Ouija board session and a phone voice saying “You shall”
A caller, whom the host identifies only as speaking from Salt Lake City, tells of a Ouija board session the caller says they held alone many years earlier. The caller reports that whenever they moved the planchette to the letter “S,” the telephone rang. The caller says they asked the board if it was causing the ringing, and the planchette answered “yes.” On answering the phone, the caller says, they heard a distant, “ancient” voice say “you shall” before they hung up. The caller frames the episode as a warning and says they have avoided occult objects since. The host thanks the caller, repeats the caution, and says he once had his own Ouija board experience that he will not discuss.
This clip comes from the source recording. AI chose where it starts and ends, so it may start or end a little early or late. The word-for-word transcript is not published. You can hear the source recording on the Internet Archive (file “Ghost to Ghost 1993.mp3”, starting at 45:44). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
A caller, whom the host afterward identifies as speaking from Salt Lake City, tells Art Bell they want to give their own experience “very quickly.” The caller says that a long time ago they were using a Ouija board alone. The host breaks in to say this is a bad idea. The caller says they began arguing with the planchette and thought it was nonsense, “my own energy.” The caller reports that every time they pushed the planchette to the letter “S,” the telephone rang. The caller says they asked the board whether it was in fact ringing the phone, and the planchette moved to the “yes” position. The caller says they then ran across the room to answer. The phone kept ringing, the line was crackling, and the voice sounded distant, “miles away,” ancient. The caller reports that the voice began the words “you shall” and that they hung up, because they did not have the courage to hear the rest. Asked what the voice would have said, the caller says they did not want to know. The caller calls the incident a warning and adds that they have had an aversion to occult objects ever since. The caller also tells the host they have been to a haunted house since the experience. The host thanks the caller and repeats the caution after the call. He says a Ouija board may be “just inviting trouble” and mentions having had his own Ouija board experience that he will not discuss.
Reported events, in order
- 0:02
The caller says that a long time ago they were using a Ouija board alone.
- 0:08
The caller says they began arguing with the planchette and dismissed it as their own energy.
- 0:16
The caller says that each time they pushed the planchette to the letter “S,” the telephone rang.
- 0:21
The caller says they asked the board whether it was ringing the phone, and the planchette moved to “yes.”
- 0:26
The caller says they ran across the room to answer the telephone.
- 0:29
The caller reports the phone kept ringing, the line was crackling, and the voice sounded distant and ancient.
- 0:36
The caller reports the voice said “you shall” and that they hung up without listening further.
- 1:00
The caller describes the incident as a warning and says they have had an aversion to occult objects since.
- 1:46
After the call, the host says a Ouija board may be “inviting trouble” and ends with a caution to listeners.
Claims
Each claim is labeled as something the person telling the story noticed (observation), what they made of it (interpretation), something others told them (hearsay), or something the host said (host statement).
- observation· 0:02
The caller used a Ouija board alone many years before the call.
- interpretation· 0:13
The caller at first judged the planchette movements to be their own doing.
- observation· 0:16
Every time the caller pushed the planchette to the letter S, the telephone rang.
- observation· 0:21
When the caller asked the board whether it was ringing the telephone, the planchette moved to “yes.”
- observation· 0:32
The voice on the line sounded distant and ancient over a crackling connection.
- observation· 0:36
The voice began the words “you shall,” and the caller hung up.
- interpretation· 1:00
The caller calls the incident a warning and says they have avoided occult objects since.
- host statement· 1:13
The host says he has had his own Ouija board experience and will not discuss it.
- host statement· 1:46
The host says a Ouija board may be “inviting trouble.”
Scores, with reasons
An AI model gave these scores using a fixed set of scoring rules (scoring-v1). They are editorial judgments and rough guides, not the odds that anything paranormal happened. How scoring works.
A brief but clear firsthand story, not backed up by anyone else, told in order. It matches the scoring guide's example of a specific personal anecdote with no evidence. The scores for specificity and for other explanations are low because almost nothing about time, place, or checkable detail is given, and a coincidental call fits easily.
Evidence for and against
- A firsthand story: the caller describes their own actions throughout ([quote withheld]).
- The sequence is in order: board session, repeated ringing, question to the board, answer, walk to the phone, voice, hang-up.
- The caller first offers an ordinary explanation themselves ([quote withheld]), and the move to “yes” is described as a specific board position.
