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The Girl Who Played With The Ouija Board
From William Malmborg, the author of the novels Jimmy and Daddy’s Little Girl, comes a twisted thriller about family secrets, sexual depravity, and ultimate betrayal. Being the daughter of a successful porn star is fun, but then a car accident takes her mother from her and forces Penny to move in with her estranged aunt whose life seems to revolve around the church. Fortunately, Penny’s cousin Olivia has a secret side her fanatical mother doesn’t know about, one that sees the two attending parties rife with sex, booze, and drugs. Unfortunately, one of those parties also has a Ouija board. Penny thinks losing her mother to a drunk driver and moving in with her aunt is the worse thing that could ever happen to her. She's wrong.
282 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 10, 2020
555 people are currently reading
1125 people want to read
About the author
William Malmborg
22 books220 followersWilliam Malmborg is the author of the novels Jimmy, Text Message, Nikki's Secret, Dark Harvest, Blind Eye, Santa Took Them, Crystal Creek, Daddy’s Little Girl, The Girl Who Played with the Ouija Board, Josiah, He Sees You When You're Sleeping and the novellas Billy's Blade, Till Death Do Us Part and Don’t Go in the Cellar. Future works will include A Taste of Pain, The Murders at Bootleggers Burrow, and Gobble, Gobble.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 121 reviews
October 6, 2023
DNF
I was really out of my comfort zone with this one and gave up after only a few chapters. This was a young teenager's sexual fantasy reading and, unfortunately, I am well past that phase of life.
I was really out of my comfort zone with this one and gave up after only a few chapters. This was a young teenager's sexual fantasy reading and, unfortunately, I am well past that phase of life.
May 17, 2020
The Girl Who Played With the Ouija Board starts off almost like a young adult novel. A teenage girl is at a new school and is haunted (in more ways than one) by an online viral video. But the new school is a strict Catholic high school, and the video shows her having convulsions while playing with a Ouija board. Penny is not a believer, but she can’t help but wonder if some kind of supernatural entity has possessed her – or if her problems stem from an all-too-human (and far more sinister) source. This is a page-turner that features graphic scenes of sex and violence, so it’s definitely NOT a young adult novel. Recommended for fans of thrillers and disturbing horror novels.
April 5, 2022
One of the worst things I’ve ever read.
May 3, 2021
I have such conflicting feelings about this book haha. Reading the reviews I was a little worried I would hate it, but I've learned it's really hard for me to find a book I don't enjoy in my favorite genre. The only reason I didn't give this book a 5 star review is because the ending was WAY too rushed.
This book reminded me of a X Rated teenage version of the Exorcist. It was vulgar with lot's of sex talk and profanity but I honestly found it to be quite funny and entertaining. This book also went a completely different way then I expected and honestly I'm glad it did because it was different from other horror books and unpredictably thrilling.
Overall, I'm glad I read it and the characters were wonderfully perfect.
This book reminded me of a X Rated teenage version of the Exorcist. It was vulgar with lot's of sex talk and profanity but I honestly found it to be quite funny and entertaining. This book also went a completely different way then I expected and honestly I'm glad it did because it was different from other horror books and unpredictably thrilling.
Overall, I'm glad I read it and the characters were wonderfully perfect.
April 22, 2025
3.5-3.7 for this. I wouldn't call this a horror persay; but more of a dysfunctional family thriller.....There was a lot of teenager sex in this, probably just as much as in your average Richard Laymon book but it was a lot more uncomfortable in this than in most of his..I won't go into details but I also feel this novel left a lot of important plot questions unanswered.
October 20, 2020
Disappointed in this book. I have read other books by this author and was intrigued by his stories. This one fell short of my expectations. There was more kinky sex references than there was actual story line. Motivation and character development was none existent.
Do not judge this author by this book. He has written better stories.
Do not judge this author by this book. He has written better stories.
June 6, 2021
Really good read
This was book was very hard to put down. I would recommend it. Some parts were quite comical. Can't wait to read more from this author.
