Lore

Lore 300: Board Stiff

February 23, 2026

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  • The history of the Ouija board is deeply intertwined with sensationalized claims, family feuds, and numerous documented instances of death and psychological distress, despite its commercial success as a parlor game. 
  • William Fuld, known as the 'father of the Ouija board,' profited immensely from the product while publicly disavowing belief in its spiritual powers, only to meet a bizarre, fatal accident on the roof of his own Ouija factory. 
  • Historical accounts reveal a pattern where women, often driven by grief or desire for control, weaponized the Ouija board to justify or commit acts of violence, including murder and self-harm, demonstrating the object's power to influence extreme behavior. 

Segments

Introduction and Podcast Milestone
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(00:00:00)
  • Key Takeaway: The narrator celebrates the 300th brand new episode of Lore, contrasting the unpredictability of the future with humanity’s persistent desire to cheat uncertainty through divination.
  • Summary: The episode marks the 300th installment of Lore, a milestone the narrator did not envision when starting the podcast. Humans have historically sought methods like oracles and scrying mirrors to predict the future, which remains inherently uncertain despite modern access to knowledge. The most popular and fear-inducing tool for this search is often found within one’s own home.
William Fuld and Ouija Letters
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(00:02:56)
  • Key Takeaway: William Fuld, the future ‘father of the Ouija board,’ received correspondence from users reporting both terrifying spiritual coercion and positive spiritual contact regarding his product.
  • Summary: In 1918 and 1920, William Fuld received letters detailing frightening experiences, such as being told to do awful things by the board’s voice. Conversely, other letters congratulated him on the board containing a ‘very good spirit.’ These letters highlight the polarized public perception of the Ouija board shortly after its commercialization.
Fuld’s Rise and Family Feud
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(00:04:13)
  • Key Takeaway: William Fuld rose from a company varnisher to control the Ouija board patent after ousting founder Charles Kennard, leading to a bitter, decades-long legal battle with his brother Isaac.
  • Summary: The Ouija board was patented in 1891 and manufactured by the Kennard Novelty Company before Fuld took control in 1892. Fuld banished his brother Isaac from the company in 1901, initiating a feud that included Isaac creating a rival board called the Oriole using stolen stencils. William ultimately won sole production rights in court.
Fuld’s Ironic Death
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(00:07:12)
  • Key Takeaway: Despite using the spirits as a publicity stunt for expansion, William Fuld died tragically by falling off the roof of his new Ouija board factory while installing a flagpole.
  • Summary: Fuld once claimed spirits advised him to build a larger factory, though he later admitted this was a publicity stunt, stating he was a Presbyterian, not a spiritualist. He explicitly told a reporter he did not believe in the board’s powers. Fuld died in 1927 after falling three stories from the roof of his Baltimore Ouija factory, with a rib piercing his heart during the move to the hospital.
Ouija Board Induced Suicide
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(00:08:57)
  • Key Takeaway: Sarah Griffin, a devout Methodist turned spiritualist leader, committed suicide by swallowing strychnine after the spirits on her Ouija board repeatedly commanded her to leave immediately.
  • Summary: Sarah Griffin bought her first Ouija board in 1895, subsequently leaving her church to embrace occultism and lead a spiritualist community. In 1900, she ingested a lethal dose of poison, telling her husband the spirits had decreed she must leave that night. She died shortly after, determined to join the spirits she communicated with.
Murderous Commands and Manipulation
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(00:10:30)
  • Key Takeaway: Multiple cases illustrate women using Ouija boards to claim justification for murder, often by receiving warnings of imminent danger or direct commands to kill.
  • Summary: Mae Murdoch shot her husband after the Ouija board warned him planned to kill her with an axe, a defense that failed in court. In a more complex case, Lila Jimerson manipulated the illiterate Nancy Bowen into murdering Clotille Marchand by translating messages from Nancy’s deceased husband’s ‘ghost’ that implicated Clotille. Dorothea Turley manipulated her 15-year-old daughter into shooting her father after the board allegedly commanded the killing.
Torture Based on False Accusation
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(00:15:21)
  • Key Takeaway: Herbert Heard tortured his wife Nellie for two weeks with weapons and a hot poker after a Ouija board falsely informed her he was having an affair, leading to Herbert killing her in self-defense.
  • Summary: Nellie Heard tortured her husband Herbert for two weeks after a Ouija board erroneously revealed an affair, using a dagger and hot poker. Herbert eventually gained access to a gun and shot Nellie four times before fleeing to alert the police. The narrator notes a similarity in these violent cases: they were all perpetrated by women seeking power they could not attain independently.
El Cerrito House of Mystery
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(00:17:09)
  • Key Takeaway: A group in El Cerrito, California, descended into mass hysteria and delusion during continuous Ouija sessions seeking justice for a hit-and-run victim, leading to arrests for insanity.
  • Summary: Maria Morrow, grieving her daughter Jenny’s 1919 hit-and-run death, began nightly Ouija sessions seeking the driver’s license plate, which proved false. The group, including children, escalated rituals like burning money and clothes, believing they were appeasing evil spirits unleashed by the board. Authorities intervened when the group tried to break into a neighbor’s house to retrieve her daughter, resulting in seven adults being charged with insanity.
Demon Face Syndrome
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(00:33:10)
  • Key Takeaway: Prosopometamorphopsia, or ‘demon face syndrome,’ is an extremely rare visual disorder causing sufferers to perceive ordinary faces as distorted, monstrous, or reptilian.
  • Summary: This disorder causes faces to appear to droop, melt, or feature misplaced, bulging, or animalistic features, sometimes resembling demons or spiders. The condition is linked to various brain issues, though the cause is not always clear, and some lifelong sufferers only realize others do not see these transformations later in life. The narrator cautions against seeking medical advice from a Ouija board, contrasting it with this real neurological condition.
Conclusion and Credits
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(00:36:50)
  • Key Takeaway: The episode concludes by noting that Ouija board sales surge during times of collective trauma, such as after World War I and the influenza pandemic, highlighting the enduring human search for closure.
  • Summary: The narrator thanks contributors, including writer GennaRose Nethercott and researcher Cassandra DeAlba, and promotes his new book, Exhumed. The episode highlights that Ouija board popularity spikes during national crises, like the aftermath of WWI and the flu pandemic, as people desperately seek answers. The final segment teases a story about whether the ‘call’ comes from the spirits or from one’s own brain.