yourself, but with a doll. In a pre-game ritual, the doll is cut open and stuffed with rice and your nail clippings, then sewn up and bound with red thread.
The doll is given a name, told it is the “first it” and then placed in a bathtub filled with water. You turn off all the lights and go to a hiding spot with a cup of salt water that will be poured and spit onto the doll when the game is done.
After the game has ended, you let the doll dry, burn it, and get rid of the remains. In this game, the doll is said to be inhabited by a demon. My first thought is why would anyone play this?
However, the premise of possessed dolls has brought us some memorable films, such as the Child’s Play franchise started in 1988, and the Annabelle movies beginning in 2014. The subject of haunted or possessed dolls has been the topic of hundreds of movies, tv episodes, and books.
I loved the book The Dollhouse Murders by Betty Ren Wright as a kid where possessed dolls tell the story of a past murder by reenacting it in a hidden dollhouse.
There is a fascination around inanimate objects becoming animated by some supernatural force that will continue to entertain us in the future, just as it has in the past.
The Ouija Board
There is no explanation needed here. The Ouija Board has been another staple of entertainment for over a century. Brooke Mackenzie even shares her own personal experience with a Ouija Board in Ghost Games.
Originally called talking boards, the Ouija Board became popular during Victorian times as it was not only a great date night game for couples who were prohibited from touching as you had to sit close together to play, but it was also popular among those trying to summon spirits.
It wasn’t long before Ouija Boards became widely manufactured and sold, eventually moving through such companies as Parker Brothers, General Mills, Tonka, and Hasbro, who still owns the patent and trademark today.
Some warned of The Ouija Board’s sinister possibilities in movies like 1960’s 13 Ghosts, but it was widely thought to be harmless. With the release of The Exorcist (1973), however, that all changed.
Coinciding with other “satanic” events, this new view of the Ouija Board changed it from an innocuous game to a direct line of communication with the devil.
This was shortly before the widespread Satanic Panic era, and from this point on, Ouija Boards were no longer spelling silly things in sitcoms but became the subject of horror movies from Satan’s Blood (1978), Don’t Panic (1988), and Paranormal Activity (2007) to franchises, such as Witchboard beginning in 1986 and Ouija beginning in 2014.
Other Games
In her book, Brooke Mackenzie also shares stories called The Closet Game, The Telephone Game (based on a game called The Answer Man), and The Bathtub Game. She also includes detailed instructions on how to play each of the eight games in the back of the book. You will not find me playing any of these games. I am too superstitious, but, as the tagline for Ghost Games says, “play at your peril” if you decide to check them out.
Reading News
A quick update! If you recall, last week I said I was too excited to read Maeve Fly, the debut novel by CJ Leede, to wait until the release date of June 6, 2023. Well, I got my hands on it! I also have Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s upcoming novel, Silver Nitrate. She is the author of the books The Daughter of Dr. Moreau and Mexican Gothic. I cannot wait to sink into these two novels. Reviews to come!