This was book was very hard to put down. I would recommend it. Some parts were quite comical. Can't wait to read more from this author.
July 23, 2020
Before reading this book I assumed it was about an Ouija board/possession. It took a strange turn. Although I was engulfed in the characters and writing of this book, I was deeply disturbed as new surprises around every corner. This was not what I was expecting to read, but was very satisfied with the ending and the way the author gets you so caught up in wanting to know what was going to happen next. Be prepared to be disturbed, confused, and frustrated as you see this story unfold. Good ending as well!
February 5, 2024
Sick and depraved
Susan is one sick chic.. This book pushed on my boundaries on what to read.. Wish it would have ended differently
Susan is one sick chic.. This book pushed on my boundaries on what to read.. Wish it would have ended differently
June 26, 2024
I picked up this book because my girlfriends and I loved to play with the ouija board when we were in junior high...fortunately nothing like this ever happened to us! Penny "freaks out" when the girls are playing and believes she's being attacked by demons. And that's only the beginning...! She's living with her cousin, Olivia as her own mother was killed in a car crash before when she was a famous porn star. It's a raunchy, mind-bending, crazy, convoluted ride that had me cringing frequently but it's still a good story!
October 5, 2024
Picked this up solely for a reading prompt (for a challenge).
You.Can't.Unread.This
Dark and disturbingly good
You.Can't.Unread.This
Dark and disturbingly good
July 27, 2024
This is not a horror book. It's just a modern day Nancy Drew detective book.
September 18, 2024
Wasn't expecting that!
I really enjoyed this book. Thought it was one thing and turned into another. Very twisty and good suspense. A thriller/horror.
I really enjoyed this book. Thought it was one thing and turned into another. Very twisty and good suspense. A thriller/horror.
June 13, 2020
I’m always looking for new authors to discover, especially in the horror genre. So when I saw this one had jumped above Stephen King’s “If It Bleeds” on the Amazon charts and was available on Kindle Unlimited, I definitely had to check it out.
The story picks up with Penny, the main character, who had to move in with her aunt and two cousins following the death of Penny’s mother in a car wreck. She finds some kinship with Olivia, one of her cousins, and is soon trying to fit in with the local community, especially at school.
And while Penny is aware of it and fine with it, she does begin receiving aggressive text and social media messages related to her deceased mom’s career in porn. However, that career left her very well-off and makes Penny the beneficiary of that estate when she turns eighteen.
So she moves along, dealing with high school with as much grace as any of us really can. Then, there’s the party. And the Ouija board.
Following her use of the Ouija board, where bizarre events unfold and are caught on cellphone video shared widely at school, Penny begins experiencing hallucinations and doubting her sanity. Is there a Satanic origin to all of her troubles? Or is it more mundane? Or is she simply going crazy as a result of the head injury she received from the car crash that killed her mother?
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. Warning, it does have some brutal, violent scenes, including some of rape. But, they are germane to the story and not gratuitous. The plot definitely builds up quickly toward the climax, and you want to keep reading to see what happens next.
While I did enjoy the story, I did have a couple issues with it. First, while it starts off pretty brutal at times, it seems to level off after that. It may be hard to qualify, but to me, the later parts of the story felt more thriller than horror. I get completely that horror is subjective, but it didn’t feel as intense in the latter half. But that’s me, I love extreme horror, and the beginning led me to believe it would be that way throughout the book.
Second, I really never felt Penny was truly in danger in the second half. There were a lot of machinations to cause her harm, but most of them were planning and things that got in the way of some of those plans being carried out. Yes, in the climax she was indeed in danger, and I won’t spoil it by saying how it turned out. But leading up to that, I was more curious if she would find out the cause of her hallucinations than whether or not she would die.
Overall, I definitely enjoyed the book and would recommend it to others. The “yeah-buts” I mention are more toward personal taste than a knock on the writing style of Malmborg because, after all, I did feel compelled to read to the end. That said, I will definitely check out his other works, as it’s obvious I enjoy his writing.
