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Ouija

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It's not just a game.
As far as Elaine Morris is concerned, the Ouija board is just a game she played at sleepovers as a kid. But her best friend, Debbie, has been messing around with one recently--and claims she's starting to hear strange noises around the house. 'Laine thinks Debbie is a total dork for getting spooked, until Debbie dies in a horrible and haunting way. Desperate to figure out what really happened to her friend, 'Laine starts using the Ouija board to uncover its mystery. She soon learns that something sinister has come through the board, and it's not ready to say GOOD-BYE.
Read this heart-stopping novel before seeing the major motion picture!

206 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2014

25 people are currently reading
719 people want to read

About the author

Katharine Turner

21 books14 followers

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5 stars
147 (22%)
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151 (23%)
3 stars
204 (31%)
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105 (16%)
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38 (5%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 110 reviews
Profile Image for Empress Reece (Hooked on Books).
915 reviews82 followers
November 2, 2016
Ouija- Never Break the Rules...

This was quite the little page turner and definitely worth the bargain basement price of $1.97 that I paid for it at Books-A-Million. Don't go into it thinking you'll be scared out of your mind though because it is a teen/YA book and seems to be watered down accordingly. There is some creepiness to it though and it'll make you think twice about playing with a Ouija board.

The book was too short though. When I got to the end I was wanting more, more, more! An 'adult' version with a little more depth and horror would be perfect. I definitely could go for that! I'm dying to see the movies now- the original that is based on this book & the prequel that's in theaters. The original movie, I'm planning to watch tonight so I'm looking forward to that. I imagine it will be quite a bit scarier then the book. This is just one of those stories that needs some on screen theatrics.

If you like a little bit of paranormal horror but not too much then this is the perfect book! You can get your 'scare me' fix and still sleep at night!
Profile Image for Marie.
1,119 reviews389 followers
April 9, 2019
It is never a good thing to play with a Ouija board especially when some people think it is just a game. Elaine Morris along with her friend Debbie decide to play with a Ouija board that Debbie has in her possession. Elaine really doesn't want to play it, but Debbie talks her into it by saying "It is just a game".

Debbie and Elaine think it will be more fun if they get some more of their friends involved in playing the game. They don't realize that they have opened up a portal and let something through, till things start happening around the house. When their friends start dying, then they wonder what has crossed over into this world.

This was a decent read but it leaned more toward young adult. There was quite a bit of creepy page turning suspense from beginning to end. I did have a hard time putting it down and read it quick within two days. I have not seen the movie, so that helped me with getting more into the storyline of the book. Giving it three stars.
Profile Image for Ash.
595 reviews115 followers
October 18, 2014
Um.

I'm just trying to figure out exactly what I read. The author, Katharine Turner, novelized this from the screenplay by Stiles White and Juliet Snowden. My thinking is that White and Snowden are at fault for this convoluted mess. After a while, Ouija became hella confusing.

On the surface, a Ouija board is making anyone who plays it commit suicide. Unless, the person or people follow specific rules, which, by the way, means NOTHING because the people who did play did follow the rules.

Except the one girl, Debbie. She started the whole shenanigans by playing in a graveyard...maybe? The main girl, Laine, was guessing. Anyway, then it becomes some sort of ghost story involving a medium and her two daughters, one of which was used as a conduit between us and the spirit world.

Confusion and boredom ensued.

Ouija could have been creepy. It was a good idea but a lot was left unexplained. Like why were the victims committing suicide? Surely, we would get some back story on that? Nope! Maybe screenplays are such for a reason. Perhaps, there was no real need for a novelization of this. Maybe Ouija is better as a movie. Or maybe it won't but I'll still see it anyway.
Profile Image for Bert.
776 reviews20 followers
November 13, 2016
You've really got to hand it to the authors that are given the job of turning a cheesy horror film into a novel... Novelizations are a pet favourite of mine, I love to collect them and the worse the movie is the more I must own the novelization, there's something so cool about them and the fact that they are really only printed once makes them a kind of rarity and a must have for booklovers and film buffs like myself.

