Ouija board contact with two drowned boys at a Hollywood Hills pool
A caller who gives the name JD, calling from San Diego, tells Art Bell a story from their early twenties in the Hollywood Hills. The caller says an Ouija board session at the mansion of a girlfriend’s father put them in contact with two boys, [name withheld] and [name withheld], ages seven and four. They said they had drowned in the house’s pool about twelve years earlier. The following day, the caller says, the girlfriend’s sister told the same drowning story without being asked. The story ends with the father returning early from a trip and throwing the caller out. The caller says they broke their foot when something unseen tripped them as they ran off with the board.
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 2001-1.mp3”, starting at 57:55). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
The caller, who gives the name JD and says they are calling from San Diego, says they are originally from Hollywood and were about 20 at the time (“I'm 34 now”). The caller says a girlfriend’s father bought a mansion in the Hollywood Hills that had stood empty for roughly eight to ten years, and that on the first night the family went to look at it. The pool, the caller says, was overgrown with plants and had a black bottom. On a hot August night the caller dived in and, under water, [quote withheld] The caller got out and said something was weird about the pool. Later, the caller says, while the father was in London for two weeks and the caller was not allowed at the house, they went over with an Ouija board they had been using. The caller says they and the daughter used it and contacted [quote withheld] and [name withheld], ages seven and four. The caller says the younger one disliked them. The seven-year-old told them, the caller says, that about twelve years earlier they had been at the pool when they should not have been. The four-year-old fell in, and the seven-year-old jumped in to save him and was dragged under. Both drowned. The caller says the girlfriend’s sister came over the next day and, without being told, asked if they knew two little boys had drowned in that pool. She said that was why it had stood vacant so long. The caller says the father then returned from London thirteen days early, found the caller in the house, and threw them out. Running out in underwear and a T-shirt, the caller went back upstairs for the board under the bed. As they ran out, [quote withheld] and they broke their foot. The caller blames the four-year-old.
Reported events, in order
- 0:50
The caller says they are originally from Hollywood, were about 20 at the time of these events, and are 34 now.
- 0:57
The father of a girlfriend of the caller bought a mansion in the Hollywood Hills that had been empty about eight to ten years. The first night, the family went to look at it.
- 1:20
The pool was overgrown with plants and had a black bottom. It was a hot August night, and the caller dived in.
- 1:55
Underwater, the caller says, they got a panic feeling that something was wrong. The caller got out and said something was weird about the pool.
- 2:19
Later, while the father was away in London for two weeks and the caller was not allowed at the house, the caller went over.
- 2:24
The caller brought an Ouija board they had been using. The caller and the daughter used it, and the caller says the messages came from two little boys called [name withheld] and [name withheld], ages four and seven.
- 3:33
The seven-year-old is said to have explained that about twelve years earlier they had been at the pool when they should not have been. The four-year-old fell in, the seven-year-old jumped in to save him and was dragged under, and both drowned.
- 3:59
The next day the girlfriend’s sister came over to the pool and, without being asked, said that two little boys had drowned in it and that this was why it had stood vacant so long. The caller says they and the daughter had not told her.
- 4:30
The father came home from the London trip thirteen days early, found the caller in the house, and threw them out.
- 4:59
Running out in underwear and a T-shirt, the caller went back upstairs to get the Ouija board from under the bed.
- 5:06
As the caller ran out, something they could not see tripped them and they broke their foot. The caller says it was the first bone they had ever broken.
- 5:14
The caller says the four-year-old spirit tripped them.
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· 1:55
While swimming under water in the empty mansion’s pool, the caller felt a panic that something was wrong and got out, saying something was weird about the pool.
- observation· 2:44
Through an Ouija board used with a girlfriend, the caller says they made contact with two little boys who gave their names as [name withheld] and [name withheld], ages seven and four.
- observation· 3:02
The boys who communicated were said to be four and seven years old, and the four-year-old was said to dislike the caller.
- hearsay· 3:33
The seven-year-old was said to have explained, through the board, that about twelve years earlier he and the four-year-old had been at the pool when they should not have been. The younger one fell in, the older one jumped in to save him and was dragged under, and both drowned.
- hearsay· 4:08
The girlfriend’s sister is said to have stated, without being asked, the following day that two little boys had drowned in that pool and that this was why it had stood vacant so long.
- observation· 5:06
As the caller ran out of the house with the Ouija board, they say something tripped them although nothing was there, and they broke their foot.
- interpretation· 5:14
The caller concludes the four-year-old spirit tripped them.
- host statement· 2:53
The host jokes that the board must have invited the caller into the water. The caller answers that this was not what was said.
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.
This is a clear firsthand story with specifics that could in principle be checked (place, ages, order of events, an injury) and no obvious self-contradiction. That lifts it above the “brief and vague” band. However, the central content rests on an Ouija board the caller says they had been using, and the caller reports a participant’s own doubt about the pointer. Ordinary explanations therefore fit easily, and the caller’s claims are not well calibrated.