The story picks up with Penny, the main character, who had to move in with her aunt and two cousins following the death of Penny’s mother in a car wreck. She finds some kinship with Olivia, one of her cousins, and is soon trying to fit in with the local community, especially at school.
And while Penny is aware of it and fine with it, she does begin receiving aggressive text and social media messages related to her deceased mom’s career in porn. However, that career left her very well-off and makes Penny the beneficiary of that estate when she turns eighteen.
So she moves along, dealing with high school with as much grace as any of us really can. Then, there’s the party. And the Ouija board.
Following her use of the Ouija board, where bizarre events unfold and are caught on cellphone video shared widely at school, Penny begins experiencing hallucinations and doubting her sanity. Is there a Satanic origin to all of her troubles? Or is it more mundane? Or is she simply going crazy as a result of the head injury she received from the car crash that killed her mother?
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. Warning, it does have some brutal, violent scenes, including some of rape. But, they are germane to the story and not gratuitous. The plot definitely builds up quickly toward the climax, and you want to keep reading to see what happens next.
While I did enjoy the story, I did have a couple issues with it. First, while it starts off pretty brutal at times, it seems to level off after that. It may be hard to qualify, but to me, the later parts of the story felt more thriller than horror. I get completely that horror is subjective, but it didn’t feel as intense in the latter half. But that’s me, I love extreme horror, and the beginning led me to believe it would be that way throughout the book.
Second, I really never felt Penny was truly in danger in the second half. There were a lot of machinations to cause her harm, but most of them were planning and things that got in the way of some of those plans being carried out. Yes, in the climax she was indeed in danger, and I won’t spoil it by saying how it turned out. But leading up to that, I was more curious if she would find out the cause of her hallucinations than whether or not she would die.
Overall, I definitely enjoyed the book and would recommend it to others. The “yeah-buts” I mention are more toward personal taste than a knock on the writing style of Malmborg because, after all, I did feel compelled to read to the end. That said, I will definitely check out his other works, as it’s obvious I enjoy his writing.
June 27, 2020
I read this....
....so you won’t have to.
Lesson learned — do NOT choose a book just because the title sounds like the best movie starring a young Tori Spelling that Lifetime never made (“Mother, May I Sleep With This Planchette?”), and, of course, when I say “lesson learned” I mean I have not learned that lesson at all and will do this again and again.
Anyway, I didn’t even get what I thought I’d been promised, in that there’s no horror in this story at all. After the death of her mother in a car accident high school student Penny goes to live with her aunt and her two cousins. After a session with a Ouija board makes Penny freak out all kinds of other things start happening. What’s going on and why?
So, despite its prominent place in the title the Ouija board couldn’t matter less in this story, and, as mentioned above, this is no Stephen King book, although there is a nice little exchange between aunt and Penny when Penny believes she may be possessed by a demon (don’t ask), and her aunt says something to the effect of, “I wonder.....”
“Wonder what?”
“Wonder if this could have anything to do with the fact that your dead, former porn star mother was a member of the church of Satan.” Well, there’s something someone might have mentioned, or at least have jotted down in the baby book.
So, unbelievable things happen for banal reasons, there’s some mildly kinky sex thrown in for no real purpose at all, blah, blah, blah, the end. So bummed there was no Ouija board evil. Such a tease.
....so you won’t have to.
Lesson learned — do NOT choose a book just because the title sounds like the best movie starring a young Tori Spelling that Lifetime never made (“Mother, May I Sleep With This Planchette?”), and, of course, when I say “lesson learned” I mean I have not learned that lesson at all and will do this again and again.
Anyway, I didn’t even get what I thought I’d been promised, in that there’s no horror in this story at all. After the death of her mother in a car accident high school student Penny goes to live with her aunt and her two cousins. After a session with a Ouija board makes Penny freak out all kinds of other things start happening. What’s going on and why?
So, despite its prominent place in the title the Ouija board couldn’t matter less in this story, and, as mentioned above, this is no Stephen King book, although there is a nice little exchange between aunt and Penny when Penny believes she may be possessed by a demon (don’t ask), and her aunt says something to the effect of, “I wonder.....”