Ouija is very fast paced and super easy to read, I read each page in under a minute most of the time, over 200 pages and I read it in under a day, those are my favourite types of books, the ones that can be read in an afternoon. If you've seen the movie Ouija you'll know what the book is about, it follows the movie scene for scene, probably not the most creative thing for an author but I guess they aren't writing these kind of books as passion projects - as a novelization it does what it sets out to do, put the film in book form...

It's not really scary or overly original and the writing is very basic but if you're a collector of horror movie memorabilia like me you will find something to enjoy about this book.

"GOODBYE"
Profile Image for Michelle.
29 reviews6 followers
October 18, 2014
I know I gave this novel a 2 but it was actually an enjoyable read. It was definately a book that was targeted for youths so I found the way in which it was written juvenile. The concept is similar to most teenage thriller type books and movies ei, group of teenagers, scarey place, dropping like flies, one heroine or hero at the end. I can't say much more without it being a spoiler but since the book is based on the movie I'm sure most people get the idea. Regardless, there were a few unexpected twists and turns and it did have its share of creepiness and a few. moments when I did feel a little on edge. This isn't a must read novel by any means but if you enjoy easy, slightly predictable, short thriller type stories, then this is a book you may want to read, just for the fun of it.
Profile Image for Ghoul Von Horror.
1,101 reviews431 followers
May 14, 2019


What a terrible and horribly written book. The dialogue was just bad bad bad. I felt more like I'm reading a Goosebumps book made for 7-10 year olds than teens. No wonder the movie was bad. Also I'd love to point out that the whole plot of the little girl being used for spirits from her mother is a direct rip-off of Juon 2/The Grudge 2. Seriously this book is terrible I can't wait to get this book out of my house.
Profile Image for Trisha.
5,928 reviews231 followers
May 26, 2018
"As friends we gathered,
Hearts are true,
Spirits near,
We call to you..."


I am so disappointed. I have a deal with myself to read books before I watch the movies. Sometimes this is a great idea and sometimes, it's just not. I think this is one where the movie....might....be better than the book. I'm not sure, I haven't seen it yet, but it has to be better.

The only good suspenseful moments in this story are when the kids are suddenly not acting right - when Debbie's moment came, that was a bit creepy. Otherwise, there was too much telling and not enough build up. Jump scare type moments just don't translate well on paper and so they didn't feel scary or creepy in this story. The explanation, I think, would look better on screen but felt silly and unrealistic in the book - as each stage played out, it got more and more unrealistic.

I'm disappointed because a good Ouija board story could be so much more.

Profile Image for S. Wigget.
911 reviews45 followers
October 8, 2020
Meh. I read the first hundred pages before noticing that it's based on a film/screenplay.

Strangely, I thought this book was part of the readathon in which I'm participating this October... but it isn't. I double checked the list of titles. I guess it was a Bookbub deal... but I don't understand how I got confused. Perhaps an evil spirit wanted me to read it.
Profile Image for E. C. Ecchor.
265 reviews17 followers
October 22, 2016
First, the two main reasons that people are going to have issues with this book: The way this reads like a Middlegrade book and the complete lack of suspense/horror/or anything remotely terrifying.

Second, the reason they absolutely did negatively impact my rating: Because the writing was third-grade status. So simple I could have done this just by watching the movie with absolutely no writing skills whatsoever.

Third, the moment I knew this was going to be bad:
“‘Hey.’ Trevor appeared in the doorway.
‘Oh my god!’ Laine gripped the board tightly. ‘You almost gave me a heart attack.’”

Because, um, why? Nothing happened. Absolutely NOTHING HAPPENED to build up to this “surprise, heart attack inducing” moment.

How many stars do I give this? Sadly, only 2. Maybe a 2.1, but probably not.

I went into this book really wanting to like it, but I just couldn’t. This is possibly the first and probably only time I will ever say this but, THE MOVIE IS BETTER.

I feel like I should be stoned now…

But let’s begin with The Bland And Pathetically Boring Writing.

What I enjoyed personally:

Not much of anything, really. I found that this was one of those moments where the writing was TOO simplistic. It made it difficult to read, because it was so easy I felt like I was reading See Spot Run. I mean, why not include pictures, too?

Oh, wait, they did… (Which may have been the best part...)