- No names, dates, or place are given for the event ([quote withheld]).
- The core strange event, a phone ringing and a voice on the line, has a simple ordinary explanation that the story does not address.
- The final message is a single incomplete phrase, “you shall,” so its content cannot be checked at all.
- Several lines of the transcript are garbled, especially in one short stretch near the end.
- It is unclear whether the “phone ringing” sounded like a normal ring or was strange in itself.
- 0:02
- 0:13
- 0:36
What the model inferred (not said on air): The split between parts of the score (high for closeness to the source, low for specificity and other explanations) is my own reading of the transcript, not something the caller states.
This is the standard case of the caller's word alone. There are no checkable specifics and no physical evidence claimed, so the score sits in the lowest range, well below the cap of 50.
Evidence for and against
- The caller's own statement that they experienced the ringing and the voice.
- No names, dates, addresses, records, or objects are offered.
- No second witness is named for the event. The host's own Ouija remark is a separate, unrelated anecdote.
- Nothing is played or examined on air.
- No outside check was made or requested, so 50 is the hard ceiling in any case.
- 0:16
- 0:36
What the model inferred (not said on air): Placing it in the lowest range reflects the lack of anything that could be checked independently. It is not a comment on whether the caller is truthful.
The eerie elements are the ancient-sounding voice, the crackling line, and the cut-off “you shall,” which carry a mild hint of threat. The brevity, the lack of escalation, and the absence of any reported harm keep it in the mildly to moderately unsettling range rather than frightening.
Evidence for and against
- A voice described as [quote withheld] on a crackling line.
- The unfinished phrase “you shall” works as an implied threat.
- The caller's stated lasting avoidance of occult objects ([quote withheld]).
- The encounter is a single, brief event with no follow-up.
- No threat, injury, or harmful act is reported. The caller simply hangs up.
- A garbled stretch of the transcript leaves the end of the anecdote partly unclear.
- 0:32
- 1:00
What the model inferred (not said on air): The creepiness rating is my judgment of the story as heard, not a claim about what happened.
The Ouija board and the phone call are both familiar motifs, but the tight link between planchette position, phone ringing, and the board's answer about itself is a distinctive detail on a familiar frame. The model score of 55 reflects a familiar frame with one distinctive element. The score compared with the rest of the archive is provisional because the archive sample is small.
Evidence for and against
- The specific mechanism is an unusual combination: the planchette is moved to the letter “S” and the phone rings each time, and then the board is asked about the ringing itself.
- The voice delivering an incomplete “you shall” rather than a full message is a distinctive detail.
- Ouija boards are a recurring subject in the archive, and unexpected phone calls are a familiar device in ghost anecdotes.
- The “unfinished warning” ending is a common story shape.
- Novelty compared with the rest of the archive cannot be computed reliably in this pilot, and the published originality score is marked provisional.
- 0:16
- 0:21
What the model inferred (not said on air): Both the model estimate and the provisional published value are editorial estimates of how distinctive the story is, not facts about the events.
Scoring confidence 0.60 · analysis confidence 0.60 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller's firsthand story only; No recording, photograph, or document offered; No second witness speaks on air. The host mentions a separate, unrelated experience of his own but does not back up this event.. The originality score blends the model's score (55) with how rare the story's details are across the archive. This method is still provisional.
Ordinary explanations to consider
These are possibilities only. None is a finding about what happened.
- The phone call was an ordinary, unrelated call (a wrong number, a prank, or a bad line) that happened during the board session. · The caller reports the line was crackling and the voice “distant, miles away.” A poor connection, a wrong number, or a prank call would give just that impression.
- Unconscious movement of the planchette (the ideomotor effect) and expectation account for the board's answers. · The caller says [quote withheld] The caller's own expectations and hand pressure could produce the planchette's moves to S and to “yes.”
- The single word heard on the line was partly unclear, and reading it as a threat is the caller's own interpretation. · The caller says [quote withheld] and describes an incomplete word. A listener could complete a fragment that was partly heard or misheard.
What stands out
The story links the Ouija board directly to the telephone. The planchette's position is said to set off the ringing, and the board is then asked about the ringing itself. The reported message is left unfinished on purpose: a single “you shall” that the caller chose not to hear out.
Related stories
Matched by shared recurring details, categories, and wording.