“Wonder what?”
“Wonder if this could have anything to do with the fact that your dead, former porn star mother was a member of the church of Satan.” Well, there’s something someone might have mentioned, or at least have jotted down in the baby book.
So, unbelievable things happen for banal reasons, there’s some mildly kinky sex thrown in for no real purpose at all, blah, blah, blah, the end. So bummed there was no Ouija board evil. Such a tease.
July 5, 2020
Garbage, would give no stars of I could.
This book is absolute trash. I cannot believe a grown man sat down and wrote this shit and thought "oh yeah this is good." This story is grotesque not so thinly veiled sadistic sexy Catholic school girl rape fantasy. I read this entire book trying to figure out why. Why would the mother figure dress up in her daughter's school uniform and have daddy kink sex with her boyfriend. Why would she hate her niece so much that she would go through all this to torture her and try and kill her?I didn't get any answers worth this trash. I read this book expecting an possession story with a moderate amount of cheese and instead I got this perverts messed up fantasy. The characters are unrealistic, one dimensional clap board stand ins, the only depth they have is their sexual preferences . Teens do not talk this way and adults certainly do not talk this way to children whether they are busty Catholic schoolgirls or not. I cant believe that I wasted my time reading this"book". There is always a reason it's free. 🙄😑
This book is absolute trash. I cannot believe a grown man sat down and wrote this shit and thought "oh yeah this is good." This story is grotesque not so thinly veiled sadistic sexy Catholic school girl rape fantasy. I read this entire book trying to figure out why. Why would the mother figure dress up in her daughter's school uniform and have daddy kink sex with her boyfriend. Why would she hate her niece so much that she would go through all this to torture her and try and kill her?I didn't get any answers worth this trash. I read this book expecting an possession story with a moderate amount of cheese and instead I got this perverts messed up fantasy. The characters are unrealistic, one dimensional clap board stand ins, the only depth they have is their sexual preferences . Teens do not talk this way and adults certainly do not talk this way to children whether they are busty Catholic schoolgirls or not. I cant believe that I wasted my time reading this"book". There is always a reason it's free. 🙄😑
March 22, 2021
Great job William Malmborg! 4.75 ✳️ from Karrie's Kritiques!
This was read in record speed! Fast-paced and riveting, with a full cast of characters I found interesting enough to envision in my mind's eye!
I can only find one thing that I found a bit off-putting about this tale, and that would be the overabundance of excessive distasteful language and/or descriptions of sexual situations. I have no problem with sex in stories, albeit I am not a fan of any stories overwrought with sex - some can cross the line entirely into useless vulgarity. And unfortunately, this novel did so to what I would consider it's entitlement. It would have been much better with much less.
Otherwise, the story was fun and fast and topsy-turvy in most generally good ways! There was a bit of confusion in grammar-related areas a time or two, but I still enjoyed it for the most part!
This was read in record speed! Fast-paced and riveting, with a full cast of characters I found interesting enough to envision in my mind's eye!
I can only find one thing that I found a bit off-putting about this tale, and that would be the overabundance of excessive distasteful language and/or descriptions of sexual situations. I have no problem with sex in stories, albeit I am not a fan of any stories overwrought with sex - some can cross the line entirely into useless vulgarity. And unfortunately, this novel did so to what I would consider it's entitlement. It would have been much better with much less.
Otherwise, the story was fun and fast and topsy-turvy in most generally good ways! There was a bit of confusion in grammar-related areas a time or two, but I still enjoyed it for the most part!
June 26, 2020
Whoa what a book!!
Great read, strong characters, moved at a fast pace not boring, kept me burning through the book like crazy! I’m retired from the police department and of all the cases I’ve seen this book makes them pale in comparison! I was gobsmacked at one particular part which I won’t spoil for future readers. This author reminds me of what I think about Stephen King and that’s “ is this really all up in that mind of his??!!”. This book demands a sequel placed in the future with Nicky grown. Excellent excellent author especially for a man writing in this genre, and writing a book with teenagers in the plot to boot!! He really nailed the teenage girl thing great! Enjoyed ever single word in this book I’m a forever fan fantastic writing!!!!!