Seriously though. I’ve been trying to find something that I really enjoyed in the writing style itself, and I can’t find anything. I felt it was boring, stilted, lacked suspense, and felt more like it was meant to be read by 10-year-olds.

What I felt was a little questionable:

Um, everything.

First, the writer didn’t seem to understand that as a novel, not a movie the writing needed more meat. There needed to be at least a hundred more pages, all of which should have been descriptors. Okay, maybe not *all* but a damn lot of ‘em. There needed to be more “her heart thumped wildly in her chest as she felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise. She couldn’t see it, but she sensed it there, lurking, looming—coming towards her. She couldn’t force herself to turn, her body frozen in irrational fear, but in the mirror she caught the reflection. It should have been nothing, but that shadow—” Instead, we get the characters running around doing… well, we don’t really know what they’re doing because they’re suddenly downstairs in the dead girl’s room when a second ago they were in the living room. And they’re dying left and right, but they only seem mildly affected by this.

Where’s the drama? Where’s the suspense? Where are the friggin’ ghosts already?! Seriously, even they didn’t manage to be effective in this novel—which is bad, given that it’s basically a ghost story.

Moving on to The Rather Hobble-Cobble Story.

What I liked:

The relationship between Debbie and Laine. It was the closest thing to a really functioning storyline that we could grasp on to and it was the only thing that was convincing as a motivator for the unfolding events. Unfortunately, it didn’t have the sort of depth that it needed to be really *great* or effective and it left everyone feeling sort of… well, maybe like Debbie and Laine should have been dating and the two guys should have been thrown to the wolves.

Regardless, the best part (in the sense of storytelling) was Debbie’s apparent suicide. There was the promise of real depth there when her friends are initially grieving. They attempt to deal with her death in their own ways, wondering how they “missed the signs”. This was the most genuine part of the whole story—and it was only there as a backdrop to the rest of what was going on. Really disappointing.

What I didn’t like:

Most of what happened.

The Ouija Board has the potential to bring some real creep factor to any story—and yet it utterly failed here. There was no sense of foreboding, there was no feeling that they were playing with fire. Instead it was all this “oh, and by the way, a serial killer ghost is after you, kay, bye now”. I mean, that was the feeling I got from this novel and it really left me wishing that more had happened in the story. I think this is more a result of the writing than the actual plot, though I think there are holes there, too, and I think if we’d been offered a little more time to explore what was going on and given a few more details, I would have enjoyed the story more.

Next, Le Characters.

What was good:

The relationship between Debbie and Laine. And the relationship between Laine and Sarah. Both of these bonds were very brief, because the whole story was brief, but they offered the most development and tangible feeling in the whole novel. I also would have liked to explore the Laine/Pete dynamic, because it was, strangely enough, stronger than most here. More compelling. At least, it had the potential to be. But again, it was wholly underdeveloped, leaving it more like this weird “did I imagine a connection there?” thing.

What was bad:

There was almost no character development. No one really changed—or even had the chance to. We actually got the most change from Trevor, I think, and not in a good way. He shifted from the loving boyfriend to aggressive and unstable. But we only get a glimpse of that and the next moment he’s all “but I love Laine so much! Even though I think she’s nuts!” It was really disappointing.
The friendships between each of the characters had so much room for development, but instead they fell flat. I was left thinking that these characters were just cardboard cutouts of people, stand ins for the real things that had yet to arrive.

Finally, a section for Tropes and Other Much Hated Things:

There’s the Missing Parents trope. I think this novel counts as YA and falls into the same My Teenager’s Running Rampant, But I Really Can’t Be Bothered As A Parent trope. There’s also the My Boyfriend Takes Over My Life trope, though in a very small capacity. There’s the I Had To Grow Up Too Fast To Take The Place Of My Absentee Parent trope, always a fun one.

There weren’t a lot of Horror Tropes here, though fans of the genre will notice some. The Final Girl(s) being the main one, but also some “playing with something we shouldn’t” and “it’s just a game”.