Evidence for and against
- The caller says: [quote withheld] The caller states their age and place for their own part in events.
- A single sensory event described firsthand: [quote withheld]
- A specific reported physical result: [quote withheld]
- [quote withheld] The caller had already been using the board, which offers an easy ordinary explanation.
- [quote withheld] The caller reports the second participant’s doubts.
- The drowning backstory arrives entirely through the board and is only “confirmed” by a person who does not speak on air and whose way of knowing is not stated.
- The automatic transcript does not give the girlfriend’s name with certainty (the sister addresses someone as “hey, Amy”) or the family’s surname.
- The period ([quote withheld]) and the mansion’s location are approximate.
- 0:50
- 2:40
- 5:06
What the model inferred (not said on air): Weighting “alternative explanations” and “calibration” downward is my editorial judgment from the content only. I make no judgment about the caller’s honesty or mental state.
Nothing beyond the caller’s word exists here. The story does supply specifics that could in principle be checked (a Hollywood Hills mansion with a pool, a reported double drowning roughly twelve years earlier, a broken bone) and claimed second and third witnesses who never speak on air. That places it in the lower-middle band rather than at the absolute floor. No outside check was done.
Evidence for and against
- [quote withheld] These are names within the story, supplied by the board and not verifiable.
- [quote withheld] A claimed additional witness who is said to have known about the drowning independently.
- No photograph, recording, document, or physical trace is claimed or examined.
- The two people said to be involved besides the caller are not on air and cannot be questioned.
- No name, address, or date is given that could be checked without further research.
- Whether the sister’s information was independent of the pair is not stated.
- The caller’s injury cannot be verified from the transcript.
- 2:44
- 4:08
What the model inferred (not said on air): The band placement is my use of the scoring guide: claimed but unheard witnesses and unverified specifics, with no evidence examined.
The story includes child deaths, a child spirit said to despise the caller, and an unseen trip causing a broken bone, all genuinely unsettling. The steady comic framing and the lack of any prolonged threat keep it from the higher bands.
Evidence for and against
- The reported content includes the drowning of two children in a pool, one pulling the other under.
- [quote withheld] A sudden physical attack and injury.
- The image of an overgrown, black-bottomed pool at night adds a background unease.
- The segment is framed throughout with jokes and cheerful cross-talk ([quote withheld]), and the host closes with a comic aside.
- No figure is seen, and no threat toward the caller is described during the Ouija session itself.
- The violence of the drownings is reported secondhand, through the claimed Ouija messages.
- 1:20
- 3:53
- 5:06
What the model inferred (not said on air): This is a judgment about the story’s content as a listening experience, not about whether anything happened. I have not used laughter or tone as evidence of anything.
The setup (Ouija board, drowned children, a haunted house with a pool) is conventional. The same-day backing from a third person and an injury blamed on the hostile younger child are distinctive details. This is a provisional score. The comparison with the rest of the archive will be added later and carried little weight in the pilot.
Evidence for and against
- [quote withheld] Same-day backing, without being asked, from a third person the pair had not told.
- [quote withheld] The injury is blamed on the younger of the two drowned children rather than on an unnamed presence.
- An Ouija board used in a house the caller should not have been in is a stock ghost-story setup.
- Contact with child spirits who died on the property is a familiar motif.
- The originality score is provisional. The comparison with the rest of the archive needs the full pipeline.
- 4:08
- 5:14
What the model inferred (not said on air): This is a provisional estimate of distinctiveness compared with common ghost-story motifs, not a measure of truth.
Scoring confidence 0.60 · analysis confidence 0.70 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller’s own firsthand story (a single on-air call, no follow-up); A claimed second participant at the Ouija session (the girlfriend, the father’s daughter), who does not speak on air; A claimed third person (the girlfriend’s sister) said to have mentioned the drownings independently, who does not speak on air; Specifics that could be checked but were not: a Hollywood Hills mansion with a pool, a drowning of two boys said to be about twelve years earlier, an Ouija board kept under a bed, a broken foot. The originality score blends the model's score (58) 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 underwater panic was an ordinary reaction to diving at night into a cold, dark, overgrown pool. · The caller says the pool was overgrown with plants and had a black bottom, and it was night. A swimmer entering cold, dark, obstructed water could feel sudden alarm without any outside cause.
- The Ouija messages could be produced by unconscious muscle movements of the pointer (the ideomotor effect) by one or both participants, with the content drawn from things either had heard. · The caller says the girlfriend [quote withheld] and that she was not familiar with the board.
- The fall and broken foot could be an ordinary trip on unseen ground, steps, or debris while running barefoot in the dark. · The caller says they were running out of the house [quote withheld] in what they call “a panic situation.” The caller does not describe the ground where they fell ([quote withheld]).
What stands out
The most distinctive part of the story is that the drowning backstory is said to have been repeated, without being asked, the next day by a third person the caller says they had not told. The caller also singles out the younger of the two claimed child spirits as hostile to them and as the cause of their broken foot.
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