Starfish and Coffee: Episode 15 • The Ouija Board • Robert Murch and John Kozik
Starfish and Coffee: Episode 15 • The Ouija Board • Robert Murch and John Kozik
Listening Stations: APPLE PODCASTS • SPOTIFY • AMAZON PODCASTS
Today, I got to chat to a couple of the world’s biggest Ouija Board nerds on the planet: Robert Murch (known throughout the episode as ‘Murch’) who is Chairman of the Board for the Talking Board Historical Society (Colorado) and John Kozik from the Salem Witch Board Museum (in Salem, funnily enough).
The Ouija Board is a staple of modern horror movies, but it has a varied past that goes right back to the late 1800s - a past these two gentlemen have spent their entire lives unravelling, researching, hunting, arranging and making available to the public. This is where we begin our conversation. I’ve assumed a lot of prior knowledge on behalf of the listeners here - there’s no in depth discussion about the dead/demons/spirits/whether it’s fake or real. Sit yourself down in front of one with some friends and figure it out or yourself. We did.
I’ve always loved the Board and the mystery behind it. How such a simple thing - sold as a mass production game - could single handedly (well, maybe with a little help from That Movie) kick-start the Satanic-Panic movement (can we call it a movement?) is absolutely worth buying somebody a beer over.
If you want to go digging your own rabbit hole on the subject of the Ouija, here’s the related links for you - if you wish, you can find the socials on each of the individual sites:
Talking Board Historical Society:
The Salem Witch Board Museum:
https://www.salemwitchboardmuseum.com
Robert Murch:
And if you want to fall down the rabbit hole and stay there, there’s some damn nice custom boards available on Etsy:
https://www.etsy.com/uk/market/ouija_board
If you’re more of a cheapskate, amazon can probably fulfil your needs.