Would I recommend this? No—there just isn’t enough here to be bothered with, sadly enough.
Profile Image for Katrina G.
722 reviews39 followers
December 20, 2020
So. This has been on my shelf for a while. At least a few years. I hadn't realized it was a novelization of a movie when I first bought it, and once I learned that it was, I was wary to read it. I don't typically like novelizations, and this book didn't do too much to sway my opinion.

I could tell as I was reading it that the movie came first. And while I haven't seen the movie, the end was quite predictable for me.

It was alright, but not great. It was a typical cheesy horror novelization. It was a quick enough read once I actually sat myself down and forced myself to read it (it took me 3 days because I kept getting distracted).
9 reviews
October 16, 2017
I selected this book because I found it in the library in downtown Wakefield. Discouraged that I could not find the novel "Asylum" by Madeleine Roux at the time, I looked in the "Young Adult" section to find a chilling novel to get me into the Halloween spirit of October. When I was about to stop looking for a horror or thriller book, "Ouija" by Katharine Turner caught my eye. I remember seeing the movie trailer in the theaters when I was younger. I was terrified whenever the trailer came up, but I wanted to see the movie even though I was too young. Because I loved the chilling feeling it gave me when I was younger, I was ecstatic when I found the novel. However, it took me more than half the book to get into it, and I never got the feeling that I could not put the book down. Also, the book was not as frightening as I thought it would be, and I did not enjoy the novel as much as when my younger self viewed the trailer.
In "Ouija" Elaine Morris and her best friend, Debbie, have messed around with the Ouija board before when they were young at sleepovers; they thought nothing of it. However, using it once again, Debbie claims to hear weird noises and acts extremely distant. Elaine thinks Debbie is insane and overthinking everything, until Debbie is found dead. Determined to figure out why Debbie died, Elaine and a few of her other friends use the Ouija board to try to connect with Debbie's spirit. But once they start using the board, Elaine's friends start getting killed off one by one. While trying to figure out the mysteries of her friends' deaths, Elaine must use the Ouija board and destroy the connection she has with the spirit. Question is: What if the spirit is Debbie? And what if she is not ready to say good-bye?
Something that I did not like about the book was that it was extremely slow getting into it. It gave a lot of background information in the beginning and moved slowly regarding the Ouija. In the beginning, the book focused on Elaine and her friends plotting; at the end, it crammed everything supernatural or frightening in. Along with moving slowly until the end, the book was very choppy from one section to another. I felt it never fully completed one thought before moving onto something else.
Overall, I liked the book. I would not read it again, but I am pleased that I finished it. I loved the end of the book when Elaine was really exposed to the supernatural aspect of the novel and the chilling characters. However, I did not like how I found it difficult to get myself to read when beginning the book, and I did not take away anything from the novel. Also, I did not enjoy the fact that I was never truly frightened, and the feeling I got when watching the movie trailer when I was younger was never fulfilled.
Profile Image for Nicole .
250 reviews19 followers
September 27, 2017
3.5/5 Stars

Sometimes while watching a movie I enjoy it so much I wish it was also a book. This is exactly what happened. Ouija by Katharine Turner is based on the movie screenplay written by Stiles White and Juliet Snowden. A lot of the conversations are similar and their are very few changes to the plot. Although, sometimes I did find the dialogue a little bit kiddish. But overall, I really enjoyed the movie and enjoyed it just as much reading a near perfect representation of it. The characters were familiar, and I loved reading knowing it was going to end the way it was meant to, no surprise twist endings. Since there is already a sequel movie in the works, I would definitely read a sequel book if it ever becomes available.