Great read, strong characters, moved at a fast pace not boring, kept me burning through the book like crazy! I’m retired from the police department and of all the cases I’ve seen this book makes them pale in comparison! I was gobsmacked at one particular part which I won’t spoil for future readers. This author reminds me of what I think about Stephen King and that’s “ is this really all up in that mind of his??!!”. This book demands a sequel placed in the future with Nicky grown. Excellent excellent author especially for a man writing in this genre, and writing a book with teenagers in the plot to boot!! He really nailed the teenage girl thing great! Enjoyed ever single word in this book I’m a forever fan fantastic writing!!!!!
April 12, 2021
Creepy and twisted.
So this book turned out to be less of a supernatural story and more a crazy family drama, and it was pretty great. The dialogue was snarky and amusing, and the characters were interesting. I actually liked the teens, which impressed me. I’ll be reading more by the author.
So this book turned out to be less of a supernatural story and more a crazy family drama, and it was pretty great. The dialogue was snarky and amusing, and the characters were interesting. I actually liked the teens, which impressed me. I’ll be reading more by the author.
November 3, 2021
Not the Kind of Book That I Was Expecting, but Awesomer!
I was expecting another Ouiji board possession, boy was I way off base, and gladly so! This book will keep you up until the end.
I was expecting another Ouiji board possession, boy was I way off base, and gladly so! This book will keep you up until the end.
June 10, 2022
Different and very edgy
I'd recommend anyone who loves a really edgy story to read this and other works by the author, he picks on subjects that are very difficult to comprehend, I love his work and I'm a real big fan. Thank you William for this amazing story
I'd recommend anyone who loves a really edgy story to read this and other works by the author, he picks on subjects that are very difficult to comprehend, I love his work and I'm a real big fan. Thank you William for this amazing story
June 16, 2022
Great Read!
The story didn’t go the way I thought it would and I’m glad. I don’t want to spoil anything but I strongly recommend it. This is my first of his books and I already have another one of his on my kindle.
The story didn’t go the way I thought it would and I’m glad. I don’t want to spoil anything but I strongly recommend it. This is my first of his books and I already have another one of his on my kindle.
March 10, 2021
A disturbingly good read . Almost ashamed to say I enjoyed it
March 29, 2021
Super great twist to the story
This was an amazing read!! You are taken down a path of possession and then BOOM!!! A twist!!! Love this book!
This was an amazing read!! You are taken down a path of possession and then BOOM!!! A twist!!! Love this book!
September 20, 2021
Odd, suspenseful, NOT FOR KIDS
About teens but certainly too perverse FOR teens.
Upends several horror tropes, but not as cleverly as I'd have like. Good rainy afternoon read.
About teens but certainly too perverse FOR teens.
Upends several horror tropes, but not as cleverly as I'd have like. Good rainy afternoon read.
October 10, 2021
Riveting and twisted
A page turner from beginning to end. Surprises at every turn, and never what you thought it might be. Perverse and wicked. Not for the easily offended.
A page turner from beginning to end. Surprises at every turn, and never what you thought it might be. Perverse and wicked. Not for the easily offended.
November 1, 2021
Unusual murder story
Great story. Even though you know "whodunnit," there are enough twists & turns to make it interesting, suspenseful & scary.
Great story. Even though you know "whodunnit," there are enough twists & turns to make it interesting, suspenseful & scary.
December 9, 2021
Intense and twisted
January 16, 2022
A true page turner!
Ouija board in the title got my attention. I am hoping to read more by this author. Really enjoyed it.
Ouija board in the title got my attention. I am hoping to read more by this author. Really enjoyed it.
May 16, 2022
Convoluted
I was treated to a story that had so many twists, and turns that got a bit dizzy. Who dunnit? You must read so you can find out.
I was treated to a story that had so many twists, and turns that got a bit dizzy. Who dunnit? You must read so you can find out.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 121 reviews