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Like most adolescents, you and your friends probably spent the month of October attempting to scare the living crap out of one another. With a wide array of freaky paranormal games to choose from, accomplishing the task of terror was probably pretty easy. But would playing Bloody Mary or holding a séance succeed in frightening you as an adult? We revisited popular Halloween games and found ten activities that still prove unnerving.
The Ouija Board
While men of science claim involuntary muscle movements-not long dead great granddaddy Jethro-guide the Ouija's answers, psychics contend that busting out the board encourages evil spirits to enter your life and wreak some serious havoc. We cut the lights, placed our hands on the planchette and played anyway. While most of us thought the game a sham, we still found the experience pretty creepy. The fact that our collective subconscious might be answering our queries only served to weird us out more.
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Into the Grave
Called by a number of names, this game entails a friend holding your legs in the air for several minutes then lowering them to the ground very slowly, creating the sensation that your lower half is sinking below the ground. You've probably imagined your own funeral, but the sensation of your limbs being lowered six feet under makes the fantasy feel like an all-too-real reality. Try it and you'll understand why this feat is just as eerie at 28 as it was at age eight.
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Bloody Mary
In case you missed this rite of passage, the basic premise of the game is that staring into a mirror, alone in the dark and saying "BLOODY MARY, BLOODY MARY, BLOODY MARY!" will make a ghoulish woman appear and scratch your pretty little face off. What makes this game still horrifying is that if you gaze long enough, your brain does genuinely distort your vision so that you see some crazy crap, making you wonder if it's all in your head or that scary bitch is really there to rip your eyes out.
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Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board
In this levitation game, at least four people place just their middle and index fingers under a pal laying on the floor and attempt to lift their body. Elevation will only occur if the crew chants "Light as a feather, stiff as a board. Light as a feather, stiff as a board. Light as a feather, stiff as a board. 1, 2, 3 and LIFT." This game remains spooky because it actually works. While our homeboy didn't rise five feet off the ground like Fairuza Balk in "The Craft," he "levitated" a few inches for a few seconds.
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Hide and Seek in the Dark
Bring this game inside a pitch-black house and sensory deprivation will have you seeing and hearing things that may or may not be real. Is that someone breathing? Did the floorboard just creak? Was that the cat that just rubbed against my leg? The human imagination creates scenarios that are far scarier than any tangible threat, making you wig out while hiding out. Our desire to win was slowly overshadowed by our desire to be found because the longer we sat the crazier we went.
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At-Home Séance
The easiest way to scare the crap out of kid and adult alike is to hold a séance by linking hands in a candle-filled circle and calling on a ghost. Since this is the logical start to any horror flick, it's all too easy to convince yourself that you'll end up chopped up and buried in the yard, where the neighbor's Jack Russell will eventually find you. All it takes is one "sign"-a strong wind against the window, a knock at the door, a bark from the dog that's ultimately going to dig you up-and you'll be gripping your circle mate's hand like a total wuss.
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The Candy Man
This urban legend is similar to Bloody Mary: if you stand in front of a mirror and chant this hook-handed homey's name five times, he'll materialize and kill you in the most gruesome way possible. What makes Candy Man scarier than Mary is that he appears covered in not just blood, but also bees. Additionally, this story has a racial element: the Candy Man is a former black slave murdered by plantation owners and looking for some revenge. So, if you're white, you're even more screwed.
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Man Hunt
This version of tag is played outside in the pitch black, preferably in a wooded area. Much like hide and seek in the dark, you're bound to see and hear some hair-raising stuff. However, you're no longer in the safety of someone's home. Anyone could be roaming the woods. As leaves crunch under someone's foot, you'll wonder whether it's your pal or a deranged psycho looking to take advantage of someone who has pretty much made themselves the perfect target. Watch the news or an episode of "CSI" before this game and we bet you'll be spooked.
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Midnight Man
For this one, follow a series of very specific steps and you've invited Midnight Man into your home. With only a candle in hand and all the lights off, you must avoid the Midnight Man until 3:33 a.m. If your candle goes out, Midnight Man is near and you need to relight your candle within ten seconds. If you fail to relight, surround yourself in a circle of salt and stand still for the remainder of the game. No light and no salt? Midnight Man will induce a hallucination of your greatest fear that'll replay over and over until 3:33. Need we explain why this one is still scary? Have you read or seen Steven King's "IT?"
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Phantom Limb
This game is more uncanny than scary. If you've never attempted the feat you'll need a rubber hand from a novelty store, a two-foot-by-two-foot cardboard barrier and a friend. Put your right hand behind the barrier so you can't see it and place the dummy hand in front of the cardboard, in clear sight. Have your pal stroke the same location on both your hand and the fake hand and within seconds you'll feel the sensation on the disembodied hand despite looking directly at thing and fully realizing that it's not attached to your body. When you realize how easily the human brain can be tricked, your overall confidence may wane.
But does a tired doctor deserve the pink slip? Not necessarily: "It's the doctors who stay up all night worrying about their patients who may burn out, but they also care the most," says Travis Stork, M.D., an E.R. doc and Men's Health advisor.