For my full review, visit my blog:
http://taleswithnicole.blogspot.ca/20...
Profile Image for Amber.
59 reviews6 followers
February 10, 2017
This book was SO CREEPY but so GOOD. I caught myself so many times reacting or gasping out loud. I can only imagine the movie being even creepier! Now I want to watch the movie, then get some friends together and play a Ouija board. I really enjoyed the ending, it left you wanting to know MORE.
Profile Image for Melinda.
197 reviews37 followers
April 17, 2018
This book had a lot of potential... the story line was decent, the characters were interesting, and at times there were genuinely scary parts. However, the book lacked details and you were in another scene before you finished the one you were already in! Also, Ouija is the definition of a quick read. The writing was very plain and simplistic. I felt like if it was a little longer as a story and less like a death checklist I would like it a lot more.
Profile Image for Jennifer Jones.
49 reviews
March 8, 2017
Meh. Teen books are a guilty pleasure for me, but this one didn't really have anything special. It's cool as a companion to the movie, but otherwise...
Profile Image for Billie.
47 reviews14 followers
December 1, 2017
So far very interesting on how a group of friends played the Ouija board when they were kids. 5 stars all the way. I don't went it to end by it did. Great book to get into.
Profile Image for Andrés .
371 reviews
March 11, 2024
"Laine took a deep breath, looking into the eyes of her friends. Scared, curious, excited, irritated. As she glanced at the black-and-white photo of Debbie, smiling, next to the board, she realized she didn’t know how she felt".

Esta es la veinticuatroava lectura del año.
Debo decir que esta lectura, a diferencia del resto de las lecturas malas o medriocres del año, me las busqué yo. Es que el año pasado, en preparación para el Halloween, busqué varias películas de terror para sentirme en el mood y una de estas fue Ouija de 2014. El problema es que la película me pareció pésima, teniendo mucho potencial pero desperdiciándolo muy rápido. Pero bueno, aquí no se habla de cine sino de libros. Y es que cuando me enteré de que la película tenía una novelización, no pude evitar buscarla. Y hace poco empecé a leerla solo porque quería un libro corto para salir un poco de esta ralentización lectora en la que me he metido desde el mes pasado. Y sabiendo lo poco que me gustó la película, no sé porque sostuve la esperanza de que la novelización fuese mejor.
La historia va acerca de Laine, una chica que sufre por el reciente suicidio de su amiga Debbie. Pero pronto todas las pistas apuntan a que la muerte de su amiga no fue una desición sino más bien está relacionada con una fuerza misteriosa y con una tabla de ouija que Debbie tenía en su posesión.
Como dije, yo sabía de que iba la historia, sabía que en la película no me había gustado y aún así volví a leerla esperando que fuese diferente. Pero la novelización es nada más que un resumen de 200 páginas de la película que no le añade nada nuevo.
La historia cojea de muchos lados. En primer lugar, la narración. Sé que se trata de un libro que está pensado para adolescentes, el mismo grupo etario para el cual se pensó la película, pero la narración es tan sencilla que a veces es aburrida. La narración se basa en párrafos cortos y descripciones vagas, además de algunos diálogos terriblemente cringe, tratando de sonar como "hablan los jóvenes". Lo otro es como la historia está estructurada. Uno de los problemas de la película en la que se basa la novela es que recae mucho en los "jump scares" baratos y eso en una película funciona pero cuando lo sacas del medio audiovisual y lo pones en palabra, no funciona de la misma manera. La novela está plagada de momentos que eran jump scares pero que al leerlo solo entorpecen la lectura.
La historia tiene demasiado potencial, y la novelización pudo haber espandido a los personajes, darles más matices que los que se pueden dar en una película de una hora y algo. Pero no pasó, los personajes están tan poco desarrollados como en la película, lo que hace que cuando les sucede algo no sientas nada. Es solo un personaje menos. Y a veces hasta los personajes tienen esa reacción, porque aparte de la muerte de Debbie, ninguna otra muerte tiene demasiado impacto.
Ouija es una buena idea pero una mala ejecución. Le puse 2 estrellas porque pienso que hay una parte que no es culpa de la autora pues se nota que le pidieron hacer el menor número de cambios posibles desde el guion de la película, pero queda mucho potencial desperdiciado en lo que ella pudo hacer para mejorar la historia. Una lastima pues con unos buenos cambios, más profundización y una narración más rica, esta pudo haber sido una excelente historia de terror para pasar el rato.
5 reviews
October 4, 2017
I really enjoyed this book for its plot in general, the way Laine was betrayed, leading her to trust the wrong spirit, hence puting her and her friends lives at risk. The book was very descriptive in the sense that it had a clear story line, all the events added up to the point where you would think in your head "Oh, that makes sense". The story is about two young girls who are in college, and are very good friends. They enjoy playing with eachother. they couldnt spend a moment apart. That is, until one of the friends, Debbie, started using the Ouija board. The Ouija board is a board in which you may contact spirits. The spirits contacting you cannot tell a lie. So when Debbie began to meddle with the Ouija board, she encountered an evil spirit. To end a conversation with a spirit, you must drag triangle on the board towards the "GOODBYE" corner of the board, and as you may have already guessed, she forgot to say goodbye. So as a result, the spirit possesed Debbie and made her hang herself. A group of friends along with Debbies closest friend, Laine, are trying to contact Debbie through the Ouija. However, they encounter the same spirit that Debbie did, As a result, the friends began dying one by one, then all that was left was Laine, and her little sister, they soon confront the spirit, and manage to burn the Ouija board, thus granting freedon from the spirit.
Profile Image for Sandra.
723 reviews8 followers
June 2, 2017
As children, Laine and Debbie fooled around with a Ouija board that Debbie had found stored in her attic. Later, Debbie was interested, and started playing around with it, again on her own. Shortly after, she started hearing strange noises in her home and feeling the presence of some unknown, unseen entity. Laine thinks her friend is silly, until Debbie dies a tragic and mysterious death. Then Laine and her friends try to figure out what truly happened to Debbie. They uncover an unspeakable story.

I didn’t expect to enjoy this book so much. It was a quick and easy read, but I liked the plot and the characters. It is action-packed.
Profile Image for Delenn Irving.
18 reviews1 follower
September 11, 2023
As a tie-in novel, this book follows pretty closely to the film, with a couple of alternate death scenes and additional scenes that weren't in the film.

Honestly, I would say that if you're into movie tie-ins like I am, and like a bit of a teen scare, you'll enjoy this book. I did, although I could have done with more backstory, but for what it is, it's very well-written. It does have an edge of your seat quality as well, particularly later in the book when the action ramps up. I enjoyed it, but I always feel a bit disappointed when a book takes me less than an hour to read.
Profile Image for Chelsea.
2,095 reviews63 followers
March 5, 2024
Meh. I actually liked the movie, but feel the prequel was a stronger story. This was a surprise being a novelization of the movie...which I don't typically seek out, especially for horror films. And the spook factors in this book were definitely reliant on jump scares and visual icks...and that's just not something that translated to the page, unfortunately. The characters all were bland and blended too much together here and the narrative got rushed and messy at the end. I don't really recommend this book, instead would recommend the movie for a quick scare.
Profile Image for Ella S.
3 reviews
September 24, 2019
This book was very good. It had a intriguing plot and lots of characters that were very important to the story. This book is very relatable a to teenagers because of how the characters are. It was really scary and made me want to read more. The one thing I wish was that the book was longer and there was more to it, but it is still one of my favorite books I've read.
Profile Image for Indy.
86 reviews2 followers
January 8, 2023
2.5 stars

Umm it was okay. Very just okay. It reads like the pace of the movie. Some predictable moments but still enjoyable. Idk if I’ll ever pick it up again but I’m content having read it the one time. If you need a quick and easy book that gives you the early 2000s evil spirits vibe, I’d give this one a go.
Profile Image for Leanna Chapman.
35 reviews2 followers
January 27, 2024
Quick read, good story. Reading level is appropriately assigned for the writing, however, I wouldn't be comfortable letting a child 9-12 read this book due to the nature of the content. Age range is listed as 9+ which is too low in my opinion. Anyways, I enjoyed the book and will definitely watch the movie!
Profile Image for J. Taylor.
1,748 reviews29 followers
October 31, 2017
2.5 Perfect book for Halloween, film is much better though. The writing could have been way better because I didn't really feel the horror of it all. It's an okay book, I would just suggest watching the movie.
71 reviews1 follower
January 22, 2018
A short little ya book that got your heart racing a little! Very easy read ... now I am ready to watch the movie ... Would be scary for a middle schooler .. My 15 yr old enjoyed it but thinks the movie will be better!
Profile Image for Dez Nemec.
1,074 reviews32 followers
February 3, 2019
This was just meh, but then so was the movie. I think if this were flipped and the book came first, it would have been much better. There was potential with the back story, but it just didn't come to fruition the way I hoped.
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